Featured

  • Lutheran Elementary School Association – Providing Priceless Gifts

    At this time of year our thoughts tend to turn toward gifts. Despite the intensity of our search for perfect presents, few have any lasting impact. The gift of increased financial sustainability is an enduring one that YouthBridge Community Foundation of Greater St. Louis aims … More →

  • Wyman – Making a Difference for Over a Century

    It is not easy to find 126-year-old organizations today, and when you do, very few are more relevant now than when they began. Wyman Center, commonly called Wyman, fits that category. YouthBridge Community Foundation of Greater St. Louis celebrates its recent $75,000 Heritage Grant to … More →

  • Growing Capacity at Mission: St. Louis

    Founded seventeen years ago by Executive Director, Josh Wilson, Mission: St. Louis exists to empower individuals for social and economic growth through relationship and opportunity. At its core is the belief that poverty is addressed at the individual level, with dignity at the center. Josh explained, “We want to remove barriers to ensure that people can flourish.”

  • Celebrating National Nonprofit Day – August 17

    What does National Nonprofit Day mean to YouthBridge Community Foundation of Greater St. Louis? It could be called our birthday—and the birthday of every U.S. nonprofit organization! On August 17, 1894, the Tariff Act of 1894 was signed into law. This law provided exclusions from … More →

  • A Bird’s Eye View of YouthBridge’s YEP STL! Program

    The YEP STL! (Youth Engaged in Philanthropy) program, developed by YouthBridge Community Foundation of Greater St. Louis, recently awarded grants for 2024. This program, begun in the fall of 2016, is led by high school students from across the region who apply for the opportunity … More →

  • Cover of 2023 Annual Report titled Connecting Today, Impacting Tomorrow

    Annual Report 2023

    CONNECT TODAY, IMPACT TOMORROW, our 2023 Annual Report, is now available to view online or download as a PDF.

  • Before and After photos of a rehab project in St. Louis

    Impact Investing – Tabernacle Community Development Corporation

    By seeking out investment opportunities that are aligned with our organizational goals and mission, we can celebrate generating financial returns as well as achieving positive social impact to improve our community.

  • Ranken Jordan Pediatric Bridge Hospital – Access to Extraordinary Care

    One of the fundholders at YouthBridge Community Foundation of Greater St. Louis delights in supporting organizations that provide health-related services to children. Ranken Jordan Pediatric Bridge Hospital, with its “Care Beyond the Bedside” model of care, has been a natural fit for partnership.

  • FOCUS Marines Foundation – Service Never Ceases

    The U.S. Marines website states that Marines share a belonging that is more than mere togetherness. This is quite evident at FOCUS Marines Foundation (FMF), a YouthBridge fundholder grant recipient. Founded in 2010 by Marines, the organization is led by volunteer veterans.

  • Rung for Women – Another Successful Connection

    When Barbara Carswell, YouthBridge Community Foundation of Greater St. Louis CEO, became aware of Rung for Women a few years ago, she was impressed with the group’s mission and successes. As she learned more, she automatically began pondering a possible match to a YouthBridge fundholder.

  • Pony Bird Uses Merger Grant Strategically

    Pony Bird has received several grants from a major YouthBridge Community Foundation of Greater St. Louis fundholder over the last eight years. Pony Bird’s mission of enriching the lives of individuals with disabilities is a perfect match for YouthBridge and for this fundholder.

  • The Noir Bookshop Fund: A Fiscal Sponsorship to Love

    Ymani received a grant award to place vending machines with free books in places where children congregate and to expand the community activities at the bookshop. After learning she had won the grant, however, she discovered that the money could only be received by a qualified nonprofit organization. Far from being disheartened, Ymani began the search for a fiscal sponsor, and soon realized that YouthBridge was the partner she was looking for.

  • Love Takes Many Forms

    February is sometimes called the month of love, and YouthBridge Community Foundation of Greater St. Louis is joining in the celebration. Rather than honor Cupid, we are focused on the love that comes from the Ancient Greek word philanthropia, the root word of philanthropy.

  • Progress 64 Entrepreneurial Scholarship Fund Established with YouthBridge

    Sometimes the most obvious solutions are right under your nose. Progress 64 West has been awarding scholarships to young entrepreneurs for decades, but last year the Scholarship Committee began discussing ways to be more effective. The group needed help to expand its reach and deepen its impact through larger scholarships. Unbeknownst to the committee, the solution it was looking for all along existed within its own backyard at YouthBridge Community Foundation of Greater St. Louis.

  • Building on Successes of 2023 for More Meaningful Impact in 2024

    YouthBridge Community Foundation of Greater St. Louis has been busy! As the new year begins and we dive into goals and plans for 2024, we want to take a moment to celebrate the growth and successes of last year. More than simply celebrating, we want to examine those successes to determine not only how to recreate them, but how to build upon them.

  • Restore Orphan Fund Meets at YouthBridge Offices

    Only in the world of YouthBridge Community Foundation would it seem commonplace to host a board meeting for an organization whose members live across the country – and who have never met in person! Restore Orphan Fund (ROF) members recently took advantage of YouthBridge’s invitation to visit St. Louis to meet each other and meet the YouthBridge staff, while bringing a little joy to the lives of area children living in foster care.

  • The Scholarship Foundation Receives YouthBridge Heritage Grant

    Working with The Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis, a 2023 recipient of a Heritage Grant, is one example of YouthBridge’s commitment to older youth. According to The Scholarship Foundation Executive Director, Faith Sandler, the agency has benefited from donor-designated gifts from YouthBridge fundholders over the years. Now as a Heritage Grant recipient, The Scholarship Foundation is honored to be “selected based on what [they] do rather than who [they] know.”

  • CASA of St. Louis Receives YouthBridge Heritage Grant

    Heritage Grants awarded by YouthBridge Community Foundation of Greater St. Louis are inspired by fundholders with big hearts who care about the financial sustainability of the nonprofits they love. After careful research and much consideration, YouthBridge determined that CASA of St. Louis fit the Heritage Grant requirements perfectly this year.

  • Gateway Children’s Charity, a Successful YouthBridge Partnership

    Gateway Children Children’s Charity’s mission to raise “funds to make high-impact, tangible investments in early childhood programs that support children living in underserved St. Louis communities” aligns perfectly with the mission of YouthBridge Community Foundation. The two organizations understand that young people need access to resources and supportive environments to thrive – and their grant programs increase access to these critical supports.

  • Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois – Entrepreneurs of the Future

    The Girl Scout mission to “build girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place” is a tall order. It requires passion, dedication, a fierce belief in girls’ abilities, and of course, financial resources to support programming that nurtures these traits.