21 NONPROFITS SHARE $300,000 IN GRANTS FROM FIRST FED FOUNDATION
Total Awards Surpass $7.6 Million Since 2015
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 13, 2025
Port Angeles, Washington – First Fed Foundation announced today that it awarded a total of $300,000 in grant funding to 21 nonprofits bringing housing, help, and hope to community members in Clallam, Jefferson, Kitsap, and Whatcom Counties, and the city of Bellevue.
“With these spring grant awards, the Foundation’s giving has exceeded $7.6 million since 2015. Our mission –driven by the vision of our founder and sole donor, First Fed— is to invest in efforts that improve the quality of life in the communities where the bank operates full-service branches,” said Jan Simon, First Fed Foundation’s Executive Director.
“Guided by that mission, it’s a privilege to help address the growing need for food and housing, as well as programs that enrich the lives of youth, protect the lives of first responders, and enhance the lives of women and families,” said Cindy Finnie, Foundation Board Member.
“Having received a record 50 grant applications in this cycle, our board and advisory committee again faced tough decisions about which projects to fund,” said Norm Tonina, President of the Foundation’s board. “Informed by the needs in our communities, we awarded grants to organizations providing critical services, while also supporting job training and apprenticeship programs that develop career skills for youth and adults, and lead to satisfying, living-wage jobs.”
Grants in the Foundation’s spring cycle were awarded for the following purposes and funding priorities:
Housing & Homelessness Grants:
Habitat for Humanity of East Jefferson County: $25,000 to build the infrastructure—including streets, sewer, and utility hook-ups—for the Landes South development, comprised of 14 units of permanently affordable housing for as many as 30 low-income Port Townsend residents.
LifeWire: $25,000 to purchase and install a vehicle gate at the parking entrance to Hope Starts Here, a confidential shelter in Bellevue for individuals and families fleeing domestic violence, making it inaccessible to the public and safeguarding survivors.
Community Development Grants:
City of Port Angeles Fire Department: $25,000 to equip 34 first responders with protective gear and trauma kits, enhancing responder safety so that they can provide life-saving care to victims in high-risk and violent emergencies.
Forks Community Hospital: $25,000 to purchase new, up-to-date mammography equipment, enabling more women to receive breast cancer screening and diagnostics services closer to home.
Port Angeles Food Bank: $25,000 to purchase a larger, refrigerated box truck to expand and enhance the Mobile Market’s delivery of fresh and nutritious food directly to as many as 800 households per month.
Economic Development Grants:
Peninsula College Foundation: $50,000 to help build the dental hygiene clinic and lab that, when completed, will facilitate hands-on training, graduate 10 licensed dental hygienists annually from Clallam and Jefferson Counties, address the healthcare workforce shortage, increase living-wage jobs, and add a low-cost dental clinic on the Olympic Peninsula.
United Way of Clallam County: $25,000 to provide 800 students struggling with barriers to their education, access to financial aid, scholarships, and other educational attainment services and resources to ensuring they can obtain credentials, enter the workforce, and achieve financial security.
Community Support Grants:
Foster Hearts: $5,000 to help provide extracurricular activities—including workshops, outdoor adventures, and educational outings—to 70 Whatcom County foster children, enhancing their emotional well-being, social skills, and resilience.
Helpline House: $10,000 to support construction of a new 12,731 square foot community services and resource center on Bainbridge Island, doubling the current facility size in order to address rapidly escalating demand for food, emergency assistance, and mental health counseling.
Key City Public Theatre: $5,000 to help bring Theatre Adventure Week to four Jefferson County classrooms, engaging hundreds of 1st-8th graders and their teachers in an arts program that incorporates and enhances existing curriculum by combining theatrical play and skill building, and culminates in student performances for schoolmates and parents.
Kitsap Home Builders Foundation: $10,000 to support a workforce development program for 18-24-year-olds, which aims to train and prepare young adults for careers in construction, address an industrywide skills gap, boost employment opportunities, and enhance earning potential and economic mobility.
