Priest River Ministries Advocates for Women receives $20K grant

Priest River Ministries Advocates for Women has received a $20,000 from the Idaho Community Foundation’s Forever Idaho North grant program – one of the largest grants given.

Priest River Ministries is a faith-based nonprofit that provides ongoing support for women and children of domestic violence, sexual assault and trafficking. They provide victim services and advocacy, a learning lab, legal assistance and community education.

Priest River Ministries has received $4,000-$5,000 from Forever Idaho North each of the last five years. As a result, Executive Director Rhonda Encinas said this grant amount was unexpected and came after a busy and challenging 2020.

“We needed to regroup and figure out to best serve our communities with fewer people choosing to work or volunteer,” she said. “We hope to use this ‘surprise’ funding to hire a part-time manager for our Spirit Lake location.”

The Idaho Community Foundation loosened restrictions on its Forever Idaho grants this year based on what it learned during last year’s record-breaking grantmaking. ICF gave more than 2,100 grants totaling nearly $12.4 million in 2020.

“Giving larger grants with fewer restrictions on how to spend them was crucial to nonprofits working on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis in Idaho,” said Cara Nielsen, ICF’s vice president for philanthropy and impact. “We are carrying that forward with our Forever Idaho grants this year.”

ICF gave 32 Forever Idaho North grants totaling almost $241,000 in the north Idaho counties of Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, Clearwater, Idaho, Kootenai, Latah, Lewis, Nez Perce and Shoshone.