Weave invites 25 communities into partnership

Over the last four years, Weave has been testing a model of local partnerships in different settings – a medium city (Baltimore, MD), rural Appalachia (Wilkes County, NC), and a mixed rural-suburban-urban setting (Benton and Washington counties in northwest Arkansas). We wanted to see if Weave could share tools to inspire and support neighbors to weave connection and trust through mutual care. The results were wonderful.

A thousand people met at Weave events – from coffee chats to day-long gatherings – and talked about their communities, their weaving projects, their challenges, and their dreams for bringing more neighbors together.

130 people received Weaver Awards grants to support projects with neighbors. Some rehabbed a park or created a community garden offering free fruits and veggies in neighborhoods with no grocery stores. Some cleaned vacant lots and started hosting community picnics, celebrations, and a free symphony performance.

Others helped young people pursue the arts, learn job skills, or connect through sports. In Baltimore, four Weaver Awardees joined forces to move beyond their neighborhood projects to work together on a city-wide summit for over 100 young people aimed at preventing opioid use and helping those struggling with addiction.

How did neighbors benefit through these local partnerships? It started by putting a name for what they were already doing – weaving – and connecting them to a network of other weavers. It offered occasions to meet, talk, and feel valued. Folks got chances to share their story at events and with media. They tapped learning resources to develop skills, such as how to start a nonprofit, and a tech platform to help them recruit volunteers. It gave Awardees the resources to start new projects, buy supplies, and expand their work.

For Ulysses Archie, Jr., an urban farmer and educator in Baltimore, “The Weaver Awards opened up so many doors. It helped me solidify financially, strengthen my community, and people from all over town started to reach out to me. I was featured in an article and it built a web of new connections, grants, and partnerships,” he says. For Beatriz Segura, a fabric artist in Rogers, AR, “Only a month after getting an Award, I already built partnerships with other weavers that are helping me reach neighbors across northwest Arkansas that I would not have otherwise.”

In Wilkes County, NC, when Hurricane Helene devastated nearby Asheville in late 2024, weavers brought neighbors together and shared their networks to collect aid and distribute food and emergency supplies. “So many people gave at every Weave gathering. Somebody even came from Charlotte with a huge truckload of supplies, because his wife’s hairdresser knew a weaver, who told her about our efforts,” says Jody Brady.

These “test” partnerships convinced the Lilly Endowment to grant Weave $22 million to spread the tools to 75 communities across the nation and inspire other places to develop and share a weaving way of living. Weave is now inviting applications from community host organizations for the first group of 25 communities.

Each selected Community Host will receive seed funds of $225,000 along with tools, training, access to Weave resources, and peer support. The Host will work with other local groups and advocates to create events and distribute Awards to neighbors who are building connection.

Hosts need to have the size and capacity to offer Weave tools and collaborate:

• Strong ties across all parts of the community and a commitment to building connection and trust for everyone
• A current operating budget of at least $1 million and enough staff capacity to create events, share weaving stories, and distribute Awards for the next four years
• The legal ability to disburse grants to people and community groups.

If you know a nonprofit, YMCA, or other community organization that meets these criteria, invite them to learn more by clicking the link below. Applications are open until November 2. We’ll open applications again at the end of next year and the year after. Let’s weave a strong, connected nation from the ground up!