Innovative Community Solutions Awarded Mid Atlantic Arts Community Roots Grant

Grant fuels ICS’s heritage research, oral histories & festival planning with cohort support.

HARPERS FERRY, WV, UNITED STATES, June 27, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Innovative Community Solutions (ICS) is honored to be named a grantee in Mid Atlantic Arts’ Cultural Sustainability: Community Roots program. This unrestricted operating support—reserved for arts organizations of color with annual budgets under $500,000—will allow ICS to deepen its work in history­telling, preservation, cultural tourism, and local economic development.

ICS has been fortunate to participate in a range of professional development programs that not only strengthen our capacity but also invest directly in our work through planning and implementation grants. In 2024–2025, our Executive Director Jamila Jones was selected as a National Leaders of Color Fellow, one of 55 outstanding arts leaders chosen by Mid Atlantic Arts to engage in an eight-month leadership development experience, further equipping us to lead community heritage initiatives.

ICS has been fortunate to participate in a range of professional development programs that not only strengthen our internal capacity but also invest directly in our work through planning and implementation grants. By providing general operating support, organizations like Mid Atlantic Arts empower nonprofits to translate learning into tangible outcomes—whether designing new initiatives or advancing preservation projects. We’re deeply grateful for this model and for the opportunity to put our training into action.

Since 2022, ICS has collaborated with community members, historians, and regional partners to preserve and interpret the Weaver-Gillison House and the Affrilachian Trail corridor. Flexible operating capital is critical for small organizations: it sustains core staff and overhead, empowers rapid response to new opportunities, and underwrites innovative heritage initiatives.

With this grant, ICS will:

Conduct expanded archival and field research on regional heritage

Record oral histories with longtime residents and trail stakeholders

Plan a community-led cultural heritage festival, leveraging peer learning and one-on-one technical assistance from the Mid Atlantic Arts staff and cohort members.

Enhance interpretive materials and signage to boost heritage tourism and visitor engagement

“We’re honored to join Mid Atlantic Arts’ Community Roots cohort,” said Jamila Jones, Executive Director of Innovative Community Solutions. “This unrestricted support, and the deep network and technical assistance,will magnify our capacity to uncover and share local stories, design engaging heritage experiences, and drive sustainable economic benefits for our region.”

About Cultural Sustainability: Community Roots
Mid Atlantic Arts’ Community Roots program provides general operating grants to arts organizations of color in DE, DC, MD, NJ, NY, PA, VA, and WV. By offering unrestricted support, it helps grantees stabilize operations, pilot new initiatives, and deepen their community impact.

About Innovative Community Solutions
Based in Martinsburg, WV, Innovative Community Solutions is a nonprofit consultancy specializing in community-driven heritage preservation, cultural tourism, and economic development. ICS equips local leaders with technical assistance, project management, and storytelling tools, transforming historic places into engines of sustainable growth and shared learning. Learn more at https://www.ics-wv.com.


Media Contact:
Jamila Jones
Executive Director, Innovative Community Solutions
info@ics-wv.com

Mid Atlantic Arts
Website: https://www.midatlanticarts.org

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