Students Award $30,000 Through Community-Based Grantmaking Process

This semester, students in CIVC 400: Capstone in Collaborative Change participated in a hands-on grantmaking process in partnership with the South Cumberland Community Fund (SCCF). Over the course of the term, the class worked together to award $30,000 to nonprofit organizations serving communities across the South Cumberland Plateau.

Students began by reading and discussing grant applications submitted by local organizations. This stage focused on understanding each organization’s work, the communities they serve, and the goals they were trying to advance. Students then prepared for and conducted in-person, on-site interviews, traveling across the Plateau to meet with applicants and learn directly from nonprofit leaders about their work and current challenges.

After completing interviews, the class engaged in a collective decision-making process to determine funding awards. These conversations required students to listen carefully to one another, explain their reasoning, and work toward shared decisions as a group. 

Through this process, students awarded grants to eight organizations: Easy’s Dog Shelter; Housing Sewanee, Inc.; Southeast Tennessee Young Farmers Coalition; Growing Roots; Morton Memorial United Methodist Church; Beersheba Springs Dental Clinic; a collaborative project involving the Town of Tracy City, Grundy Safe Communities Coalition, and SPARK; and Grundy EMS, Inc. Together, these grants support work related to housing, healthcare access, food systems, emergency response, youth engagement, and community well-being.

The grantmaking process concluded with a community celebration breakfast at St. Mary’s Sewanee, where students presented awards and had the opportunity to thank organizations for their work. For many students, the experience reshaped how they think about philanthropy and their own potential roles in supporting community-led change.