Economic Mobility
Our working families deserve stable, hiqh-quality jobs. Economic mobility is the road they take to get there. Some people have a smooth highway ahead of them, with easy access to good jobs and education. Others have to navigate off-road paths, filled with obstacles and challenges. Many of our families take the road less traveled.
Our grant funding helps individuals stay on the highway to success. We fund programs that help our neighbors build skills or get the education they need for the job they want. Because no two roads are the same, we invest in programs that provide mentorship and short-term assistance to address other barriers that arise like child care or housing. Many of our economic mobility grantees collaborate closely with other community partners to wrap around a family with the resources and referrals they need to get ahead.
Grantmaking Strategy
Invest in programs that provide supportive relationships and structures for working families seeking economic stability
These programs include intensive mentorship supports for low-income families.
Provide scholarship opportunities for low-income families to attain skills, certifications, or degrees required to attain workplace advancement
These insitutional scholarships are distributed by Black Hills State Univeristy, Oglala Lakota College, South Dakota State University, and Western Dakota Tech.
Our Stories
JTVF Awards $1.5 Million to Local Nonprofits and Scholarship Programs
The John T. Vucurevich Foundation closed out 2023 with $1.5 million dollars in grant awards to organizations that support families or individuals with educational, child care, or safety needs. The following organizations received grant awards: Local Scholarships:...
Uplifting Parents One Degree At a Time
We are delighted to share that we awarded a final year of grant funding for the Uplifting Parents Program at Catholic Social Services. This $174,182 will complete the Uplifting Parents Program Pilot.About Uplifting Parents The Uplifting Parents Program (Program UP)...
What Is a Livable Wage Anyway?
What is a livable wage? A simple question with a surprisingly complex answer. A livable wage is the household income needed to meet minimum standards of living in our community. The Living Wage Model, developed by MIT, is only a ‘step up’ from poverty as it only...
Why the “Poverty” Definition Doesn’t Cut It
The US poverty threshold: a shockingly powerful definition that many of us have never stopped to think about. Here are a few facts that make the case for why we at the John T. Vucurevich Foundation have moved away from using the "poverty threshold" to define who we...
Current Grantees
Value of economic mobility grants as of February 2024
Chanku Waste Ranch
$25,000
Elevate Foundation
Support for Workforce Development pillar
$250,000
South Dakota University Foundation
$528,000
Black Hills Special Services Cooperative
To pilot the Workforce Connection Program
$546,000
Rapid City Area Schools
$250,000
OneHeart
Support for transitional housing and skill development towards a livable wage
$5,250,000
Catholic Social Services
$174,182
ScholarshipS
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- Western Dakota Tech – $480,000 over two years
- Black Hills State University – $210,000 over two years
- South Dakota State University – $175,000 over two years
- Oglala Lakota College – $90,000 over two years
$955,000
Collaborations
Workforce Connections Collaborative
Workforce Connections convenes quarterly meetings to discuss various programs and how to align services to clients in the Rapid City area.
Our role: Participant
Elevate Rapid City
In 2018, JTVF invested in Elevate Rapid City, an economic development entity for Rapid City and the Black Hills region. Its mission is to achieve the shared economic and community development goals that will elevate the quality of life and employment opportunities for all those who call Rapid City home. Our investment focuses on Elevate’s workforce development strategy and aligns with our economic mobility strategies.
Our role: Funder, Alan from the JTVF team is a member of the Board of Directors and executive committee.
OneHeart
The purpose of the OneHeart transformation campus is to elevate the human spirit and the spirit of the Rapid City community. By providing transitional housing and co-locating a variety of services - from childcare to healthcare, from counseling to financial education, and from job-training to higher education– OneHeart creates a way to more efficiently, effectively, and collectively help our neighbors without homes move into permanent housing and a better quality of life.
Our role: Funder, Alan from the JTVF team serves in an advisory capacity to the OneHeart executive leadership.
Learn more about the grant application process.