SEEDCap Japan
The Social Entrepreneur Enhanced Development Capital Program (SEEDCap Japan), supports nonprofit organizations in Japan carrying out innovative projects that can serve as models for broader application.
2006 Grantees
Florence (Tokyo, Japan)
A SEEDCap grant of several million yen was awarded for a project on "Care for Sick Children: Building a Model Program," by Florence, a Tokyo-based nonprofit organization. With the increase in the number of two-income families in Japan, it is becoming difficult for parents to care for their sick children, but this is one healthcare issue to which Japanese society has been slow to respond. This has prompted Florence to use existing networks and resources in communities to provide at-home care for sick children. With medical support from pediatricians, experienced childcare workers have created the "Children's Rescue Brigade," which provides one-on-one care for sick children in their homes. SEEDCap funding was used to help expand services from two wards in Tokyo to 11 wards, more than double staff, and significantly strengthen the organizations financial base.
OurPlanet-TV (Tokyo, Japan)
A small follow-up grant was awarded to Our Planet TV, an alternative media organization, to allow it to complete its "Torch Project" which received SEEDCap funding for 2005 as well. The Torch Project supported young journalists, students, grassroots activists, and other ordinary citizens in producing 8 documentaries that highlight pressing social issues—including on the forgotten legacy of Japanese leper colonies, the reintegration into the education system of children recovering from cancer, prison abuse, and the growing epidemic of bullied children refusing to attend to school. These “citizen journalists” were paired with the staff of OurPlanet-TV and other volunteers from the TV and film industry to help them produce the documentaries, then OurPlanet-TV provided technical support, aired the programs on its website, and helped disseminate them more widely. Several of the documentaries were picked up by mainstream TV stations and garnered national attention