OVERVIEW: The Mourning Family Foundation supports youth development, youth advocacy, education, and youth enrichment in South Florida.
IP TAKE: Although the founding couple has parted ways, their foundation is still active on the youth philanthropy scene in South Florida. This is a big youth funder that only conducts work locally. That said, it provides multi-year funding to the same grantees, and does not appear to leave room for new grantseekers. While it’s not accessible, this funder is approachable, so reach out if you have general questions about current programing. It likes to make close partnerships with local organizations that serve it’s mission in the community at the grassroots level, so if this foundation considers new grantseekers, it would likely be with organizations similar to those that it already funds.
PROFILE: Established in 1997, the Mourning Family Foundation (MFF) is a private foundation based in Miami, Florida founded by Tracy and Alonzo Mourning, a former NBA basketball star who played for the Miami Heat. Alonzo Mourning graduated from Georgetown University with a degree in sociology. He was the second overall pick in the 1992 NBA draft by the Charlotte Hornets, and he spent three seasons with the team before being traded to the Heat. A seven-time NBA All-Star, he won a championship in 2006 with Dwyane Wade and Shaq. Tracy Wilson Mourning graduated from Howard University. She is a mentor, designer, broadcast journalist, and motivational speaker. She launched Honey Child, her lifestyle brand, and Myka and Me, a natural hair and body product line inspired by her daughter. Alonzo and Tracy Mourning, now divorced, have three children and have been deeply involved in philanthropy.
The Mourning Family Foundation aims to “empower youth through advocacy, education and enrichment.” It funds local efforts for youth development that intersect with community development, youth and education.
Grants for Community Development, K-12 Education, Youth and Girls
The Mourning Family Foundation empowers youth through advocacy, education, and enrichment via support for services to serve over a thousand youth and families through the Overtown Youth Center and Honey Shine programs, serving more than 900 students ranging from ages 8 to 25 residing in Miami, Florida. All funding focuses on youth and families, and intersects with education.
- Through the Overtown Youth Center Capital Campaign, MFF works to expand and to support the endeavors of the Overtown Youth Center. for which MFF hopes to create a brand new facility. The center engages the local community in creating a safe place for families and youth, especially foster youth.
- Honey Shine, Inc. is a girls mentoring program designed to provide young girls an opportunity to excel in life. Honey Shine engages “professional women of all ethnicities to create experiences to expose, intrigue and stimulate growth and positive character development for girls. Honey Shine mentors are dedicated to bridging academic, social and emotional gaps though interactive sessions in non- traditional program settings.”
- Via OYC Miami, MFF funds work that inspires and empowers “youth and families by fostering hope through enrichment services” that seek to “expose youth to numerous resources and opportunities that will aid in their educational and social development so they will ultimately become positive contributing citizens (PCCs). OYC defines PCCs as students who have entered into a post-secondary educational institution, vocational school, and/or obtained gainful employment, and are making a worthwhile impact in their local community.”
- Since 2016, MFF has offered an Education Scholarship Fund to help children from marginalized communities of color. The 4-year college scholarships assist with academic expenses and are awarded to rising high school seniors that MFF and it’s partners identify locally. Unfortunately, the scholarship is not accessible, but it’s worth calling MFF to see how students who fit it’s demographic priorities might qualify from beyond MFF’s sphere of partnerships.
Grants for Health and Wellness
While it no longer appears to be a major funding area, health and wellness grants have previously focused on causes close to the family’s interests and affiliations.
- Shortly after the 2000 Olympic Games, Mourning was diagnosed with focal glomerulosclerosis, a disease that affects the filtering process of the kidneys. He later received a kidney transplant at Columbia University Medical Center and had a successful NBA comeback. In the past, Mourning supported Columbia.
- The foundation also sponsors Thanksgiving drives to feed families in South Florida, as well as the Health and Basketball Clinics that serves more than 2000 children each year in South Florida to learn “key basketball fundamentals from top athletes from around the league. Youth participants take part in numerous interactive activities that include numerous drills, helpful hints, workout tips, motivational sessions that include a broad-spectrum of messages about discipline, sportsmanship, persistence, teamwork that can apply to all aspects of life.”
Important Grant Details:
Grants range between about $300,000 and $600,000. While the foundation did not appear to make any grantmaking in 2023, in 2024 it gave $348, 889 in grants.
- Grantmaking focuses on the Miami area and South Florida.
- This foundation does not appear to accept unsolicited grant applications from nonprofits.
- It also does not provide grantseeker guidelines or deadlines on its website.
- Direct general questions to the staff at info@mourningfamilyfoundation.org or (305) 476-0095.
PEOPLE:
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