PA is Ready! Announces Grant Awards to Expand Access to Immigration Services Across Pennsylvania

Now in its fifth year, PA is Ready! is thrilled to announce its 2020 grant awards, totaling $228,750, to 22 organizations serving communities across Pennsylvania.

PA is Ready! is an innovative, community-led network and participatory grantmaking fund rooted in and serving diverse immigrant and refugee communities across Pennsylvania. The overarching goal of the PA is Ready! network is to ensure that immigrant communities have the skills and resources necessary for building safe and welcoming communities that promote all residents’ well-being. 

PA is Ready! uses a transformative grantmaking process that puts decision-making in the hands of organizers and service providers, who collectively determine funding priorities, selection criteria, and grant decisions. PA is Ready! is coordinated by the Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition. The Philadelphia Foundation hosts the fund and provides technical assistance, fundraising support, and coordination around donor education.

In the 2020 PA is Ready! grantmaking cycle, 37 organizations submitted proposals totaling over $640,000. This year’s grant recipients will educate community members and allies about immigrant rights, build immigrant leadership and organizing strength, provide legal support for public campaigns centered on individual immigration cases, and collaborate to increase access to legal information and services in their communities.  

Funded organizations include:

• Asian Americans United (AAU) and Nationalities Services Center – Philadelphia County
• Bhutanese Community Association of Pittsburgh (BCAP) – Allegheny County
• CAIR Philadelphia and Pennsylvania Center for Refugees and Immigrants – Cumberland and Lehigh counties
• Casa San Jose and Comunidad Latina en el Condado de Washington Parroquia Nuestra Señora de la Medalla Milagrosa – Washington County
• Ceiba and Esperanza Immigration Legal Services – Philadelphia County
• Centro de Apoyo Comunitario de Upper Darby – Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties
• Coalition of African and Caribbean Communities (AFRICOM) and Nationalities Service Center – Chester, Dauphin, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties
• Comite de Apoyo a los Trabajadores Agricolas (CATA) – Chester County
• Immigrant Rights Action Group and HIAS PA – Bucks County
• Juntos and Nationalities Service Center – Montgomery and Philadelphia counties
• Make the Road Pennsylvania – Berks, Lehigh, and Philadelphia counties
• Movement of Immigrant Leaders of Pennsylvania (MILPA) – Dauphin, Delaware, Franklin, and Philadelphia counties
• Project Libertad and Immigrant Psych Network – Chester and Montgomery counties
• VietLead and Free Migration Project – Philadelphia County and surrounding area
• Woori Center – Bucks, Chester, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties

PA is Ready! would not be possible without the support of our local and national donors:  Alfred and Mary Douty Foundation, S. Albert Fund of the Philadelphia Foundation, Samuel S. Fels Fund, Philadelphia Foundation, and Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees, who collects and distributes national funds.    

About Philadelphia Foundation
Founded in 1918, Philadelphia Foundation strengthens the economic, social and civic vitality of Greater Philadelphia. Philadelphia Foundation grows effective philanthropic investment, connects individuals and institutions across sectors and geography, and advances civic initiatives through partnerships and collaboration. A publicly supported foundation, the Philadelphia Foundation manages more than 1,000 charitable funds established by its donors and makes over 1,000 grants and scholarship awards each year. To learn more, visit philafound.org.

About Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition (PICC)

The Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition (PICC) is a diverse coalition of over 50 member organizations across the state. PICC leads and supports campaigns to advance immigrant rights at the local, state, and federal levels; builds immigrant electoral power through voter registration and education; supports grassroots community-led organizations through training and capacity building; and helps increase access to immigration services through the PA is Ready! project. To learn more, visit www.paimmigrant.org.