November 2025 Grant Winner

L.o.L — Loads of Laundry Community Laundry Day

Clean clothes. Clear minds. Real dignity. That’s the energy our November 2025 UNFoundation Grant Winner is bringing to Chattanooga.

We’re honored to award this month’s grant to Diamonds and Denim for their project: L.o.L — Loads of Laundry Community Laundry Day. Diamonds and Denim is rooted in one powerful belief: people rise when their basic needs are met with respect. Through resilience, authenticity, and steady community care, they support individuals and families in becoming their strongest selves.

This project offers free laundry services and household essentials at local Chattanooga laundromats—twice a month, no strings attached. Because something as simple as clean clothes can shift everything: confidence for job interviews, ease in social spaces, lower anxiety, and healthier home environments.

The UNFoundation’s $3,000 grant will fund detergent, sanitizer, dryer sheets, hampers, cleaning supplies, and the actual cost of washing and drying clothes. Every dollar goes straight into machines, materials, and moments that restore dignity. One load at a time, Loads of Laundry is making Chattanooga cleaner, kinder, and more confident.

Huge congratulations to Diamonds and Denim for reminding us that care doesn’t have to be complicated to be powerful.

October 2025 Grant Winner

Safe Pathways to School

Sometimes the biggest change starts with… a barricade. And this month’s grant winner proves it.

We’re proud to announce JJonJon, The Happy Urbanist as our October 2025 UNFoundation Grant Winner for the project: Safe Pathways to School. JonJon is a local community advocate and national urbanist educator with a clear mission: make streets safer, healthier, and more human—starting where it matters most. In Chattanooga, everyday walking has quietly become risky. Short trips to schools, parks, and neighbors’ homes are increasingly replaced by car rides, fueling traffic, pollution, and disconnection.

Cities around the world have shown us another way: start small. Focus on school streets—the routes kids and families use daily—and safety, movement, and community follow. The problem? Renting barricades costs over $1,500 per day, threatening to drain the remaining budget and stall progress. The solution? A smart, reusable one.

The UNFoundation’s $3,000 grant will fund the purchase of 10 Type III barricades—not just to finish this project, but to unlock dozens more across the city. Once installed, the barricades will be stored and managed by Tucker Build, allowing neighborhood groups, schools, and community organizers to borrow them for free or at very low cost.

This turns a one-time purchase into a shared community asset. Think safer intersections, block parties, play streets, safety demos, and pop-up neighborhood joy—without the financial barrier. The impact will be immediate: Hawthorne Avenue gets finished. And long-term? The vision is bold—100 safer intersections and 100 block parties over the next five years.

This isn’t just about traffic control. It’s about giving people the tools to reclaim their streets, protect their kids, and meet their neighbors. Congrats to JonJon for showing us that safer streets = stronger communities.

September 2025 Grant Winner

Chattanooga Moms for Social Justice

Say it louder for the kids in the back (and the grown-ups who love them): Books are magic. Access matters. And this month’s grant winner is doing the most in the best way.

We’re thrilled to announce Chattanooga Moms for Social Justice as our September 2025 UNFoundation Grant Winner for their project: The Magic of Literacy 2025 🪄

What started eight years ago as four local moms noticing a missing seat at the activism table—parents of young kids—has grown into a powerful, nationwide movement. Chattanooga Moms for Social Justice has built hundreds of engaged community members, launched chapters across the U.S., and made literacy one of their boldest acts of care.

The Magic of Literacy—a free, joy-filled community event where every child leaves with a book of their own. Since 2018, MSJ has helped install 20+ diverse, inclusive classroom libraries across Hamilton County. And as book bans have spread nationwide, they’ve doubled down on a simple truth: Kids deserve access to stories. Full stop.

The $3,000 UNFoundation grant funded décor, books, entertainment, marketing, and all the behind-the-scenes magic that turns a space into an unforgettable experience. Results? Immediate. A child holding a book. Long-term impact? Lifelong curiosity, empathy, and belonging.

Congrats to Chattanooga Moms for Social Justice for reminding us that the future is written by the kids—and they deserve every story. 💫📚

August 2025 Grant Winner

Food Forest at the East Lake Neighborhood Association Community Center

A coalition of parents, teachers, students, and neighbors is transforming unused outdoor space at the East Lake Neighborhood Association Community Center into something powerful: a thriving food forest rooted in education, equity, and ecological care.

This community-led project brings together Lane Lake Montessori School, Nature Kin Farm and Forest School, the East Lake Neighborhood Association, an after-school tutoring program, and local residents who already use the site as a shared gathering place. Together, they are creating a living classroom and free food resource that will serve the neighborhood for years to come.

