What began in 2009 as an urgent response to a national economic meltdown grew into a three-year initiative to help the Greater Cincinnati region weather the worst of what was ultimately a cataclysmic economic storm. The Weathering the Economic Storm (WTES) initiative brought together 26 local funders who abandoned their normal  application processes and funding procedures in order to quickly identify and  provide funding support to a variety of critical community needs. 

As we bring WTES to a close we are proud to report that this initiative has touched the lives of nearly 95,000 children, adults and seniors. $4.5 million in grants was awarded to 127 nonprofit organizations in the areas of safety net services, housing stability, early childhood education, organization stabilization. In addition, an investment of $99,000 has already leveraged more than $5.5 million from federal and state sources. 

GCF’s overall investment of $1.7 million leveraged an additional $2.75 million from other local funders and individual contributors.