Strengthening Our Communities Since 2015

First Fed Foundation (formerly First Federal Community Foundation), a private charitable corporation, began making grants in 2015, thanks to a generous gift valued at $12 million from the parent company of First Fed, when the bank was converted to a publicly traded company.

Committed to creating broad impact that benefits low- to moderate-income, disadvantaged, and/or marginalized persons or families in Clallam, Jefferson, Kitsap, and Whatcom Counties, and the city of Bellevue, the Foundation has awarded, from 2015 through Spring 2023, $6,401,500 in grants to nonprofits, government and tribal organizations and school districts in the following funding priorities:

     $1,606,300 to organizations addressing homelessness and the availability of and access to affordable housing;

     $2,540,000 to community development projects;

     $1,015,200 to organizations providing a wide array of critical, life-enhancing support to our communities;

     $1,020,000 to efforts that stimulate and support economic development;

     $220,000 to organizations that addressed hardships caused and exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

For a full list of grants awarded since our inception in 2015, click here.

2023 Contributions

Housing & Homelessness Grants Awarded:

Habitat for Humanity in Whatcom County: $50,000 to fund construction of the first eight townhomes in Mateo Meadows, a 3.48-acre, 30-townhome, mixed-income community in Everson, building a pathway to homeownership for eligible families with approximately 32 parents and kids, earning between 30% AMI – 130% AMI.

Kitsap Legal Services: $25,000 for additional attorney representation and support staff to provide free legal assistance and representation to low-income tenants at risk of losing their housing.

Community Development Grants Awarded:

Bellevue Schools Foundation: $25,000 to provide tuition assistance for 25-35 low-income and/or homeless students, ages 3-5, to attend preschool for a full school day or extended workday.

Bellingham Food Bank: $25,000 to provide people who are menstruating with the period support products they need and cannot afford to purchase.

Forks Community Food Bank: $25,000 to support the food bank in providing milk, eggs, butter, and bread to the more than 16,000 families, children, and elderly clients annually.

Olympic Medical Center Foundation: $35,000 to provide more low-income patients undergoing cancer treatment with support for rent, utilities, medication, transportation, lodging, and other essentials.

Olympic Peninsula YMCA: $25,000 to purchase an outdoor, walk-in cooler to store perishable food used to provide nearly 3,000 food boxes to as many as 175 food-insecure East Jefferson County families during spring, summer, and winter non-school days.

Port Angeles Food Bank: $25,000 to increase the quality and variety of food included in Friday Food Bags, which provide food to 300+ Port Angeles School District students every weekend during the school year.

Community Support Grants Awarded:

Bainbridge Artisan Resource Network: $5,000 to support the free monthly Teen Night program, which offers confidence-building, creative, and social opportunities for 60 to 80 youth throughout the 2023-2024 school year.

Cares of Washington: $7,500 to fund Community Inclusion and Employment Services for ten new clients to become involved in their communities, develop relevant work skills, secure employment, and build financial and personal independence and self-sufficiency.

Dove House Advocacy Services: $7,500 to support the Emergency Food & Supplies Project, providing basic necessities to Jefferson County victims of crime and abuse who are in recovery and/or experiencing crisis, so they can focus on healing and rebuilding healthy, hopeful, and self-sufficient lives.

East Jefferson County Conference of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul: $7,500 to respond to the emergency needs of individuals and families who have nowhere else to turn, helping them meet their most basic needs and providing support that can help them keep their homes and jobs, and avoid homelessness.

Helen Haller Elementary School: $5,000 to help fund the Books for Summer reading program, which provides six self-selected books at no cost to all 500 students, helping to prevent the academic skills slide which commonly occurs during summer break and close the achievement gap for students in families who are experiencing economic hardship.

Kathleen Sutton Fund: $5,000 to support women living in Clallam, Jefferson, and Kitsap Counties with the transportation costs incurred in their treatment for cancer.

