The Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation (WRF) recently made a grant of $30,000 to the Arkansas United Community Coalition (AUCC) to strengthen grassroots programs that help immigrants to integrate into the community and state economy.

“When immigrants have a public voice and are given the resources they need to organize their communities and take on tangible community development projects, they prosper,” remarked Ms. Mireya Reith, Executive Director of AUCC. “And when the immigrant population prospers, the whole state prospers.”

AUCC’s strategy strongly supports WRF’s goal of reducing poverty in Arkansas.

Building the capacity of early-stage nonprofits such as AUCC is an important way in which WRF can serve the people of Arkansas. Throughout its history, WRF has helped to incubate emerging nonprofits that address critical needs. Several organizations that were supported by WRF at an early stage, such as Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families and Southern Bancorp Community Partners, have grown into major institutions that are moving Arkansas from poverty to prosperity. AUCC holds that same potential.

“AUCC is establishing itself as an important advocate for the immigrant community,” noted Dr. Sherece West, president and CEO of the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation. “By investing in its growth, we are investing in a stronger, more effective nonprofit infrastructure across the state.”