Programs & Grants – Risa Fund

Programs and Grants

DC Mental Health Resources

The Risa Fund developed an easy-to-read one-page infographic of mental health resources in order to reach people who may be isolated during COVID-19 and potentially struggling with mental health issues.

Our Minds Matter (OMM)

The Risa Fund is providing support to our minds matter (OMM) to enable program staff to participate in a three-day virtual training course offered by the National Council for Behavioral Health in August 2020.

This Is My Brave

The Risa Fund in part sponsored the production of a teen podcast series, The Brave Wave, launching in early 2021. Further, through a mentorship with TIMB’s teen creative director, we helped inspire the launch of an Instagram account (@thisismybraveteens).

Risa’s ReMatch Tennis Drive

In 2014, in partnership with Leveling the Playing Field, the Risa Fund launched a program called Risa’s ReMatch Tennis Drive, where gently used girls’ tennis clothes and equipment are collected and donated to underserved, aspiring young tennis players around the country.

DC Scores

Beginning in 2019, the Risa Fund collaborated with DC Scores by funding the two-part development of an intensive course in mental health and trauma-informed first-aid training for staff and coaches.

A Partnership to End Homelessness in DC

The Risa Fund has provided a grant to this joint partnership’s effort to make homelessness in the district a rare, brief and non-recurring by accelerating the implementation of the District’s strategy. The focus of the grant will be on leveraging and aligning public and private philanthropic resources.

Wendt Center for Loss and Healing

The Risa Fund has enabled the Wendt Center for Loss and Healing to add a third suicide bereavement by underwriting the salary of the part-time clinician who facilitates all of their suicide support groups.

Risa Wellness Project@THEARC

Since the fall of 2013, the Risa Fund has partnered with THEARC to offer the Risa Wellness Project@THEARC, a multifaceted initiative offering mental health training to all partner organization staff, on-site mental health counseling, access to increased psychiatric care and coordination of all mental health services at THEARC. Taking a holistic approach to wellness, the Project also incorporates art, music and dance therapy.

ArtReach GW

The Risa Fund partners with ArtReach GW to provide free visual arts programming serving residents East of the River. Workshops, led by registered art therapists, promote art-making as a tool for wellness, self-awareness, insight, and community connection.

11th Street Bridge Park Mural Project

The Risa Fund collaborated with the 11th Street Bridge Park, Artolution, and ArtReach at THEARC to convene DC high school students through the collective painting of a mural envisioning a healthy city, community, and neighborhood.

Sitar Arts Center

The Risa Fund sponsored Sitar’s summer 2014 mural project, during which teen artists worked to strengthen their design and painting skills — as well as employment and life skills — through the creation of two large-scale murals.

Wellness in Hopkins’ Garden

The Risa Fund supported the 11th Street Bridge Project by funding wellness programs designed to connect the mind and body through movement.

WTEF Round-Robin Tennis Tournament

On June 30, 2014, the Risa Fund sponsored a round-robin tennis tournament at the Washington Tennis and Education Foundation’s Northwest DC location. Students from WTEF’s 2 Washington, DC campuses gathered for a fun day of both singles and doubles matches along with refreshments and giveaways.

Israel Tennis & Education Centers (ITEC)

The Risa Fund invested in the ITEC Jaffa location’s Girls at Risk Empowerment Program scholarship fund. Serving adolescent girls from impoverished neighborhoods, the program combines tennis education with overall enrichment disciplines.