Kitsap Cancer Services: $7,500 to provide 20 patients undergoing cancer treatment with grants for transportation, medications and medical specialty items, copays, pre-treatment emergency dental care, groceries, rent, utilities, and other basic needs.

Kitsap Immigrant Assistance Center: $5,000 to support the Emergency Assistance Fund, providing rent and food assistance to immigrant families unable to access other assistance options.

Max Higbee Center: $5,000 to increase Weekday Program staff in order to provide a higher level of support and care to the current 146 participants who are living with developmental disabilities in Whatcom County.

National Alliance on Mental Illness of Whatcom County: $5,000 to underwrite a portion of a bilingual Community Outreach Specialist in engaging members of the Latinx community in taking part in no-cost mental wellness initiatives.

Operation Homefront Inc.: $5,000 to support the Back-to-School Brigade, providing backpacks and school supplies to 350 military children in Kitsap County.

2022 Contributions

Housing & Homelessness Grants Awarded:

Clallam-Jefferson Pro Bono Lawyers: $25,000 to provide legal advice and representation to low-income Clallam and Jefferson County renters who are at risk of losing their housing and having an eviction on their record, making it nearly impossible to find safe, affordable housing in the future.

Eastside Legal Assistance Program: $25,000 to provide legal services to 60 individuals facing civil legal problems that impact the stability of their housing in Bellevue in 2023.

Housing Resources Bainbridge: $50,000 to support 31 households with approximately 65 individuals to become owners of new, permanently affordable homes located on Bainbridge Island, near shopping, schools and parks.

Kulshan Community Land Trust: $30,000 to provide the support necessary for approximately 15 low- to moderate-income households in Whatcom County to purchase affordable homes of their own in 2023-2024.

Mercy Housing Northwest: $100,000 to fund construction of Millworks Family Housing & Early Learning Center, 83 units of permanently affordable family housing and a 6-classroom early learning center in Bellingham’s downtown waterfront.

Road2Home: $25,000 to provide six months of funding for the Allyship Program, assisting those living on the streets in Bellingham with navigating social services, developing sustainable life skills, and providing support for healthcare, transportation and emergencies.

Scarlet Road: $25,000 to house 12 or more victims of sex trafficking and their dependents in Kitsap County in 2023 with a flexible rental assistance program, while supporting long-term stability through wraparound case management.

Community Development Grants Awarded:

Bainbridge Island Child Care Centers: $25,000 to fund capital improvements, allowing the Center to continue its programs at its current rates in a safe and secure facility.

Boys & Girls Clubs of Whatcom County: $25,000 to purchase the childcare facility and surrounding property on Yew Street in Bellingham, ensuring the expansion of affordable, quality childcare services.

Clallam County Fire Protection District No. 4: $25,000 to fully fund the purchase of a gurney with a battery-operated lift capability, decreasing the risk of injury to volunteers and patients.

North Olympic Healthcare Network: $25,000 to support the renovation of the new Eastside Health Clinic, which provides community members, regardless of ability to pay, with full-spectrum primary care, behavioral health services and nurse care management, expanded COVID testing/vaccination and telehealth capacity, and eye care services.

Community Support Grants Awarded:

Assistance League of Bellingham: $5,000 to support Operation School Bell, with the goal of improving confidence and encouraging school attendance by providing low-income and homeless students from seven Whatcom County school districts and The Lummi Nation with new clothing and shoes, so they can focus on school and not their need for basic clothing.

College Success Foundation: $5,000 to provide emergency funding to low-income students in Port Angeles and Bremerton, helping to stabilize their families and supporting them to stay on track in school.

Communities In Schools of Whatcom-Skagit: $7,500 to provide clothing, school supplies, personal care items, learning resources, counseling support and more to 4,000+ students of five middle and high schools in the Bellingham and Ferndale school districts.

Feiro Marine Life Center: $5,000 to support a place-based, hands-on experiential education program for approximately 400 students from 18 fourth grade public, homeschool, and alternative classes from Crescent, Port Angeles, and Sequim districts.

