Strategic grants focus on the community’s most pressing needs, including supporting families with children, preparing for a growing aging population and responding to substance use disorder.
FREDERICK, MD – Dec. 3, 2025: The Community Foundation of Frederick County is excited to announce that it awarded more than $476,000 in strategic grants to 21 area nonprofits dedicated to improving lives and enhancing Frederick County.
The Community Foundation’s strategic grants focus on supporting families with children, preparing for a growing aging population, and responding to substance use disorder. Within each of these areas, preference was given to applications that supported access to affordable housing, addressed mental health needs, and/or alleviated disparities in service delivery. Generous donors who have created unrestricted funds trust the Community Foundation to award grants that address the community’s most pressing needs. These partners are dedicated to improving lives across Frederick County and their unrestricted support makes our work possible.
Strategic grant funding supporting families with children was provided to:
Advocates for Homeless Families, Inc.: $30,000 to support salaries for case managers who help families experiencing homelessness achieve stability.
Beyond Shelter Frederick: $30,000 to provide shelter and housing support for families with children who are experiencing homelessness.
Blessings in a Backpack, Frederick Chapter: $17,394.03 to support children from low-income households that are experiencing food insecurity.
Boys and Girls Club of Frederick County: $12,605.97 to provide after-school educational enrichment programs to middle school students in Brunswick.
Centro Hispano de Frederick: $30,000 for a staff position that provides support to immigrant populations who are navigating health and human service needs.
City Youth Matrix: $10,000 to support low-income and Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed (ALICE) families by focusing on improving children’s learning and stability through workshops, family dinners, and other resources.
Heartly House, Inc.: $15,000 to prevent abuse and support affected families through education, crisis help, advocacy, and referrals; and $20,297.13 to provide counseling for families experiencing trauma through domestic violence and/or physical/sexual abuse.
Housing Authority of the City of Frederick: $20,135.80 to provide support to low-income and Asset Limited, Income-Constrained, Employed (ALICE) families as they work towards housing stability.
Literacy Council of Frederick County, MD: $10,000 for staff positions that help adults develop essential literacy skills so they can provide for their families and increase opportunities that will contribute to their overall wellbeing.
Maryland Food Bank: $20,000 to provide support for food-insecure families through food pantries at six schools.
Mental Health Association of Frederick County: $5,000 to help first-time moms by providing home visits, mental health services and community connections.
Mission of Mercy: $25,000 to provide free medical and dental care for families with children who are asset limited income constrained employed (ALICE).
Seton Center: $9,702.87 to assist families with financial assistance and life skills education.
Spanish Speaking Community of Maryland, Inc.: $25,000 to educate and support low-income, Spanish-speaking parents and their children who are victims of trafficking and abuse as they become self-sufficient and empowered to advocate for themselves.
Strategic grant funding that supports preparing for a growing aging population was provided to:
Daybreak Adult Day Services: $24,681.59 to subsidize the cost of attending adult medical day care and programs for lower-income seniors with age-related impairments.
Habitat for Humanity: $20,000 to help lower-income seniors age in place safely by providing essential home repairs and accessibility modifications.
Mission of Mercy: $25,000 to provide free medical care, dental care, and prescription medications for seniors who are uninsured and underinsured.
Seton Center: $20,000 to provide seniors with dental care and educational activities.
Supporting Older Adults Through Resources, Inc. (SOAR): $22,000 to assist lower-income seniors with resources and financial assistance to meet their basic needs.
YMCA of Frederick County: $5,000 to support people with Parkinson’s Disease through programs that build strength, cognition, confidence and community.
Strategic grant funding to support responding to substance use disorder (SUD) was provided to:
On Our Own of Frederick County: $37,500 to expand services for individuals recovering from substance use disorder through peer support services, advocacy, and community resource navigation assistance.
Phoenix Foundation of Maryland: $12,508.95 for the recovery high school that meets academic state requirements within a sober supportive environment for adolescents in early recovery from a substance use disorder.
The Ranch: $30,000 to provide transportation for adult males with substance use disorders.
As a leader in grant and scholarship funding, The Community Foundation of Frederick County has given back more than $111 million to the community since 1986. To learn more about how the Community Foundation impacts Frederick County, visit www.FrederickCountyGives.org.