The Junior League of Houston announced its 2012 – 2013 Community Assistant Grants, which provide financial support to worthwhile organizations that do not otherwise receive ongoing volunteer support or financial assistance through the League’s Community Program. The recipients will be formally recognized at a luncheon on March 1, 2013.

Recipients are chosen by the League’s Community Assistance Committee which considers a variety of factors including whether an agency’s request would address a critical or basic need, fund a pilot project or expand a significant service to the community. The League had budgeted $70,000 for Community Assistance for 2012 – 2013; however, the Junior League received its inaugural gift of $75,000 from The Junior League of Houston Foundation’s Community Endowment Fund for Community Assistance. This gift increased the total Community Assistance funding to $145,000, which has not been matched or exceeded since 1985.

For 2012 – 2013, the Junior League awarded $145,000 in Community Assistance Grants to the following agencies:

Archway Academy

Archway Academy offers high school students recovering from substance abuse and addiction a sober alternative to continue their education.

Elves & More

Elves & More is dedicated to “changing lives – one bike at a time!” The program focuses on at-risk children living in Greater Houston, an eight-county area where 330,000 children live in poverty.

Gracewood

Gracewood assists single mothers experiencing a temporary crisis that leaves them on the brink of poverty, homelessness or separation from their children. Gracewood fills a critical gap in the Houston community by offering a structured home while families build the life skills and resources needed for successful, independent living.

Nehemiah Center

The Nehemiah Center is an organization that offers academic, emotional, cultural, social and spiritual enrichment for at-risk children and their families in Houston’s Third Ward and beyond.

SpringSpirit Baseball

SpringSpirit Baseball offers mentoring, education programs and physical development to youth in the Northern Spring Branch community. SpringSpirit programs follow a unique model of integrating students’ education and physical fitness.

The Joy School

The Joy School offers developmentally appropriate and individualized education for children with significant learning disabilities that are academically behind their peers. The mission of The Joy School is to prepare students with learning differences to return to traditional classroom settings by enabling them to reach their academic and social potential in a safe, supportive environment.

The Woods Project

The Woods Project makes a difference in the lives of economically challenged Houston area youth through outdoor programming that expands their world vision and fosters the development of leadership and life skills that will be required to carry them to college and beyond.

Theater Under the Stars (TUTS) – The River

Through The River, TUTS provides accessible and affordable fine arts education to children and their siblings, ages 2 to 19, who live with disabilities, chronic illnesses or are economically disadvantaged.

Westside Homeless Partnership

The Westside Homeless Partnership has developed the Hand-Up Program designed to address the root problems that keep a family in poverty. This program helps clients secure or restore their housing situation and develop a nine-month plan that includes employment goals and educational achievements.

Young Audiences of Houston

Young Audiences of Houston (YAH) educates and inspires children through the arts. The organization aspires to make the arts an integral part of the school curriculum and advance the field of arts in education through teacher professional development training and community partnerships.

The Greater Houston Women’s Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Awards Luncheon recognized the Junior League of Houston, Inc. along with a number of other individuals and organizations for tremendous community impact on January 29, 2013 at the Westin Galleria.

The Greater Houston Women’s Chamber of Commerce is a nonprofit organization of highly influential and diverse women and men dedicated to the advancement and empowerment of women through avenues of leadership, education, advocacy and mentoring.

The Junior League of Houston was honored for its trademark support of the Houston community both financially and in countless volunteer hours. The League most notably contributes $2 million in direct financial support and volunteer hours to the Houston community each year. In the last three years, the League has added four community projects, providing volunteers and funding to the Houston Zoo, Story Time LIVE, the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center, and Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus. This year the League will add a 38th community project at Texas Children’s Hospital Pavilion for Women.

2013 also marks the inaugural gift of $75,000 from the Junior League of Houston Foundation’s Community Endowment Fund. This gift increases the League’s total Community Assistance to $145,000, which has not been matched or exceeded since 1985. The League gives Community Assistance Grants to organizations that do not receive volunteers or funding through its community projects. This year the grants will go to nine organizations to help them mentor at-risk youth, educate through fine arts, address family poverty, and improve the lives of children and families in Houston.

The League’s message of mission-driven voluntarism has remained steady for more than 80 years. The innovative group of women who began a tea room to help finance a well-baby clinic planted seeds that produced an organization with more than $28 million in net assets that include the League’s building, Tea Room, Community Trust Fund, and $11 million Foundation. How does a $28 million organization thrive? A mission-driven focus and a well-trained volunteer membership.