Financial Beginnings Washington: $5,000 to fund the delivery of the free Financial Foundations program to 1,000 youth and young adults in Clallam, Kitsap, and Whatcom Counties, providing detailed information on key financial concepts and resources intended to increase financial literacy, stability, and independence.

Foster Hearts: $5,000 to provide 100 children in foster care in Whatcom County with funding for sports fees, athletic equipment, classes/lessons, school field trips, GED fees, high school graduation expenses, and more, so that they’re able to participate in extracurricular activities during the 2022-2023 school year.

Growing Veterans: $7,500 to refurbish the damaged hoop house and procure accessible tools and equipment, increasing the sustainability and impact of the Dirt Therapy Program and donations to Whatcom County food banks.

Jefferson Teen Center: $5,000 to launch a new summer program and maintain programming for middle and high schoolers during the 2022-2023 school year.

Kitsap Regional Library Foundation: $5,000 to fund the purchase of backpacks, books and transportation so that more than 2,500 third-graders from 38 Kitsap County schools can connect with their local library branch, get excited about all the library offers, and feel supported during the developmental milestone of transitioning from learning to read to reading to learning.

Kitsap Sexual Assault Center: $5,000 to provide emergency assistance for 165 victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, and other crimes in Jefferson and Kitsap Counties in 2023.

Lutheran Community Services Northwest: $10,000 to support the Healthy Families Project, providing basic needs assistance, eviction mitigation, financial education, and employment support to 10-15 families, or 30-50 individuals in Clallam County who are low-income and homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, in 2023.

New Day Ministry: $5,000 to provide individualized food and meals at no cost to elderly Kitsap County community members experiencing food insecurity.

North Olympic Foster Parent Association: $5,000 to provide backpacks, school supplies, gifts for the Magical Gift Program and items for the Annual Holiday Dinner, to support Clallam County’s foster children and foster families.

Olympic Angels: $5,000 to recruit and match 16 or more community volunteers with Clallam and Jefferson County foster kids and their foster families, providing long-term mentorships, relationships and support.

RE Sources: $10,000 aimed at improving the lives of underserved and impoverished youth and adults in Whatcom County, funding will support the recruitment of eight to ten trainees and provide them with individualized workforce and job seeker training, one-on-one mentoring, and coaching to collectively design and build reclaimed and upcycled products and secure living-wage jobs in 2023.

South Kitsap Helpline: $5,000 to rent two temporary storage units so that Helpline can continue distributing nearly one million pounds of food to Port Orchard area residents in 2023, while undertaking a capital campaign to build a new, larger and better-equipped food distribution and service center.

The Coffee Oasis: $15,000 to respond to the Surgeon General’s December 2021 Advisory stating that “the effect of COVID on the mental health of America’s adolescents has been devastating,” by providing staff to reach out to and support 300 youth in crisis in Kitsap County.

Trinity United Methodist Church: $15,000 to fund the roof replacement for the areas used by two preschool programs, making it safe, warm and dry, without passing along the costs to the families being served.

Vamos Outdoors Project: $5,000 to provide summer programs, in partnership with the Lynden and Bellingham School Districts, for 80 Latine, migrant, and multilingual youth.

Whatcom Center for Early Learning: $7,500 to offer children with disabilities and developmental delays, ages 0-3, opportunities for socialization, developmental support and peer learning, helping them live to their fullest potential, and provide their caregivers with skills, information and support.

Whatcom Family YMCA: $7,500 to help fund the free food delivery program which will, in 2023, deliver 62 boxes of quality food each week, mitigating the dire food insecurity crisis sweeping through Whatcom County.

Working Image dba New Image: $5,000 to purchase new and gently-used plus-sized clothing and undergarments for donation to 40 to 50 women in Clallam, Jefferson, and Kitsap Counties who are unable to adequately clothe themselves because of unemployment, underemployment, homelessness, or other factors, including fleeing domestic violence.

