2008 Grantees

1.  College Bound

• www.collegeboundstl.org      Education       $10,000
  Mission:  to provide promising high school students from under resourced backgrounds with the academic enrichment, social supports and life skills needed to apply, matriculate and succeed at four-year colleges.
  
  Funding: to be used for academic preparation, college and financial aid guidance, character development, and cultural competency to continue the program’s first year success of all 38 participating seniors accepted to college.

2. Immigrant and Refugee Women’s Program

• www.irwp.net      Education     $10,000
  Mission: to increase the independence and reduce the isolation of immigrant and refugee women by teaching them basic English and practical living skills in the security of their own homes.

  Funding: to be used to outreach, recruit and train and expand the all-volunteer teacher pool (now at 40) so more women may be served.

3.  Gateway to Hope

• www.gthstl.org      Health      $20,000
  Mission:  to arrange comprehensive medical and surgical care for uninsured and underinsured individuals in Missouri with a confirmed diagnosis of breast cancer through donated services, equipment and care by experienced breast care specialists.

  Funding: Funds are to be used for ads on 10 metro buses for 12 months and on 100 Metrolink rail car interior spaces and/or other radio and print ads.

4. Memory Care Home Solutions

• www.alzhomesolutions.com      Health      $20,000
  Mission:  To extend and improve the quality time at home for families caring for a loved one with dementia through personalized, hands-on training and home visits that give caregivers the skills to manage daily stress and transform their home into a place of safety and comfort for everyone who lives there.

  Funding:  To provide 17 caregivers the tools, strategies, support, skills and information they need to avoid premature nursing home placement, thereby saving hundreds of thousands of dollars in public and personal funds.

5. Caring for Kids

• www.caringforkids-stlouis.org       Social Service       $5,000
  Mission: To provide for the urgent, unmet needs of children involved with the St. Louis County Family Court, the Missouri Children’s Division and 16 Truancy Courts in nine county school districts.

  Funding: To provide services for these children on a timely basis which range from very basic needs such as clothing or school supplies to more substantial needs such as eyeglasses or beds.

6.  George Washington Carver House

• www.carverhouse.org     Social Service       $6,250
  Mission: To enhance the quality of life for inner city, low income and mostly minority residents of north St. Louis by providing services that address their health, social and economic needs.

  Funding: To increase capacity of the GAP (Grandparents as Parents-very unique effort) Program via program-management, case management, activities and workshops and evaluation.

7. Center for Women in Transition 

• www.cwitstl.org      Social Service      $10,000
  Mission: To work with women in the criminal justice system with non-violent crimes to assist them in making a transition back into their families and into society.

  Funding: To support their Mentoring Program for female non-violent ex-offenders, which results in decreasing the rate of recidivism.

8. Center for Survivors of Torture and War Trauma

• www.stlcenterforsurvivors.org     Social Service       $12,500
  Mission: To facilitate the healing process for refugee and immigrant survivors of torture and war trauma and their families, by providing culturally appropriate holistic mental health and support services, advocacy, and community education.

  Funding:  To provide for programs and administrative support.

9. Voices for Children

• www.voicesforchildrenstl.org      Social Service     $10,000
  Mission: to speak on behalf of abused and neglected children placed in St. Louis City foster care; to improve the outcomes and experiences for children while in foster care utilizing a staff of child and advocacy attorneys and child welfare specialists, who with a team of specially trained volunteer advocates, represent children in foster care in court and in the community to ensure they receive the educational, developmental, mental and physical health.

  Funding:  In 2008 the St. Louis Family court appealed to Voices for Children to take on an additional docket day and increase the children served by 30%, therefore, the funds will help cover the added cost to serve more children.

10.  Lydia’s House

• www.lydiashouse.org      Social Service      $15,000
  Mission: to work in faith to end domestic violence by being a place of healing and a voice for hope for abused women and their children by providing women and children in emergency shelters, safe, confidentially located transitional housing for up to two years while also providing a menu of services including education, training and prep for employment, goal setting, life skills, and childcare.

  Funding:  to underwrite partial costs for a new program with St. Louis University where nurse practitioners visit on site (Lydia’s House) and provide checkups, immunization and preventative health education for the mothers and their children.

11. Metro Homeless Center

• www.metrohomelesscenter.org      Social Service      $20,000
  Mission: to promote a holistic program of services, including permanent housing to chronically homeless, mentally ill, chemically dependent, and often dually-diagnosed women in a safe, stable, nurturing environment to assist clients to attain the knowledge, skills and resources necessary to achieve personal goals of independence, wellness and a better quality of life. 

  Funding:  to help start a pilot program of four apartments for permanent housing designated for women who are not capable of living independently.

12. Pony Bird, Inc.

• www.ponybird.org      Social Service      $15,000
  Mission: to deliver residential, recreational, educational and adult day programming services to individuals who are non-ambulatory and have profound to severe physical and/or mental disabilities by a highly trained staff who offer services with respect and dignity.

  Funding: to purchase a machine called a Vest Airway Clearance System which must be used in conjunction with a Vest to assist with breathing for non ambulatory patients.

13. Kid’s Place

• www.kidsplace-stl.org      Education       $20,000
  Mission: to serve at risk students from Delmar Harvard Elementary School in University City in a 4-day a week after school program promoting literacy development and civic and social responsibility.  Of the children served, 50% are currently reading below their grade level.

  Funding: to hire a reading specialist, expand the Kid's Place library and provide a mobile computer lab, which would include 15 laptop computers, a printer, and needed hardware to provide wireless internet service.

14. St. Louis ArtWorks

• www.stlartworks.org      Arts & Culture      $6,250
  Mission: provides paid year round apprenticeships for at-risk teens from the St. Louis metro area to work on real assignments in the business of art.  Participants gain education in the arts and business while earning a paycheck, learning fiscal responsibility and appropriate job behavior to build a resume for a successful future. 

  Funding: to support the 2008 Summer Program - a six week long graphics discipline to employ and teach 12 - 14 apprentices skills to create glycees of their art work for sale. 

TOTAL AMOUNT AWARDED - $180,000