Freeport-McMoRan is pleased to announce the Freeport-McMoRan Foundation has awarded nearly $2.9 million to 41 projects in Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico through our Community Investment Fund, including $310,000 in Lake, Summit and Chaffee counties.
Recipient organizations will receive their monetary awards and be recognized by Freeport-McMoRan and members of the Community Investment Committees during grant presentations this winter.
“The Freeport-McMoRan Foundation aims to provide resources, of which funding is only one part, to support communities and organizations as they focus on actions they can take to build resilience and the range of skills that may be needed to respond to opportunities and challenges,” said Tracy Bame, President, Freeport-McMoRan Foundation.
The Freeport-McMoRan Foundation works to create a funding process that supports applicants and encourages them to think about the impact that will come from an investment in their work. This moves beyond reporting on outputs, but rather thinking through what change can occur from the work that will be done.
“Throughout 2022, we continued conversations with community stakeholders and partner organizations about the path to increasing resilience in their local communities. While the unknowns of a post-COVID reality persisted as an ongoing threat to resilience, partners also explored other topics that have and will affect their future well-being, such as the energy transition and climate change, mine transitions, economic diversification, and the changing future of work,” Bame said.
Community Investment Funds are led by seven to nine local leaders representing diverse organizations and two to three local Freeport-McMoRan representatives who determine grant recipients. These community leaders are selected by members of the local Community Partnership Panel, a stakeholder engagement process established by Freeport-McMoRan more than 15 years ago to foster open and ongoing dialogue with the community. The process allows the company and the community to work together to develop thoughtful solutions that address community needs.
Since 2012, more than $4.2 million has been invested through the Freeport-McMoRan Foundation in Lake, Summit, Chaffee and Eagle Counties. The funds have been awarded to programs and projects that build community resilience and capacity. In 2022, $310,000 was awarded to the following grant recipients:
Chaffee County Economic Development Corporation
Future of Work Bootcamp – $30,000: Funding supports the placement of students into meaningful work-based learning opportunities with local employers, exposing them to the world of work that is available in their community and helping them to understand the pathways necessary to attain that work.
Chaffee Housing Trust
Railyard Affordable Home Ownership Program – $85,000: Funding will increase the inventory of permanently affordable homes in Leadville, while also providing wraparound services to support individuals and families in their endeavor to purchase a home.
Cloud City Conservation Center
Energy Resource Center – $25,000: Cloud City Conservation Center will work with households in Lake County to make residences as safe and energy efficient as possible, helping residents to understand how energy efficiency also supports climate resilience.
Get Outdoors Leadville
Nature-Based Learning Program – $20,000:Programming will increase the potential for students of Hispanic / Latino origin, English language learners and lower-income students to achieve grade-level science proficiency through the integration of nature-based learning opportunities into the school day.
Keystone Science School
Summit Day Camp – $20,000: Summit Day Camp provides safe and enriching summer opportunities for youth that allow parents / caregivers to maintain employment and local businesses to retain employees.
Lake County Community Fund
Lake County Nonprofit Training Project – $20,000: Funding will support the diversification of nonprofit boards through proactive outreach and training of new and existing board members as a way to help ensure community representation and inclusion on those boards.
Summit Community Care Clinic (SCCC)
Lake County School District Critical Behavioral Health Services – $80,000: Behavioral health services will be enhanced through SCCC’s Lake County School District Health Center, meeting the expanding behavioral health needs of elementary, intermediate and high school students in Lake County.
Summit Family Resource Center
Sol Center at Alta Verde – $30,000: Funding supports Summit Family Resource Center’s capital campaign to create a single campus to meet the social service needs of clients more efficiently and effectively.
For more information about Freeport-McMoRan community investments and programs, please contact Nell Wareham at nwareham@fmi.com or visit FreeportInMyCommunity.com.
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