Freedom Quilting Bee Legacy receives $1.5 million grant

Freedom Quilting Bee Legacy (FQBL) has received a $1.5 million grant from the Mellon Foundation to preserve the home of the Wilcox County group and to expand its programming. 

"This investment from the Mellon Foundation is a powerful affirmation of the national significance of the Freedom Quilting Bee story," said Kim V. Kelly, Executive Director of Freedom Quilting Bee Legacy.

"It enables us to preserve this historic place while building the organizational capacity needed to ensure these stories continue to educate and inspire generations to come."

The three year grant ends on June 30, 2029. Funding will go towards modernization of essential building systems, accessibility enhancements, and rehabilitation to preserves the building. 

Funding will also be used to recruit and hire a Development Director, as well as fundraising, donor engagement efforts and broadening philanthropic support. 

"The Mellon Foundation recognizes that preserving historic places also requires investing in the organizations that care for them," Kelly said. "By strengthening our development capacity, we will be better positioned to cultivate new partnerships and resources that will sustain this important work well beyond the grant period."

A press release from FQBL stated that the grant was one of other efforts to support them, namely public and private partners in the Adaptive Reuse Project, Alabama State Council on the Arts, the Daniel Foundation of Alabama, the Educational Foundation of America, and Souls Grown Deep Foundation.