The Food Forest will provide:

• Free, fresh fruit for the surrounding community

• An outdoor learning space for students of all ages

• Habitat for native pollinators and wildlife

• Long-term soil health and environmental remediation

Beyond food, this project grows justice. The East Lake neighborhood has a long history of disinvestment due to redlining, resulting in lower tree canopy and environmental inequities that persist today. This food forest is a small but meaningful step toward restoring access to green space, education, and nourishment in a historically underserved community.

By expanding local wildlife corridors, reducing runoff and heat, sequestering carbon, and creating a beautiful place to gather, the Food Forest at East Lake makes Chattanooga greener, healthier, and more connected—one tree, one lesson, and one shared harvest at a time.

July 2025 Grant Winner

HCS Talent Retention & Culture

The Hamilton County Schools Foundation just scored the July UNFoundation grant and they’re putting it straight into the hands of those who shape our future: teachers.

This fall, the HCS Talent Retention & Culture Initiatives will expand, giving educators more than lesson plans and grading rubrics. We’re talking mentorship, quarterly professional development, and a community that keeps teachers feeling connected, supported, and inspired.

Teacher retention might not sound flashy, but here’s the truth: when educators stay, schools thrive. This program is designed to keep Hamilton County’s best and brightest in the classroom, creating ripple effects that benefit every student.

Think of it as fuel for teacher inspiration—and $3,000 worth of momentum to keep great ideas growing.

At the UNFoundation, we love backing projects that make our community stronger. This one hits the mark: teachers supported, students thriving, and a school culture built to last.

June 2025 Grant Winner

The Sattva Project just snagged a $3,000 grant from the UNFoundation, and they’re not wasting a second (or a savasana). On a mission to make yoga radically accessible, they're flipping the script on who gets to flow, breathe, and heal—offering trauma-informed classes to folks navigating incarceration, recovery, and reintegration.

With zero paid staff and a crew of passionate, certified teachers (many of whom have been personally impacted by the justice or recovery system), Sattva has already taught over 135 free classes to nearly 900 students. We’re talking weekly sessions at the jail, parole programs, recovery homes, and soon—St. Andrew’s Church, where yoga meets AA and creates a bridge to long-term healing for women at The Launch Pad and beyond.

The grant will help fund yoga mats, blocks, and marketing to reach more students, and give teachers a modest stipend (aka gas money) to keep showing up. They’re also launching their first trauma-informed yoga teacher training on July 17 to empower 20 future teachers to carry the movement forward.

May 2025 Grant Winner

M-PACT Chattanooga: Where Men Connect - Making Connection Cool Again

In a time when male loneliness is a silent epidemic, M-PACT is breaking the cycle - Chattanooga-style. With a $3K grant from the UNFoundation, they’re throwing a citywide outdoor fest that's more “cold plunge and high fives” than “group therapy vibes.”

Live blues, yoga, group runs, lawn games, food trucks, and even an inflatable soccer field? Yep. But the real magic is in the 20+ community orgs showing up with real ways for men to connect—run clubs, dad circles, fantasy leagues, and more.

The UNFoundation grant will directly fund musicians, local marketing (radio + digital), print materials, and custom event tees—ensuring the vibe stays high and the impact stays deep.

M-PACT isn’t here to fix men—it’s here to include them. With heart, humor, and a whole lot of movement, they’re building a culture where belonging isn’t a buzzword, it’s embodied.

April 2025 Grant Winner

Link Up at the Library is a summer pilot program by the 423 Chain Breakers, a City of Chattanooga initiative helping youth avoid or leave gang involvement. Led by mentors who’ve walked the walk—many formerly gang-affiliated themselves—this team connects with kids through real talk and real opportunity.

Running May 2 to July 4, the program offers two Friday night meetups: one at the downtown library for ages 10–14 and one at First Presbyterian Church's gym for teens 15 and up. The library crew gets hands-on with screen printing, creating their own t-shirts that say, “I’m not about that gang life.” Meanwhile, older kids hit the courts or jump into video games—if they can secure consoles, controllers, and games with grant funding.

The UNFoundation’s $3000 will cover 250 shirts and screen printing supplies, an Xbox and PlayStation setup, and a budget for advertising to reach parents and spread the word.

The program isn’t just about keeping kids busy - it’s about keeping them safe, seen, and supported. By offering creative outlets and community connections, the 423 Chain Breakers are flipping the narrative for Chattanooga’s most vulnerable youth.