Economic Development Grants Awarded:

Center for Inclusive Entrepreneurship: $50,000 to support up to 60 underserved Clallam and Jefferson County entrepreneurs in starting small businesses that will generate revenue, create jobs and contribute to a more equitable, sustainable, and resilient community.

Northwest Maritime Center: $80,000 to help fund the pilot year of expanded fleet operations, supporting workforce development opportunities for Clallam, Jefferson and Kitsap County youth, and stimulating economic development and enhancing visitor experiences in Port Townsend’s business districts.

Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding: $30,000 funding a dedicated Financial Aid Officer to help incoming classes access federal student aid, veterans’ benefits, third-party scholarships, and other sources of tuition assistance, creating access to workforce skills for students from Clallam, Jefferson and Kitsap Counties.

Olympic College Foundation: $35,000 to expand the Promise Program to an additional Kitsap County high school, so that 30 additional low-income students can complete their first year of college tuition-free.

Port Angeles Waterfront Center dba Field Arts & Event Hall: $50,000 to fund the costs associated with achieving LEED Certification, which will lower operating and maintenance costs by as much as 20% compared to typical commercial buildings, reduce energy use, emissions and waste, conserve water, prioritize safer materials, lower the community’s exposure to toxins, and qualify Field Hall for several large grants from Washington State.

Roxy Bremerton Foundation dba Historic Roxy Theater: $25,000 to complete the acquisition of the Historic Roxy Theater and sustain its cultural, entertainment and economic development role in the redevelopment of downtown Bremerton/4th Street as Quincy Square.

For a full list of grants awarded since our inception in 2015, click here.

FIRST FED FOUNDATION AWARDS $400,000 IN FALL GRANTS

Total Giving Since 2015 Surpasses $6 Million

Port Angeles, Washington – First Fed Foundation (formerly First Federal Community Foundation) announced today that it has awarded 22 organizations a total of $400,000 in funding in its fall grant cycle.

“The nonprofits receiving grants are bringing housing, help, and hope to community members in Clallam, Jefferson, Kitsap and Whatcom Counties, and the city of Bellevue,” said Norm Tonina, President of First Fed Foundation’s Board of Directors.

“In this grant cycle, we focused our giving on several of the greatest needs in our communities, including averting homelessness, increasing the availability of and access to affordable housing, addressing food insecurity and the lack of childcare, and supporting opportunities to stimulate economic development,” continued Mr. Tonina.

“The Foundation is committed to supporting nonprofit, tribal, and government agencies that provide critical, timely assistance, while also building a brighter future. We are proud and privileged to partner with them in sustaining our communities,” noted Jan Simon, the Foundation’s Executive Director. “This fall’s contributions bring the Foundation’s giving in 2022 to $800,000, and grantmaking since 2015 to $6,101,500,” she continued.

Recipients of First Fed Foundation’s Fall 2022 grant awards are:

Assistance League of Bellingham: $5,000 Community Support grant to provide low-income and homeless students from seven Whatcom County school districts and The Lummi Nation with new shoes and clothing.

Clallam County Fire Protection District No. 4: $25,000 Community Development grant to purchase a gurney with a battery-operated lift capability, decreasing the risk of injury to volunteers and patients.

Clallam-Jefferson Pro Bono Lawyers: $25,000 Homelessness & Affordable Housing grant to provide legal advice and representation to low-income Clallam and Jefferson County renters who are at risk of losing their housing.

Eastside Legal Assistance Program: $25,000 Homelessness & Affordable Housing grant to provide legal advice and representation to Bellevue, Washington renters who are at risk of losing their housing.

Feiro Marine Life Center: $5,000 Community Support grant to support a hands-on education program for approximately 400 fourth-grade students from Crescent, Port Angeles, and Sequim school districts.

Field Arts & Event Hall: $50,000 Economic Development grant to underwrite the costs to achieve LEED Certification, resulting in lower operating and maintenance costs; reducing energy and water usage, emissions and waste; and lowering Clallam County’s exposure to toxins.

