(Jefferson City, MO, June 6, 2017) United Way of Central Missouri announced the 2017 Community Support Grant recipients at a News Conference on Tuesday, June 6 at 9:30 a.m. at the new Boys & Girls Club facility, located at 1105 Lafayette Street in Jefferson City. United Way is committed to partnering with health and human service agencies in our community to address immediate, critical unmet needs and provide community solutions.
United Way of Central Missouri received 29 grant applications; 11 from United Way partner agencies and 18 from non-partner agencies with representation from Cole, Osage, Moniteau, Miller and Camden counties. Grant requests totaled $314,044.
United Way of Central Missouri’s Board of Directors approved $80,011 in grant funding for 16 area agencies; 7 to United Way of Central Missouri partner agencies and 9 to non-partner agencies. Grant recipients represent the following United Way service areas: Cole, Osage, Moniteau and Miller counties. Grant recipients serve diverse target populations; including children, seniors, individuals with disabilities, families, and women and children affected by domestic violence; and provide funding in all of United Way’s focus areas: Health, Education, Financial Stability and Basic Needs.
A complete listing of the 2017 United Way of Central Missouri Community Support Grants recipients is below. To view pictures from the News Conference, click here.
ABLE Learning Center
Amount of grant: $700
This partner agency teaches adults and middle school students to read or improve reading skills. ABLE uses volunteers as tutors and supplies all materials needed. The United Way grant will be used to purchase iPads and materials to assist with the middle school volunteer tutoring program. The ABLE middle school tutoring program is designed for 6th & 7th graders who attend Thomas Jefferson and Lewis & Clark middle schools. Students chosen by the school's reading teachers are those who do not have an IEP and are reading below grade level. The goal is for the majority of the students to reach proficiency level by the end of the school year with the assistance of volunteer tutors.
Boys and Girls Club
Amount of grant: $3,380
This partner agency helps youth from all backgrounds develop qualities to become responsible, successful citizens and leaders through academic, physical and social development programs. The United Way grant will provide funding to purchase a steam serving table to complete the kitchen in the new facility. This unit will be used to serve food to the children. It will ensure food served to the children stays within the mandated temperature of the Department of Health.
Capital City Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA)
Grant amount: $1,019
This partner agency advocates for the best interests of abused and neglected children within the 19th Judicial Circuit of Cole County based on the firm belief that children are entitled to a safe and permanent home environment. United Way grant funding will purchase the Magicard Pronto ID Card Printer & Logitech C615 Webcam with supply packages for each. Currently, advocates do not have a way to identify themselves in the courtroom other than verbally. In court, the badges would give the advocates a way to be known to attorneys, foster parents, the caseworker, the judge and bailiffs as a participant in a case. Outside of court, the badges would quickly identify the advocate as a representative of CASA while doing visits with their clients in foster care, collecting information from schools, doctors, daycare or other professionals as related to their case.
El Puente Hispanic Ministry
Grant amount: $500
This agency serves as a "bridge" between cultures for Hispanics in Cole and Moniteau counties and assists to overcome language, cultural, faith and social need barriers so our Hispanic neighbors will feel welcome and thrive in Church and society. United Way grant funding will provide baby carriers and other items needed for newborns. Their staff members develop positive relationships with these women, often providing transportation as well as interpretation for prenatal, labor and delivery and postpartum appointments. El Puente clients are struggling to integrate into life in mid-Missouri and face many challenges, including lack of financial resources and low-paying jobs. The grant funds will provide some necessities for the clients and their newborns.
HALO Foundation
Grant amount: $5,000
This agency serves as a safe haven that fosters educational and emotional growth while equipping at-risk youth with the skills to become contributing members of their communities. United Way grant funding will be used to install safety railing to surround the large patio and playground, and to secure the parking area. In 2015, HALO found there were over 135 homeless youth in Jefferson City with no options for housing. With this information, HALO launched a housing program for teens. This pilot program housed up to 5 teens in a leased location with a houseparent on site. In 2017, HALO renovated a large church camp and conference center. The home, with space for 48, is completely staffed and HALO has begun moving in youth and their dependents. Upon renovation of this project, a large playground and patio was built off of the large family kitchen/family room area and a safety railing will be installed.