The Junior League of Houston, Inc. hosted a back-to-school shopping event benefiting children aided by Child Advocates, Inc. On Saturday, August 11, 2012, over 100 League members arrived at the Heights-area Target by 6 a.m. to participate. Each League member was paired with a child who had a wish list and a $100 Target gift card funded by the League. The pair then shopped for new clothes, shoes and accessories so the kids could go back to school with confidence and style.

Once the shopping was complete, the children were provided a backpack full of supplies, a new toy, as well as an extra treat put together by the League’s VIEW volunteers. It was then off to a breakfast party where they enjoyed tacos, orange juice and donuts. The participants enjoyed showing their new duds to their siblings and the League volunteers. Not only did this event give the kids an opportunity to start their first day of school with a new outfit and backpack, but it also provided them a sense of assurance and confidence knowing they have all the right tools for a successful school year.

Childspree directly benefits children who have been abused and disregarded by their parents, and have been removed from their homes due to severe circumstances. Child Advocates, Inc. is one of the League’s 37 community projects where League volunteers are regularly placed in either the Life Books or Special Projects placement.

Few people have had as broad an impact on the Houston community as the 2012 Adelaide Lovett Baker Award recipient, Cynthia Johnson Adkins. The Adelaide Lovett Baker Award is given annually to one sustaining member of The Junior League of Houston, Inc. who has continued to serve and have a major broad-based impact on the community after her active involvement with the League.

Adkins served The Junior League of Houston, Inc. in a variety of capacities, including as the 1991 – 1992 President. One of her lasting marks was serving as the Chairman of the Building and Plans Committee during the planning and construction of the League building on Briar Oaks. Today all members of the League and those in the community who use the beautiful League building still enjoy the fruits of her labor.

Adkins has applied her League training by serving on the governing boards of organizations such as Bayou Bend, Covenant House Texas, Harris County Hospital District Foundation, St. Luke’s Episcopal Health Charities, TIRR Systems, The University of Texas at Austin Development Board, Texas Exes, The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston Development Board, Vivian L. Smith Foundation, and Whitney Bank. She also served on the Board of Trustees for Episcopal High School twice and for The Kinkaid School. She was the Chairman of the 1997 Theta Antiques Show and will again serve as the Chairman of the 2013 Theta Antiques Show. Additionally, Adkins was the first (and only) woman to serve as President of the River Oaks Country Club.

Professionally, Adkins joined Sterling Associates in 2002 as a non-profit consultant. Since 2006, she has served as the Executive Director of the TIRR Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to improving the quality of life for people who have sustained neurological injury.

Adkins also has a storybook marriage to John Adkins, whom she has known since she was a first-grade student at River Oaks Elementary School. She has four children, two grandchildren, and a large group of devoted extended family, friends, and admirers. She is especially proud that many family members, including her mother, sisters, and oldest daughter, have also been active participants in League activities. Adkins’s tireless and selfless dedication to serving the Houston community makes her the ideal recipient of the 2012 Adelaide Lovett Baker Award.

The JLH Sustaining Club’s Adelaide Lovett Baker Award Luncheon is on Monday, October 15, 2012, from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm honoring Cynthia Johnson Adkins in the League’s Ballroom.

Marking the beginning of the 2012 – 2013 year for The Junior League of Houston, Inc., Perry Ann Davis Reed passed the gavel to Catherine Nacol McCoin, reiterating McCoin’s belief that, “The power of the Junior League does not rest on any one person, rather within the collective strength of all us united in purpose.” McCoin has served in the nonprofit community for over 15 years. She attended Columbia University and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and History. She grew up volunteering, and has served in leadership roles in the nonprofit community for over 15 years.

McCoin has been a member of JLH since 2001. During her League tenure, she has held a number of leadership roles including Administrative Chairman, Sustainer Chairman, Training and Education Director, and Membership Vice President and Communications Director.

As part of the League’s Outside Board Representative Program, McCoin served on the Advisory Board of HISD’s Volunteers in Public Schools from 2006 to 2010, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of The Immunization Partnership.

Professionally, McCoin has served in a variety of capacities, including as Chief Financial Officer for Nacol and Associates and Vice President of Wicklow Capital. Prior to that, she spent several years in the general affairs division of Toyo Trust Company of New York, where her work was centered on Community Reinvestment Act compliance.

At the JLH Leadership Kickoff in May, McCoin announced the theme for the year: The Time of Your Life, emphasizing that all people must make the time for what is important to them. McCoin notes that, “Each League year provides us the opportunity to honor the reality that day after day, season after season, year after year, Junior League of Houston members commit time and talent to create something more than anyone could ever achieve individually. The Time of Your Life is about celebrating the extraordinary commitment our members make.”