Kitsap Homes of Compassion: $5,000 to establish the Resident Rental Assistance Fund, covering move-in costs and emergency rental assistance to help low-income residents secure and maintain stable, affordable housing.
Kitsap Immigrant Assistance Center: $7,500 to provide housing financial assistance and navigation support to families at risk of eviction in Clallam, Jefferson, and Kitsap Counties.
Kitsap Regional Library Foundation: $5,000 to support ‘To the Library,’ introducing all 3rd and 6th graders in Kitsap County Public Schools to the library through in-school visits and library field trips, connecting 5,000 students with all the resources and learning opportunities the library has to offer.
Max Higbee Center: $5,000 to make necessary upgrades to the facility that serves more than 200 Whatcom County teens and adults living with developmental disabilities annually.
New Day Ministry: $5,000 to provide nutritious, high-quality foods to more than 900 low-income individuals, seniors, children, and families in Kitsap County.
Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding: $7,500 to develop curriculum that teaches new and seasoned marine technicians from Clallam, Jefferson, and Kitsap Counties how to work with rapidly changing battery technology and providing a pathway to living wage jobs in the maritime trades.
Rebuilding Hope Sexual Assault: $7,500 to provide critical programs and services that address sexual violence in Kitsap County, serving approximately 300 survivors annually with 24/7 victim advocacy and therapy, and providing prevention education to hundreds more in the wider community.
South Kitsap School District/West Sound STEM Network: $10,000 to deliver STEM Like ME! programs to 4,500 Clallam, Jefferson, and Kitsap County middle schoolers, connecting them with industry role models and hands-on STEM activities, and inspiring and creating future leaders.
Whatcom Family & Community Network: $12,500 to help reduce suicide and promote mental well-being by providing trainings for middle and high school students, and workshops for adults and youth.
YEA Music: $5,000 to support the sixth annual Summer Music Camps in Jefferson County, offered free of charge to more than fifty 4th through 12th graders.
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About First Fed Foundation:
First Fed Foundation is a private charitable corporation that began making grants in 2015, thanks to a generous gift valued at nearly $12 million from the parent company of First Fed, when the bank was converted to a publicly traded company.
The Foundation supports nonprofits, tribes, school districts, and government agencies that provide critical, timely assistance, and build a brighter future for low- to moderate-income, disadvantaged, and/or marginalized persons and families in Clallam, Jefferson, Kitsap, and Whatcom Counties, and the city of Bellevue. Giving totals $7,601,500 to date, and has been allocated to the following funding priorities:
$2,800,000 to community development projects.
$2,014,300 to organizations addressing homelessness and the availability of and access to affordable housing.
$1,317,200 to organizations providing a wide array of critical, life-enhancing support to members of our communities.
$1,250,000 to efforts that stimulate and support jobs and economic development.
$220,000 to organizations that addressed hardships caused or exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Click here for a video about First Fed Foundation’s first ten years of grantmaking.
About First Fed, the Foundation’s sole donor:
First Fed is a local community bank in Washington serving customers and communities since 1923, with 16 locations in Clallam, Jefferson, King, Kitsap, and Whatcom Counties. First Fed is a subsidiary of First Northwest Bancorp (FNWB), a holding company for the bank and other investments.
First Fed has a 102-year history of investing in its local communities. With the commitment to creating well-being and prosperity for its employees, customers, and communities, First Fed and First Fed Foundation contributed over $10 million to nonprofits in the past ten years. First Fed employees—supported by the bank with up to three paid days of volunteering each year—collectively donated 25,000 hours of volunteer service over the past five years to more than 400 organizations throughout the Pacific Northwest.
For more information, contact Jan Simon, Executive Director, at Jan.Simon@FirstFedCF.org, 360-417-3112, or visit www.FirstFedFoundation.org.