Jefferson City Day Care
Grant amount: $2,620
This partner agency provides quality early childhood education services to children ages birth to eight years of age for low and middle income working families. United Way grant funding will provide a Parent Café for families with children enrolled in the Center. The Parent Café program is designed by Be Strong Families to provide a peer-to-peer learning process that educates parents about the 5 protective factors that keep families strong, strengthen partnerships between the Center and the parents, to provide parents with opportunities to practice communication skills and to provide parents with tools designed to prevent child abuse. This program is sponsored by the Missouri Children's Trust Fund and Project Launch of the Missouri Department of Mental Health. Parent Café requires a certified facilitator and a trained table host for every 4-6 adults.
Jefferson City Rape and Abuse Crisis Service (RACS)
Grant amount: $13,251
This partner agency provides services to help victims of domestic violence and sexual assault find ways to live their lives independent of abuse. These services may include shelter, counseling, advocacy, crisis intervention, future housing, hotline calls, and court assistance. United Way grant funding will support training for the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) program. RACS has been working with community partners SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital, Capital Region Medical Center, law enforcement and many others to develop sustainable and reliable SANE resources in the Jefferson City area so that patients do not have to leave the community for care after they have been sexually assaulted. The goal for an on-going community based SANE program is to involve RACS, the United Way, both hospitals, the City of Jefferson, and Cole County as well as outside funding opportunities through grants and/or fundraising to implement the on-going program. This grant will provide support training for a core group of SANE nurses for both SSM St. Mary's and Capital Region Medical Center. The program is scheduled to be available beginning in mid-to-late June.
Moniteau Christian Ministries Center
Grant amount: $4,800
This agency is located in California, Missouri and provides charitable assistance to those in need by supplying basic necessities such as food, clothing, household goods, skills training and monetary support. United Way funding will be used to partially fund a 2010 Box Truck capable of supporting 11 pallets, or 3,300 pounds. With the purchase of a new Box Truck that will be level with their dock, they can utilize mechanical pallet jacks for off-loading. Fewer volunteers will be required to unload the truck and the level of physical strain involved in the process will be dramatically reduced.
Osage County Anti-Drug Community Action Team (OC-ADCAT)
Grant amount: $2,500
This agency provides anti-drug education to the schools in Osage County. OC-ADCAT works to change lives by empowering communities to combat substance abuse and its related problems at home, school, and work with proven, practical resources in prevention education, and advocacy. United Way funding will be used to continue the drug free programs in Osage County. OC-ADCAT will partner with United Way partner Council for Drug Free Youth (CDFY) to implement peer to peer programs. With the help of CDFY they will be adding their own students to the peer to peer groups to effectively implement the programs in all nine of the schools in Osage County. They will also implement the facilitated programs of COPE, Team, Baseline, and Tobacco Prevention to all of the schools throughout the county.
River City Habitat for Humanity
Grant amount: $2,900
This agency partners with low income families to help them build homes of their own. In addition to building houses, the work of Habitat for Humanity includes helping the homeowner families learn to better manage their finances, maintain their homes, and become assimilated as neighbors in their neighborhoods. United Way grant funding will be used to purchase one pump jack scaffold system. The current scaffolding is not easily mobile and remains at a specific build site until the framing and siding is completed. This grant would provide more flexibility to safely work on multiple projects. The pump jack system meets Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards for preventing falls by providing a rail and safety net along the back side and safety gates on each end. This grant will provide a safe work area for volunteers.