Financial Beginnings Washington: $5,000 Community Support grant to support free financial literacy programs for 1,000 youth and young adults in Clallam, Kitsap, and Whatcom Counties.

Foster Hearts: $5,000 Community Support grant to underwrite costs for sports equipment, classes, lessons, school field trips, GED and graduation expenses, and more for Whatcom County foster children.

Kitsap Regional Library Foundation: $5,000 Community Support grant to fund backpacks, books and transportation so that more than 2,500 third-graders from 38 Kitsap County schools can connect with and visit their local library branch.

Kitsap Sexual Assault Center: $5,000 Community Support grant to provide emergency assistance for victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, and other crimes in Jefferson and Kitsap Counties.

Kulshan Community Land Trust: $30,000 Homelessness & Affordable Housing grant to provide the support needed for 15 low- to moderate-income households in Whatcom County to purchase their own permanently affordable home.

Lutheran Community Services Northwest: $10,000 Community Support grant to provide basic needs assistance for 10-15 families, or 30-50 individuals in Clallam County who are low-income and homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.

Mercy Housing Northwest: $100,000 Homelessness & Affordable Housing grant to fund construction of Millworks Family Housing & Early Learning Center, 83 units of permanently affordable family housing, and a 6-classroom early learning center on Bellingham’s downtown waterfront.

New Day Ministry: $5,000 Community Support grant to provide individualized food and meals at no cost to elderly Kitsap County community members experiencing food insecurity.

New Image: $5,000 Community Support grant to purchase new and gently used plus-sized clothing and undergarments for donation to low-income and homeless women in Clallam, Jefferson, and Kitsap Counties.

RE Sources: $10,000 Community Support grant aimed at improving the lives of underserved and impoverished youth and adults in Whatcom County by providing individualized workforce and job seeker training, mentoring, and skills training to secure living-wage jobs.

Roxy Theater: $25,000 Economic Development grant to acquire Kitsap County’s Historic Roxy Theater, helping sustain its cultural, entertainment and economic development role in the redevelopment of downtown Bremerton.

Scarlet Road: $25,000 Homelessness & Affordable Housing grant to house victims of sex trafficking and their dependents in Kitsap County, and provide case management services that foster long-term stability.

South Kitsap Helpline: $5,000 Community Support grant to rent two temporary storage units so that Helpline can continue distributing nearly one million pounds of food annually to Port Orchard area residents.

Trinity United Methodist Church: $15,000 Community Support grant to replace the roof in the areas used by two preschool programs, making it safe, warm and dry, and helping address the critical lack of quality childcare in Jefferson County.

Whatcom Center for Early Learning: $7,500 Community Support grant to offer children with disabilities and developmental delays opportunities for socialization, developmental support, and peer learning, while providing their caregivers with information and support.

Whatcom Family YMCA: $7,500 Community Support grant to support the free delivery of quality food to more than 60 households weekly, mitigating the food insecurity crisis.

###

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.

Committed to creating broad impact that benefits low-to-moderate-income, disadvantaged and/or marginalized persons or families in the communities in which First Fed, the Foundation’s sole donor, operates full-service branches, the Foundation has contributed, since 2015, more than $6 million to the following funding priorities:

$1,531,300 to organizations addressing homelessness and the availability of and access to affordable housing;

$2,380,000 to community development projects;

$950,200 to organizations providing a wide array of necessary support to our communities;

$1,020,000 to efforts that stimulate and support economic development;

$220,000 to organizations that addressed hardships caused and exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

For more information, contact Jan Simon, Executive Director, at jan.simon@firstfedcf.org or 360-417-3112 or visit firstfedfoundation.org/

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 long history of investing in its local communities. With a vision of creating wellbeing and prosperity for its employees, customers, and communities, First Fed and First Fed Foundation contributed over $1.1 million to nonprofits in 2021. Also in 2021, First Fed employees donated 4,400 hours of volunteer service in the communities First Fed serves.

