(Pottawattamie Co) Brenda Mainwaring, President & CEO of Iowa West Foundation, updated the Pottawattamie County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday on their grant award cycle two.
Iowa West Foundation has three grant cycles each year. Mainwaring said in this cycle they allocated more than four million dollars to more than 40 organizations.
2025 Cycle 2 Grants & Initiatives Include:
American Midwest Ballet
Operating funding
$125,000
Big Brothers and Big Sisters of the Midlands
Mentor U
$60,000
Carson Volunteer Fire Department
Equipment and gear
$10,000
Center for Immigrant and Refugee Advancement
Immigrant legal services
$85,000
Children’s Square
Operating funding
$1,000,000
City of Tabor
Splash pad at City Park
$46,000
Council Bluffs Chamber of Commerce
Workforce programming
$65,000
Council Bluffs Chamber of Commerce/712 Initiative
Capacity building
$100,000
Council Bluffs Schools Foundation
STARS Program
$320,000
DIBS for Kids
Expansion to Bloomer Elementary
$10,000
Family Crisis Center
Iowa Victim Service Call Center
$8,500
Firefly
Early Head Start Initiative
$330,000
Food Bank of Iowa
Fighting childhood hunger
$30,000
Green Hills AEA
Pottawattamie County preschool
$1,350,000
Golden Hills RC & D
Pottawattamie County Trails Coordinator
$40,000
Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation
School of the Wild
$23,747
Iowa West Foundation Initiative
Belonging seed grants for rural Pottawattamie communities and Council Bluffs
$30,000
Iowa Western Arts Center
2025-26 National and Youth Series
$34,000
Iowa Western Community College Foundation
Skills for Success program (formerly Earn While You Learn)
$35,000
ISU Extension & Outreach
Speak Up Be Safe abuse prevention programming
$15,000
Luminarium
Field trips, CB Library passes, no cost memberships
$25,000
Lutheran Family Services
Language services
$45,000
Micah House
Emergency shelter and support services
$80,000
Montgomery County Conservation Foundation
Hacklebarney Wood Playground
$17,899
NAMI SWI
Peer-led mental health and substance abuse services in rural SWI
$30,000
Nebraska Diaper Bank
Distribution in Council Bluffs
$10,000
Neighborworks Home Solutions
Operating funding
$50,000
Omaha Botanical Center, Inc (Lauritzen Gardens)
Summer camps and field trips for SWI students
$25,000
Omaha Symphony Association
Music education programs in SWI
$21,000
Omaha Theater Company (Rose Theater)
Creative Heroes program
$24,530
Omaha Theater Company (Rose Theater)
1st grade field trips
$10,477
Performing Arts and Education Association of Southwest Iowa
Handicap accessibility
$13,500
Pottawattamie County Conservation Foundation
New exhibit space at Hitchcock Nature Center
$150,000
Project Houseworks
Home repairs for older adults in SWI
$50,000
R.E.S.P.E.C.T. 2
Workshops on safe and healthy relationships
$10,000
Southwest Iowa Housing Trust Fund
Housing Repair Program
$150,000
Treynor Volunteer Fire Department
Gear
$10,000
Together, Inc.
Housing stability
$150,000
Veterans Memorial Museum Inc (Shenandoah)
Museum Upgrades
$5,000
ASPIRE
Avenue Scholars SWI
Rural Pottawattamie County Program
$200,500
AHSTW Community School District
Work-based learning
$25,000
Council Bluffs Community School District
Plus One Pathways Program
$325,000
Iowa Western Community College
Career and College Transition Counselors
$126,000
Lewis Central Community School District
College and Career Readiness Coordinator
$100,000
Riverside Community School District
iJAG Program
$25,000
Treynor Community School District
Academic Success Advisor
$25,000
Tri-Center Community School District
iJAG Program
$25,000
