Community Foundation Distributes $1.4M in Second Half

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The Community Foundation of the Mahoning Valley Monday announced the award of more than $1.4 million in grants and distributions for the second half of 2015.

The funds include $167,400 in grants to 24 nonprofit organizations in Mahoning and Trumbull counties that made requests to the philanthropic funds the Community Foundation manages. The remaining $1.3 million was distributed by fund advisers apart from the grant process.

“We are fortunate in the Mahoning Valley to have philanthropists who are committed to making an impact,” said Shari Harrell, president of the Community Foundation. “These individuals, families and businesses enable local organizations to do more to enhance health, education, the arts and many other aspects of our community.”

The Community Foundation and its affiliates hold more than $56 million in assets and distributed more than $1 million in grants during its most recent fiscal year.

The largest grant announced Monday is $35,000 for Hospice of the Valley to expand service it provides under a new Medicare program that pays for both hospice and curative care for qualifying beneficiaries. HOTV recently hired a nurse to coordinate care for 100 beneficiaries this year. These funds were provided by the Hospice Trust of Trumbull County.

A grant of $15,000 was approved for Hope House Visitation Center Inc. in Youngstown, which provides safe areas for supervised visitation, exchange programs, support groups and therapeutic parenting programs. The safe areas support healthy parent-child relationships in situations of divorce, domestic violence, child abuse and substance abuse. These funds were provided by the Kennedy Family Fund and the Delfin Gilbert Fund.

The foundation approved $14,000 for the Struthers City School District to retain a resource officer to provide safety in and around school buildings during school hours and work with outside safety agencies. These funds from the SJK Fund replace funding that was once provided by a federal government grant.

Other grants include:

• $12,750 for Senior Independence to support light therapy, aromatherapy, music and other therapies it provides to late-stage dementia patients (Hospice Trust of Trumbull County).
• $10,000 for SMARTS (Students Motivated by the Arts) to cover costs for building renovation, occupancy and programming leadership for the local arts school relocating to a new building in Youngstown. (John S. and Doris M. Andrews Memorial Fund).
• $10,000 for Mahoning Valley College Access Program Inc. to provide part-time college advisers to Youngstown and Warren high school students. (Kennedy Family Fund).
• $10,000 to Meridian Community Care to pilot a new drug abuse prevention program in Boardman. (Kennedy Family Fund).

These organizations also received grants from one or a combination of the funds the Community Foundation manages:

• $6,000.00 to Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. for materials and equipment used by AmeriCorps volunteers to board up blighted houses, clean up vacant lots and repair homes (Kennedy Family Fund and First Place Community Fund).
• $5,000.00 to Girl Scouts of North East Ohio for installing Wi-Fi access and landline telephones at Camp Sugarbush in Kinsman (Kennedy Family Fund).
• $5,000.00 to the Greater Western Reserve Council of Boy Scouts of America to support facility operations, scholarships, events and camps (Kennedy Family Fund).
• $5,000.00 to the Youngstown Business Incubator to support renovations to its building at 252 West Boardman St. in Youngstown (First Place Community Fund).
• $5,000.00 for East Side Organizing Project, Inc. to expand a Warren office and offer financial workshops and counseling for senior citizens (Kennedy Family Fund).
• $5,000.00 to the Salvation Army for emergency services for low-income individuals (Kennedy Family Fund).
• $5,000.00 to the Young Women’s Christian Association of Warren for housing it provides in association with Beatitude House for disabled homeless women (Kennedy Family Fund).
• $5,000 to the Millcreek Children’s Center in Youngstown to support the food and nutrition program  (Kennedy Family Fund).
• $3,500.00 to Opera Western Reserve for expenses of “The Elixir of Love” in November 2015 (Kennedy Family Fund and Ralph E. & Esther K. Meacham Memorial Fund).
• $3,500 to Big Brothers-Big Sisters of the Mahoning Valley to expand its mentoring program in local schools (First Place Community Fund and Kennedy Family Fund).
• $3,000.00 to the Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership for technical assistance and support for beautification projects in Warren neighborhoods (Kennedy Family Fund and First Place Community Fund).
• $2,500.00 to the Children’s Rehabilitation Center in Howland for a new transportation program for infant children in emergency situations (First Place Community Fund).
• $2,500.00 to the Youngstown State University Foundation for the Northeastern Ohio Regional Scholastic Art Awards Exhibition (Kennedy Family Fund).
• $2,500.00 to Millcreek Children’s Center in Youngstown for tutoring fine motor skills, critical thinking, math, language/literacy, science, social studies and social-emotional skills for at-risk children (First Place Community Fund).
• $2,150.00 to Making Kids Count to provide children entering the foster care system with toys, books, toiletries and blankets (Jeff & Tina Wilkins Family Fund).
• $1,500.00 to Altrusa International Foundation of Youngstown to support its “Plant the Seed to Read Book Festival” (Kennedy Family Fund).
• $1,000.00 to the Alzheimer’s Association to support the 36-Hour Day Resource Guide (Kennedy Family Fund).
• $1,000.00 to the Easter Seal Society of Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana Counties to help pay for hearing aids (First Place Community Fund).
• $500 to the Warren Civic Chorus to defray expenses of its annual performances of Handel’s “Messiah” in Warren (Ralph E. & Esther K. Meacham Memorial Fund).

The beneficiaries of the $1.3 million in distributions are listed below.

• Akron Children’s Hospital Mahoning Valley
• Angels for Animals, Inc.
• Beaver Creek Wildlife Center
• Blessed Sacrament Parish
• Boardman Local Schools
• Boardman Township Park
• Cardinal Mooney High School
• Children’s Rehabilitation Center
• Columbiana Area Meals on Wheels
• Cortland Community Foundation
• Crown Theatre Productions
• Diabetes Partnership of the Mahoning Valley
• Heartland Christian School
• Henry H. Stambaugh Auditorium Association
• John F. Kennedy High School
• Lamppost Farm
• Mahoning Valley Chorale
• Mahoning Valley College Access Program, Inc.
• Mahoning Valley Historical Society
• Making Kids Count
• Mercy Health Development Foundation
• Midlothian Free Health Clinic
• Mill Creek MetroParks Foundation
• OH WOW! The Roger & Gloria Jones Children’s Center for Science & Technology
• Philanthropy Ohio
• Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County
• Shepherd’s Foundation
• Sisters of Notre Dame
• Christine Parish School
• The Catholic University of America
• The Penguin Club
• The Youngstown Business Incubator
• The Youngstown Connection
• Jerome’s Poor
• Walsh University
• Youngstown State University
• Youngstown/Mahoning Valley United Way

Pictured: Kimberly Tenney , a registered nurse and care coordinator for Hospice of the Valley, with Casey Krell, grant-making coordinator of at the Community Foundation.​ Hospice received the largest grant announced Monday.

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