Hilton Foundation approves record number of new grants totaling $38.3 million

--Funding supports 33 organizations, furthering the foundation's strategic initiatives--

AGOURA HILLS, Calif., Dec. 12, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The board of directors of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation recently awarded $38.2 million in grants to a record 33 organizations working in its priority program areas, including Catholic Sisters, Children affected by HIV and AIDS, Foster Youth, Homelessness, Substance Abuse Prevention, Catholic schools, and Disaster Preparedness.  

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"The board's approval of this many grants for the quarter is a validation of the important work our partners carry out in the field," said Ed Cain, Vice President, Grant Programs. "Increasingly, we are being more strategic in our areas of interest, trying to make the biggest difference possible with the resources at our disposal, and making sure that these projects deliver tangible results.  In the past year, the Foundation has reached a landmark $1 billion in total grantmaking since inception, and this latest round of grants shows that we are well on our way to award an additional $1 billion in funding within the next 10 years."

Grants awarded this quarter covered the following strategic initiatives:

Catholic Sisters: The foundation granted a total of $10.4 million to enable Sisters to advance human development more widely and effectively. Of that amount, Catholic Relief Services will receive $3.5 million for its work with Catholic sisters in Kenya, Malawi, and Zambia. The Catholic Volunteer Network will receive $1.7 million to increase the number of sisters by increasing the number of women volunteers. The Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate was awarded $150,000 to support research on Catholic Sisters in the United States. The National Religious Retirement Office will receive $2.5 million to help congregations reduce their retirement-funding shortfalls and assist in the overall care of their retired sisters. The foundation is also committing $2.55 million to the National Religious Vocation Conference to create a "Fund for the Future of Religious Life" to address student debt and other barriers for young people interested in entering religious life.

Children Affected by HIV and AIDS: The foundation awarded more than $5.8 million in total to improve early childhood development outcomes for young children affected by HIV and AIDS in the developing world. This amount includes a $1.5 million grant to the Aga Khan Foundation to build early childhood development capacity for children affected by HIV and AIDS in the Foundation's five target countries (Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Zambia). In addition, Episcopal Relief & Development received $1 million to strengthen and scale-up their promising early childhood development program in new regions of Zambia. The Foundation allocated $1.3 million to International HIV/AIDS Alliance for integration of early childhood development interventions as part of the existing programs of 180 community-based organizations in Kenya. The Pact Institute was awarded $1.49 million to integrate early childhood development via training of caregivers, community workers, and capacity building of community-based organizations in Tanzania. Save the Children Federation will receive $300,000 for training and capacity building to deliver the Essential Package of early childhood development tools to NGOs in Tanzania and Kenya. The final grant in this program area was awarded to Shining Hope For Communities who received $250,000 to strengthen early childhood development programs and linkages to health and social services for young children affected by HIV and AIDS living in Nairobi's Kibera slum.

Foster Youth: Nearly $3 million was committed to forwarding the foundation's goal of achieving healthy and productive lives for transition-age foster youth in New York City and Los Angeles County. The Anti-Recidivism Coalition will receive $400,000 to support advocacy efforts by and on behalf of youth in the foster care and juvenile justice systems. Coalition for Responsible Community Development has been awarded $750,000 to increase the college and career readiness of youth aging out of foster care in South Los Angeles. The Foundation will give $300,000 to iFoster to support the expansion of an online platform serving as a gateway to a continuum of services and support for foster youth in Los Angeles and New York City. Seattle Children's Hospital was selected for a grant of $480,000 to support research into a pilot intervention program designed to prevent pregnancy among foster youth through caregiver training in Los Angeles and New York City. Also, the Youth Policy Institute has been awarded $1 million to provide a continuum of support for older foster youth through the Los Angeles Promise Neighborhoods—President Obama's education and poverty program to transform schools and communities into vibrant centers of opportunity and excellence.

Homelessness: The Foundation has allocated $1.5 million to Mental Health America of Los Angeles to support prioritization and permanent supportive housing efforts in the city of Long Beach.

Substance Abuse: As part of its mission to set youth on a path toward healthy living by focusing on substance abuse prevention and early intervention, the foundation has awarded $7.75 million to three programs supporting the Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) model. Community Catalyst will receive $2.5 million for the development of multi-state consumer-led advocacy campaigns to educate policymakers about the SBIRT approach for adolescents and to reduce barriers to implementation as part of state healthcare reforms. The New Hampshire Charitable Foundation was awarded $2.25 million to expand SBIRT for adolescents in New Hampshire in community health settings and advocate for state policy changes to sustain financing for this approach. Lastly, $3 million was directed to Treatment Research Institute to enhance and expand the implementation and evaluation of SBIRT in four New York City metro area schools.

The remainder of the grants supported other program areas:

Catholic Schools: The foundation awarded $1 million to St. Monica's Catholic Church to complete site work around the Marilyn Hawley Hilton Courtyard for the St. Monica Catholic Community.

Disaster Preparedness: Harvard University was awarded $400,000 to scale up Harvard Humanitarian Initiative's KoBo Toolbox application suite for improving the coordination and evaluation of disaster response efforts.

Multiple Sclerosis Research: More than $3 million was earmarked for the Foundation's goal of seeking a cure for MS and improving the quality of life of those living with the disease. The Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute received $900,000 for research into the role of serum Vitamin A in halting disease progression in Relapsing-Remitting MS and its role as a factor in promoting remyelination. The UCLA Foundation was awarded $1.6 million for the establishment of a disability-specific pipeline to develop generic, inexpensive neuroprotective drugs to halt the progression of specific disabilities related to MS. The Foundation also committed $885,000 to the University of California, San Francisco to develop a digital portal that manages, accesses, and displays multi-dimensional patient information in a tablet application that quantifies clinical outcomes and predicts disease trajectories for MS patients.

About the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation
The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation was created in 1944 by international business pioneer Conrad N. Hilton, who founded Hilton Hotels and left his fortune to help the world's disadvantaged and vulnerable people. The Foundation currently conducts strategic initiatives in six priority areas: providing safe water, ending chronic homelessness, preventing substance abuse, helping children affected by HIV and AIDS, supporting transition-age youth in foster care, and extending Conrad Hilton's support for the work of Catholic Sisters. Following selection by an independent international jury, the Foundation annually awards the $1.5 million Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize to a nonprofit organization doing extraordinary work to reduce human suffering. From its inception, the Foundation has awarded more than $1 billion in grants, distributing $83 million in the U.S. and around the world in 2012. The Foundation's current assets are in excess of $2.2 billion. For more information, please visit www.hiltonfoundation.org.

Contact: Marc Moorghen, (818) 851-3700, [email protected]

SOURCE Conrad N. Hilton Foundation