June 17, 2025
New multi-year, capital support grants target housing needs
The Community Foundation of the Ozarks, in partnership with the Jeannette L. Musgrave Foundation and U.S. Bank Private Wealth Management, presented grants totaling $907,374 on Tuesday, June 17. These grants comprise three high-impact, multi-year grant programs and support for nonprofit capital projects in the Springfield metro area.
Launched in 2021, the Musgrave Multi-Year Impact Grants target specific areas of the late Mrs. Musgrave’s core philanthropic interests through high-impact grantmaking. The Musgrave distribution committee identified “Keys to Housing” as its latest area of focus. This program supports long-term solutions to the lack of affordable housing options in the Springfield area.
The grant recipients and first-year amounts for the “Keys to Housing” program are:
- Crosslines Community Outreach: $25,000 to bolster emergency assistance funding that supports at-risk families with rental assistance, home repairs and application costs for low-income housing.
- Drew Lewis Foundation Inc.: $100,000 to expand the impact of the Blue House Project by renovating houses and providing affordable homeownership opportunities for at least 10 families in Grant Beach and surrounding neighborhoods in northwest Springfield.
- empower: abilities: $75,000 to help individuals with disabilities maintain stable housing and foster long-term independence by providing financial support for rental assistance, move-in expenses, home modifications and essential housing-related costs.
- PFLAG Springfield: $83,000 to launch an initiative that addresses the housing crisis impacting LGBTQIA+ people by hiring a housing coordinator, collaborating with Ekklesia Multi-Cultural House to provide transitional housing opportunities, and to develop and pilot long-term, scalable housing models.
If all agencies meet annual renewal guidelines, the total grants will exceed $840,000 over the three-year period.
Representatives of more than a dozen local nonprofits gathered to receive $907,000 in grants from the Jeannette L. Musgrave Foundation and the Community Foundation of the Ozarks on June 17.
The grant recipients and second-year amounts for the “Opportunities to Thrive” program are:
- Boys and Girls Clubs of Springfield: $50,000 to support organizational restructuring, talent investment and development strategy.
- GLO Center: $50,000 to support the salary of the community services specialist, a new role that will create programs and partnerships to fill gaps in services to LGBTQIA+ people.
- Ozarks Literacy Council: $29,450 to hire a part-time social media manager and to update its website, donor software and email platform.
- Springfield Community Gardens: $19,924 to hire a strategic planning consultant, purchase food hub management software and provide farmers with agricultural training.
Ozarks Food Harvest is also part of the “Opportunities to Thrive” cohort, having received $131,122 last year for improvements to its Full Circle Gardens program. If all agencies meet annual grant renewal guidelines, total grants in this program will exceed $556,000 over the three-year period.
The grant recipients and third-year amounts for the “Student Citizenship” program are:
- History Museum on the Square: $70,000 to connect K–12 students with the past and present through experiential learning. The project’s goals are to help students become informed voters and participatory citizens; comprehend current social issues and challenges; and engage in their civic responsibilities as adults with civility and passion.
- Leadership Springfield: $62,000 to support the Civic Leadership Access Program in partnership with Parkview High School, which will include a multi-step civics education program culminating in a participatory learning experience in Washington, D.C.
OTC Foundation and Springfield Daily Citizen are also part of the “Student Citizenship” cohort. OTC Foundation previously received $35,975 to expand Ozark Tech’s student-run, nonpartisan Politically Active program, and Springfield Daily Citizen received $105,000 to increase civic engagement among young people through thoughtful consumption of media from diverse outlets. Total grants for the “Student Citizen” program exceeded $539,000 over the past three years.
Total grant awards for all Musgrave Multi-Year Impact programs could ultimately exceed $1.9 million.
The CFO and Musgrave Foundation also announced grants from an invitation-only program to support capital projects for nonprofits with missions that align with Mrs. Musgrave’s funding priorities of health care and mental health, and improving quality of life for low-income communities, children and babies, and the unsheltered.
- Crosslines Community Outreach: $50,000 to support renovations associated with moving Safe to Sleep under CCO’s roof.
- The Gathering Tree Inc./Eden Village: $150,000 to support the construction of tiny houses in Eden Village 3.
- Scouting America – Ozark Trails Council: $43,000 to support water system upgrades and roof repairs at Camp Arrowhead.
- Springfield-Greene County Library District: $100,000 to support renovations at the Midtown Carnegie Branch Library.
The grants were announced in Springfield at 300 S. Jefferson Ave., the future home of the CFO. The Musgrave Foundation’s distribution committee is chaired by Rob Baird and includes Emily Bowen-Marler, Emily Denniston, Ferba Lofton, Danny Perches, Peggy Riggs, Michele Risdal-Barnes and Thomas Slaight, with support from CFO staff members Ashley Walden and Ashley Fleming.
The Jeannette L. Musgrave Foundation is a private charitable foundation managed by U.S. Bank Private Wealth Management and administered by the CFO. Since 1983, the Musgrave Foundation has granted more than $21 million to nonprofits in Springfield and southwest Missouri.