Senior Nutrition Council
Grant amount: $7,500
This partner agency provides nutritious meals to home bound seniors to allow them to stay in their homes longer. For seniors able to leave their homes, Senior Nutrition Council provides congregate meals and social activities for seniors to enhance their quality of life in their golden years. United Way grant funding will be used to purchase kitchen equipment to include a Cool Serving Table, Dessert Bar, Steam Table Element and Serving Items. Being able to keep food at the proper serving temperatures is vital to their operation, which seeks to provide senior citizens with nutritious meals. The equipment purchased by the grant will play a key role in continuing this agency’s responsibility of meeting the proper state guidelines in providing meals to seniors.
Southwest Early Childhood Center
Grant amount: $7,780
This agency provides resources to families with young children. Southwest Early Childhood Center is also a partner with United Way of Central Missouri’s Early Childhood Initiative. United Way grant funding will support the Conscious Discipline Baby Doll Circle Time program and training. The Southwest Early Childhood Center and the United Way Early Childhood Initiative support Conscious Discipline and have adopted its principles. Conscious Discipline is an evidence-based, comprehensive, self-regulation program that integrates social-emotional learning and discipline. Built on a foundation of current brain research, child development information, and developmentally appropriate practices, Conscious Discipline is designed to make changes in lives of adults who in turn change the lives of their children through parenting techniques.
The Healing House and New Beginnings
Grant amount: $7,500
This agency was established in 2013. The Healing House was brought to fruition by its Founder who has suffered from Substance Use Disorder and has experienced her own personal journey in recovery. The Healing House is her way of giving back to our community and helping women just as hopeless as she was find a life that is above all they could ever hope for. The Healing House and New Beginnings is designed to help women who suffer from Substance Use Disorder recover from a hopeless state of mind, grow in their faith in Christ and in their responsibility to their community. United Way grant funding will be used to purchase a Portable Building to create office space and additional living space for more women inside of the house.
Salvation Army
Grant amount: $10,000
This partner agency provides a 40-bed homeless shelter, community meals, food pantry and a number of other social services to low income individuals and families in our community. The United Way grant will be used to purchase new metal beds and mattresses for all sleeping rooms in The Salvation Army Center of Hope. The new beds will be 16 gauge metal, with no-sag sinuous spring. The beds are bunkable with adapters. The mattresses have a urethane coating, with fire barrier and inverted seams to prevent bedbug infiltration. Bedbug infiltration is difficult to control in emergency shelters because they can live in wooden bed frames and cloth mattresses. Acquisition and placement of metal beds and coated mattresses in the emergency shelter should reduce the occurrence of bedbugs, thereby reducing the expenditure on future heat treatments, as well as improving the housing experience of the residents.
UCP Heartland-Gibbs Center for Independence
Grant amount: $7,561
This agency provides quality programs and services while advancing the independence, productivity and full citizenship of individuals with cerebral palsy and other similar conditions. The United Way grant funding will be used to purchase critical equipment, such as a mobile changing table and horseshoe therapy tables, that will have a tremendous impact in the lives of their clients in the Adult Day program and the pilot Employment program, Talent Connect. One computer will be purchased to provide this agency the technology needed to support an individual in finding and keeping a job.
Working Wheels for Working Families
Grant amount: $3,000
This agency strives to build stronger communities within mid-Missouri by removing transportation barriers for low-income families that want to gain or maintain employment, strive towards their full potential, and ultimately improve their quality of life. United Way grant funding will provide additional resources for reconditioning vehicles so the cars provided to program recipients are roadworthy and safe.
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With more than 400 volunteers, United Way of Central Missouri and its 28 partner agencies touch more than 85,000 lives in our community, helping people live their best possible lives by fighting for the health, education, financial stability and basic needs of every person in our community. We provide services in seven counties in Central Missouri; including Camden, Cole, Miller, Moniteau, Morgan, Osage, and southern Callaway; to create community solutions that improve life for our families, friends, and neighbors. Since our inception in 1925, United Way of Central Missouri has partnered with local businesses and organizations to remain a vibrant resource in our community. For more information about United Way of Central Missouri, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (@unitedwaycemo).
