Today, this self-described “community of transformation” boasts a sprawling campus of five apartment buildings and an early childhood development center designed to serve up to 30 families at a time through its comprehensive program of life skills classes, counseling, youth mentoring, child care and so much more. Unfortunately, like many nonprofits, Rainbow Village has been relying heavily on largely outdated technology. Through the Dream Big Grant Fund, a technology service grant recently awarded by TechBridge®, this community of transformation will be able to undergo a little transformation of its own.
The TechBridge Dream Big Grant Program is a new matching grant opportunity focused on delivering technology transformations to nonprofits on the frontlines of poverty alleviation in their communities. It increases the capacity of nonprofits and provides them with the necessary resources to fulfill projects they are not otherwise able to include in their constrained budgets. Rainbow Village was selected this year to receive a $30,000 Dream Big Grant to overhaul its current digital systems, consolidate information, streamline processes and build better services.
“Through our current system, we don’t always have immediate access to the files that we need,” explained Melanie Conner, CEO for Rainbow Village. “This grant will help us develop modules that will automate many of the tasks associated with all of our programs. Automating these tasks will enable us to provide better data to our investors and future funders while highlighting what we’re doing well and where we need to improve. That serves as a benefit to our funders, our investors, our staff and – most importantly – the families we serve. In addition to allowing us to mine the data and look up information with the click of a button, this grant will make it possible for us to keep our focus where it needs to be – on the families in our Village. It will help us change lives as we will be able to spend more time with the families, listening to them rather than turning to a computer or digging through files to look up information. It will help us do as much as we can for as long as we can for as many as we can. The Dream Big Grant will actually grant our families the opportunity to dream big! We are incredibly grateful to TechBridge for selecting our organization as a recipient of the Dream Big Grant.”
To learn more about Rainbow Village or make a donation to support Rainbow Village’s mission to break the cycles of homelessness, poverty and domestic violence in Georgia, please visit www.rainbowvillage.org.
About Rainbow Village: Established in 1991 and based in Duluth, Georgia, Rainbow Village is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization devoted to breaking the cycles of homelessness, poverty and domestic violence. Committed to serving as a “community of transformation”, Rainbow Village applies a holistic, two-generational approach to serving homeless families with children. With the goal of helping families achieve emotional stability and financial independence, Rainbow Village provides housing, early childhood education and after-school care, child and youth programming, financial planning, career counseling, workforce readiness, mental health counseling, community events and more. Rainbow Village accepts applications from homeless families with minor children throughout Georgia. To learn more about Rainbow Village, register as a volunteer or make a donation, visit www.rainbowvillage.org.
About TechBridge: Founded in 2000, TechBridge breaks the cycle of generational poverty through the innovative use of technology to transform nonprofit and community impact. This is made possible by support from the TechBridge network of corporations, individuals, and foundations. The TechBridge Adopt-a-Nonprofit® program and the Dream Big Grant provide nonprofits with funding vehicles for their technology needs, while TechBridge’s fundraising efforts through the Digital Event Series in Atlanta, Birmingham, and Tennessee, unite the IT population to celebrate the impact technology can have in strengthening our communities. To learn more, visit https://techbridge.org/.
