January 27, 2023 

 The Missoula Community Foundation is delighted to announce the winners of this year’s $5,000 Small Grants – City Club Missoula, Public Policy Institute of the Rockies, and Soft Landing Missoula. This year’s Small Grant Cycle supports programs that facilitate Civil Discourse in our community, which the foundation defines as “conversations in which there is a mutual airing of views without rancor.” Over the past several years, Civil Discourse has become increasingly important and yet is challenging for organizations and communities to put into practice.

 City Club Missoula’s public forums encourage the discussion of new ideas and free exchange of thought. They will use their grant award to offset the rising cost of their programs so the price to attend their monthly luncheons can remain the same and a diverse audience can continue to attend.

 Public Policy Institute of the Rockies will host an educational seminar on the Montana Legislature that will be offered to participants at no cost and will be streamed online. Held mid-way through the 2023 legislative session, the event will help attendees better understand the framework, functions and processers of the legislature, will highlight the importance of civil discourse, and will explore ways to become involved and impact policy.

 Soft Landing Missoula is committed to community education and outreach efforts that facilitate understanding through community conversations, panel discussions, lectures, special events and media for storytelling and education. Their grant award will help fund their Stories of Home multi-media exhibition and assist them in meeting all of their community education goals.The Small Grants awards at the Missoula Community Foundation lift up area nonprofits committed to the focus areas of Arts & Culture, Education and Community Care. And when making grant decisions considers its core values of: community driven, integrity, innovation, impactful and equity.