For more information, contact Jan Simon, Executive Director, at jan.simon@firstfedcf.org or 360-417-3112.

While the world began to reopen in 2021 and we started adjusting to “the new normal,” for many of our friends and neighbors in Clallam, Jefferson, Kitsap, and Whatcom Counties, “normal” life involved great hardship and extreme difficulty.

The number of people in need of medical and mental health services, housing, and food grew exponentially, as did the need for emergency assistance to cover necessities such as utility bills, car maintenance, and childcare, as well as debilitating unforeseen expenses.

Additionally, the organizations that serve as lifelines for our communities found themselves challenged as never before. One nonprofit leader shared her experience, saying, “I have had the privilege of working with homeless families as an Executive Director for 12 years, and the past two years have been the hardest by an almost incomprehensible margin.”

In this annual report, we highlight the heroic organizations that helped our communities weather the storms of 2021, that envision a more hopeful future, and provide the tools and support to attain it. These nonprofits are creative, agile, resourceful, and resilient, and we are proud to have awarded them a total of $860,000 for projects and programs that sustained our communities with housing, help, and hope.

Click below to view the 2021 Annual Report:

FIRST FEDERAL COMMUNITY FOUNDATION AWARDS 17 NONPROFITS A TOTAL OF $400,000 IN GRANTS

Total Giving Since 2015 Surpasses $5.7 Million

Port Angeles, Washington – First Federal Community Foundation today announced it has selected 17 nonprofit organizations that are enhancing the quality of life in Clallam, Jefferson, Kitsap and Whatcom Counties to share a total of $400,000 in funding during its current spring grant cycle.

“Having received 44 applications totaling more than $1.6 million in funding requests, and with great need in our communities, the awards process was challenging,” said Norman J. Tonina, President of the Foundation’s Board of Directors.

“As our communities are still recovering from the toll of COVID, the Foundation focused its giving on supporting youth, veterans, families and the uninsured in the face of devastating health and financial impacts of the pandemic,” continued Mr. Tonina.

“We also supported innovative projects that are intended to stimulate economic recovery and sustainability, and efforts to expand access to housing and quality childcare,” said Jan Simon, Foundation Executive Director.

Recipients of First Federal Community Foundation’s Spring 2022 grant awards are:

Bainbridge Island Child Care Centers: $25,000 Community Development grant to fund capital improvements, allowing the Center to continue its programs at its current rates in a safe and secure facility.

Boys & Girls Clubs of Whatcom County: $25,000 Community Development grant to purchase the childcare facility and surrounding property on Yew Street in Bellingham, ensuring the expansion of affordable, quality childcare services.

Center for Inclusive Entrepreneurship: $50,000 Economic Development grant to support up to 60 underserved Clallam and Jefferson County entrepreneurs in starting small businesses that will generate revenue, create jobs and contribute to a more equitable, sustainable, and resilient community.

College Success Foundation: $5,000 Community Support grant to provide emergency funding to low-income students in Port Angeles and Bremerton, helping to stabilize their families and supporting them to stay on track in school.

Communities In Schools of Whatcom-Skagit: $7,500 Community Support grant to provide clothing, school supplies, personal care items, learning resources, counseling support and more to 4,000+ students of five middle and high schools in the Bellingham and Ferndale school districts.

Growing Veterans: $7,500 Community Support grant to refurbish the damaged hoop house and procure accessible tools and equipment, increasing the sustainability and impact of the Dirt Therapy Program and donations to Whatcom County food banks.

Housing Resources Bainbridge: $50,000 Affordable Housing grant to support 31 households with approximately 65 individuals to become owners of new, permanently affordable homes located on Bainbridge Island, near shopping, schools and parks.

Jefferson Teen Center: $5,000 Community Support grant to launch a new summer program and maintain programming for middle and high schoolers during the 2022-2023 school year.

North Olympic Foster Parent Association: $5,000 Community Support grant to provide backpacks, school supplies, gifts for the Magical Gift Program and items for the Annual Holiday Dinner, to support Clallam County’s foster children and foster families.

