Thank you for helping us to fund the following 2015 Grant Recipients
Program: SMART Girls
Agency: Boys & Girls Clubs of Benton and Franklin Counties
SMART Girls, a program for girls between the ages of 8 and 17, focuses on health, fitness, prevention, education, and self-esteem enhancement; with SMART standing for Skills Mastery and Resistance Training. Members participate in a wide variety of group activities, field trips, and mentoring sessions with adult women from throughout the Tri-Cities’ community. http://kidexpert.org/.
Program: Domestic Violence Housing First
Agency:Domestic Violence Services of Benton and Franklin Counties
Domestic Violence Housing First (DVHF) provides flexible, survivor-driven, trauma-informed, and culturally relevant advocacy and support to survivors of domestic violence and their children. The goals of DVHF are to increase safety, stability, self-sufficiency, and empowerment to support survivors in creating lives free from violence. The DVHF gives survivors the freedom to choose how to best rebuild their lives with an individual approach to victim advocacy. http://dvsbf.org/.
Program: Transition to Success
Agency: Elijah Family Homes
Transition to Success (TTS), a three-year program of supportive services designed to lead Elijah Family Homes tenant families from homelessness or near homelessness to a higher level of self-sufficiency. The three goals of TTS are 1) to leave with higher levels of income and education; 2) for the children of the families to show some measure of growth toward individual determination; and 3) for at least 60% of the tenants to graduate the program after three years. http://elijahfamilyhomes.org/.
Program: Children’s Summer Day Program
Agency: Lourdes Foundation / Lourdes Counseling Center
The Children’s Summer Day Program provides a summertime therapeutic and recreational experience for children and adolescents in Benton and Franklin Counties who have disabilities due to behavioral, emotional, and mild cognitive impairments. The program provides a structured and safe environment to develop skills for coping with emotional and behavioral problems within an academic setting and in the home environment. The main goal of the Children’s Summer Day Program is to reinforce and maintain the skill set children have learned so they are prepared to successfully return to school in the fall. http://www.lourdeshealth.net/.
Program: Mid-Columbia Youth Symphony
Agency: Mid-Columbia Symphony
The purpose of the tuition assistance program is to give deserving young musicians, regardless of their economic status, the opportunity to perform in a large symphony ensemble. There have been several studies that show students experience positive effects as a result of participating in the arts and often have high test scores, outstanding GPAs, go on to high education, and find gainful employment.The program compliments the mission of the Mid-Columbia symphony by furthering the education and outreach of young musicians. http://www.midcolumbiasymphony.org/.
Program: Specialized Human Trafficking Advocate
Agency: Mirror Ministries
Human trafficking is a shocking reality, both locally and globally. The purpose of the Specialized Human Trafficking Advocate is to have a specialized human trafficking advocate available for all agencies in the Tri-Cities to utilize when any type of trafficking victim is identified. These victims are frequently minors or have been trafficked as minors and are now adults, where their cases overlap multiple agencies and systems. By having a specialized advocate focused on trafficking victims, they are able to serve as a central coordinating resource to assist the victims, to streamline the process, and resolve these cases more efficiently. http://www.tc-cat.org/.
Program: REACH: Creating Access for the Underserved
Agency: REACH Foundation
The program provides access to enhanced opportunities for K-12 students on specific themes that define this region of the state. The focus of the program is to increase access to the REACH for educational field trips bringing underserved and at-risk children living in poverty to the building for tours and interactive activities. The REACH educators collaborate with teachers to define the experience the children will have based on age and to fulfill common-core standards and next-generation science standards. http://visitthereach.org/.
Program: Step-Up
Agency: Safe Harbor Support Center Partnered with Domestic Violence Services and B-F Juvenile Justice
The purpose of the Step-Up program is for youth to stop violence and abuse toward their family and develop respectful family relationships so that all family members feel safe at home. The goals of Step-Up are that families with youth that have perpetrated or are at risk for perpetrating violence toward their family will learn and practice skills for respectful communication and problem solving. Step-Up is a nationally recognized best-practice adolescent family violence intervention program designed to address youth violence toward family members. http://www.safeharborsupportcenter.org/.
Program: Food for Hungry Schoolchildren
Agency: Second Harvest
The Food for Hungry Schoolchildren program distributes nutritious free food to students attending high-need schools and provides food supplies for an on-site pantry that will open at River’s Edge High School during the 2015-16 school year. Second Harvest partners with educators who identify students who need additional assistance. This program builds on Second Harvest’s mission of bringing community resources together to fight hunger and feed hope.http://2-harvest.org/.
Program: Home Preservation Program for Single Women Head of Household
Agency: Tri-County Partners Habitat for Humanity
The Home Preservation Program uses community volunteers to provide interior and exterior home repairs for low-income homeowners who need assistance. The program serves under-resourced persons who are challenged by age, disability, or circumstance – targeting single women head-of-household. The Home Preservation Program goal is fulfilled when low-income homeowners are able to receive assistance on home repairs that present safety or quality of life concerns, and who otherwise would be unable to accomplish the repairs without outside assistance. http://www.habitatbuilds.com/.
Program: Pathways to Literacy and Community Engagement – Early Start
Agency: Washington State University Foundation
The Pathways to Literacy (PTL) and Community Engagement program increases literacy among Franklin County Latino families to improve school readiness of their children and to promote increased advocacy and engagement of family and community. The Early Start module focuses on early learning literacy for the children of the adult learners in the PTL program. Early Start brings families together in addressing literacy through a holistic approach – adult learners are encouraged and supported as they learn to facilitate learning activities with their children using recently acquired literacy skills. ext100.wsu.edu/impact/pathways-to-literacy/.