Photo: Peachtree Road Farmers Market.

The Episcopal Community Foundation for Middle and North Georgia (ECF) recently announced three challenge grants of up to $57,000 to organizations that are working to end poverty and oppression.

The spring 2026 grant recipients are Church of the Resurrection in Sautee Nacoochee, New American Pathways in Atlanta in partnership with St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church, and the Peachtree Road Farmers Market in Atlanta in partnership with the Cathedral of St. Philip.

The partner congregations and organizations will fundraise to match and receive the full amount of their challenge grants.

“Challenge grants invite our Episcopal congregations to not only invest in these partnerships with their time, but also with their resources,” said Dr. Lindsey Hardegree, ECF’s Executive Director. “Our hope is that every ECF dollar will do the most work possible towards our goal of achieving significant, long-lasting change in our communities.”

For instance, a $30,000 ECF challenge grant inspired St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Monroe to raise the matching funds for a vehicle to deliver lunches to several hundred schoolchildren every weekday in the summer. The challenge grant provided “a huge morale boost,” St. Alban’s Priest-in-Charge Rich Bardusch said. “With 70 households pledging, we couldn’t have raised $65,000 on our own.”

A ministry within the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta, ECF specifically funds parishes and worshiping communities in the diocese as well as nonprofit organizations that have a substantial relationship with a parish or worshiping community.

ECF provides funding, leadership, and resources to these partnerships to lift up people experiencing poverty and oppression and to achieve significant, long-lasting impact. The foundation has donated close to $6 million to promote thriving and spiritually strong individuals, families, and communities locally.

Spring 2026 Challenge Grants

• Church of the Resurrection in Sautee Nacoochee ($30,000 challenge; potential ECF match for $60,000 total impact) aims to build a climate-controlled storage facility for its HomeWare Assistance Ministry. The ministry assists local nonprofits with furnishings and household necessities for families experiencing homelessness and people recently released from incarceration.
• New American Pathways, in partnership with St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church in Atlanta, ($8,000 challenge; potential ECF double match for $24,000 total impact) is expanding its Digital Access, Credentialing, and Workforce Learning Hub to provide refugees and immigrants with tools, training, and support needed for digital literacy, English proficiency, and critical steps toward economic self-sufficiency.
• Peachtree Road Farmers Market, in partnership with the Cathedral of St. Philip in Atlanta, ($5,500 challenge; potential ECF double match for $16,500 total impact) aims to strategically explore ways to maximize the market’s efforts to address hunger and food insecurity, including increased visibility for programs like Rescued Crops to Feed Our Neighbors and Georgia Fresh 4 Less.

About ECF’s Grant Process

ECF awards grants twice a year. Letters of Intent for the Spring 2027 cycle are due Sept. 30.

Potential applicants should visit ECF’s grants page for funding opportunities and application links. Before applying, applicants are strongly encouraged to contact Dr. Lindsey E. Hardegree.