2015 – 2016 Community Assistance Grant Recipients

Each year, The Junior League of Houston, Inc. provides Community Assistance grants to worthwhile organizations that do not receive ongoing volunteer support or financial assistance through the League’s Community Program. The League Community Assistance Committee reviews the grant requests based on their alignment with board-determined focus areas and conducts site visits before making recommendations for funding. When selecting recipients, the committee considers whether an agency request would address a critical or basic need, fund a pilot project or expand a significant service to the community.

For 2015 – 2016, the League awarded $150,000 in Community Assistance grants to the following agencies:

 

The Center: The Center offers high-quality residential, vocational and day services to support its clients and the greater Houston community. League funds will support the Young at Heart Program by expanding services for senior adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities to help them remain physically and socially active, mentally engaged and connected to their community.

 

ChildBuilders: ChildBuilders provides a prevention program designed to stop child maltreatment from happening in the first place. The programs provide children the knowledge and skills they need to identify and avert victimization and support social-emotional development. League funds will be used to train and provide program curricula to 46 school personnel to teach the Personal Safety and Relationship Education program to 400 greater Houston area children. The funding will include program curricula, a laptop computer, wireless Internet access and resource books.

 

ESCAPE Family Resource Center: ESCAPE is a parenting education agency providing child abuse prevention programs and parenting classes to families looking to create a safe, healthy and happy home lives. League funds will significantly expand the ESCAPE Family Resource Center’s “Learn to Parent” education efforts to the community through a pilot program offering 11 new and flexible workshops to working parents. The funds will also continue to support The First Five, a program focused on preventing abuse of children under the age of five, the most vulnerable and often abused childhood demographic.

 

His Grace Foundation: His Grace Foundation works to provide physical, emotional and financial support to patients and families in the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at Texas Children’s Hospital. League funds will fully furnish a third apartment for their housing program, His Grace Place, to provide temporary and critical post-transplant housing for these families during their loved one’s treatment.

 

The Hope and Healing Center: The Hope and Healing Center provides education, training and programs that support and strengthen the emotional, mental, physical and spiritual health of families and individuals across the full cycle of life, from birth to elderhood. League funds will support The Hope and Healing Center’s new Violence Against Women initiative, designed to offer specialized mental health care services for female survivors of trauma.

 

Houston A+ Challenge: Founded in 1997, Houston A+ Challenge’s mission is to be a catalyst for change and a model for innovation in public school education in the Houston area and beyond to ensure that every student is prepared for post-secondary success.  League funds will fund a portion of the A+ Unlimited Potential program for low-income and at-risk middle school students.

 

Interfaith CarePartners: Interfaith CarePartners provides caring communities for individuals in need due to age and health-related maladies. Care is provided in-home and onsite at local congregations. League funds will support the continued growth and development of the Care Team program by allowing staff members to provide expertise, training and support to 2,400 congregation-based volunteers.

 

Northwest Assistance Ministries (NAM): NAM has an integrated service model to deliver its mission of meeting basic human needs through “neighbors helping neighbors.” League funds will support two programs, including emergency shelter and/or supplies for a new home for approximately 25 women fleeing domestic violence and a daily supplemental meal for 40 homebound seniors for a six-month period.

 

The Periwinkle Foundation: The Periwinkle Foundation develops and provides programs that positively change the lives of children, young adults and families who are challenged by cancer and other life-threatening illnesses and who are cared for at Texas Children’s Hospital. League funds will support Camp Periwinkle in the City, a pilot program to provide a three-day camp for 50 children with cancer and blood disorders who are undergoing treatment at Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Centers and their siblings.

 

Texas Center for the Missing (TCM): TCM is dedicated to bringing hope and healing to the missing and their families through crisis intervention, prevention and community education. League funds will develop and implement the new Houston Regional Silver Alert System website, a life-saving emergency alert system for elderly adults often battling dementia. Additionally, funds will provide search and rescue training, specifically for the elderly, to law enforcement officers serving the 14-county Houston-Galveston region.