North Olympic Healthcare Network: $25,000 Community Development grant to support the renovation of the new Eastside Health Clinic, which provides community members, regardless of ability to pay, with full-spectrum primary care, behavioral health services and nurse care management, expanded COVID testing/vaccination and telehealth capacity, and eye care services.

Northwest Maritime Center: $80,000 Economic Development grant to help fund the pilot year of expanded fleet operations, supporting workforce development opportunities for Clallam, Jefferson and Kitsap County youth, and stimulating economic development and enhancing visitor experiences in Port Townsend’s business districts.

Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding: $30,000 Economic Development grant funding a dedicated Financial Aid Officer to help incoming classes access federal student aid, veterans’ benefits, third-party scholarships, and other sources of tuition assistance, creating access to workforce skills for students from Clallam, Jefferson and Kitsap Counties.

Olympic Angels: $5,000 Community Support grant to recruit and match 16 or more community volunteers with Clallam and Jefferson County foster kids and their foster families, providing long-term mentorships, relationships and support.

Olympic College Foundation: $35,000 Economic Development grant to expand the Promise Program to an additional Kitsap County high school, so that 30 additional low-income students can complete their first year of college tuition-free.

Road2Home: $25,000 Affordable Housing grant to provide six months of funding for the Allyship Program, assisting those living on the streets in Bellingham with navigating social services, developing sustainable life skills, and providing support for healthcare, transportation and emergencies.

The Coffee Oasis: $15,000 Community Support grant to respond to the Surgeon General’s December 2021 Advisory stating that “the effect of COVID on the mental health of America’s adolescents has been devastating,” by providing staff to reach out to and support 300 youth in crisis in Kitsap County.

Vamos Outdoors Project: $5,000 Community Support grant to provide summer programs, in partnership with the Lynden and Bellingham School Districts, for 80 Latine, migrant, and multilingual youth.

Since it began making grants in 2015, the Foundation’s giving totals $5,701,500. Committed to creating broad impact that benefits low-to-moderate-income, disadvantaged and/or marginalized persons or families in Clallam, Jefferson, Kitsap and Whatcom Counties, the Foundation has awarded grants to nonprofits, government and tribal organizations and school districts in the following funding priorities:

     $1,326,300 to organizations addressing homelessness and the availability of and access to affordable housing;

     $2,355,000 to community development projects;

     $855,200 to organizations providing a wide array of necessary support to our communities;

     $945,000 to efforts that stimulate and support economic development;

     $220,000 to organizations addressing hardships caused and exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

About First Federal Community Foundation:

First Federal Community 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.

“Since 2015, First Federal Community Foundation has awarded more than $5.7 million to nonprofit, tribal, and government agencies in Clallam, Jefferson, Kitsap and Whatcom Counties. The Foundation’s partnership with these dedicated organizations to bring resources to those in need has never been more crucial,” said Karen McCormick, Foundation Board Member.

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 long history of investing in its local communities. With a vision of creating wellbeing and prosperity for its employees, customers, and communities, First Fed and First Federal Community Foundation contributed over $1.1 million to nonprofits in 2021. Also in 2021, First Fed employees donated 4,400 hours of volunteer service in the communities First Fed serves.

For more information, contact Jan Simon, Executive Director, at jan.simon@firstfedcf.org or 360-417-3112

Thank you to the following publications for spreading the word about First Fed Foundation’s grant awards!

Peninsula Daily News May 23, 2022

Forks Forum May 26, 2022

Whatcom News May 29, 2022

Lynden Tribune June 1, 2022

My Clallam County June 3, 2022

Sequim Gazette June 3, 2022

Kitsap Daily News June 8, 2022

Radio interview with KONP’s Todd Ortloff, June 28, 2022, featuring Karen McCormick, the Foundation’s founding executive director and current board member, and the executive director of the Forks Food Bank, who has served in this volunteer capacity for 30 of the Food Bank’s 50 years: