Charleston, WV- The Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation (TGKVF) Board of Trustees approved the distribution of grants totaling $1,008,600. Funding supports programs such as the Regional Family Resource Network’s Project Bottle and Diaper Duty, a local program that support baby pantries in Boone, Clay, Fayette, Kanawha, Lincoln, and Putnam Counties.
The Regional Family Resource Network (RFRN) recently received a call from a local foster care agency about a new foster family who received placement of two young children and needed diapers, formula, and clothing for an infant and four year old child. By connecting with the RFRN, the agency representative was able to find a local baby pantry and collect diapers, formula, clothing, and other supplies, such as books and art supplies for the family in need – free of charge. Since the baby pantries that the RFRN supports also serve as locations for families to learn about additional opportunities for assistance, the agency representative was able to share this with the new foster family as well. During the Covid-19 pandemic, many services and programs have been canceled or closed, but the RFRN’s Project Bottle and Diaper Duty has been able to continue providing resources to families in need.
TGKVF awarded 13 responsive grants totaling $429,400 to Arts & Culture, Basic Needs, and Field-of-Interest programs, and awarded seven grants totaling $241,800 in the Foundation’s proactive areas of Community and Economic Development (CED), Education, and Health. Funding was awarded for three Special Initiative grants and three West Side 2.0 grants in the amount of $156,400. Continued generous support from an anonymous donor provided funding for two Dental and two Emergency Aid grants totaling $181,000.
Future of Nursing West Virginia-WV Nurse Entrepreneur Project: $20,000 (CED)
Funding for this project continues and expands the impact and success of the WV Nurse Entrepreneur Project, which has created a curriculum as well as admitted and graduated 42 nurses through the program in the past two years. Fourteen nurse-owned businesses have successfully launched and others are in stages of development.
Good News Mountaineer Garage-Closing the Transportation Gap-Employment Access for Low Income Workers in 6-County Area: $30,000 (CED)
In its second year of support, this project will facilitate employment, providing individuals with income needed for a healthy life. Funds will be used to build stability by providing vehicles to individuals so they have transportation to work. Leveraging other funding, the program will provide a financial training and counseling program and introduce a low-rate financing plan with Element Federal Credit Union. Funding will support the program’s delivery of 9-14 vehicles within TGKVF’s six county region.
Mission West Virginia-The Bridge: $47,500 (Education)
This funding will allow the program to continue creating opportunities to support foster youth as they pursue their academic potential and become productive members of the community. The program will collaborate with Clay County Schools in areas of Educational Advocacy, Academic Coaching, Enrichment Opportunities, and Post-Secondary Education Planning. Funding will support staffing and supplies.
Zion Child Development Center, Inc.-Pyramid Model Sustainability Initiative-Zion and Boys and Girls Club: $40,000 (Education)
Funding for this project will support Zion and the Boys and Girls Club of America to improve implementation of the Pyramid Model, focusing on coaching elements to improve quality in the classroom and sustainability of the program. The Teaching Pyramid Observation Tool (TPOT) will be used by both facilities, offering coaching and action plans for classrooms based on the TPOT model. Funding will be used for training, salaries during training, evaluation, supplies, and printing.
Philanthropy West Virginia-EAG & WV Climb Collaboration: $20,000 (Education)
This grant supports a partnership between Philanthropy WV’s Education Affinity Group and the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission to increase post-secondary degree attainment. The West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission is uniquely positioned to drive change across both the two-year and four-year systems. Because of this, the Commission is implementing a comprehensive and sustainable strategy – WV Climb – focused on identifying and dismantling barriers to college completion. Funding will support stipends for college professors to convert their curricula into Open Educational Resources, thereby decreasing the financial burden that textbook purchasing places on students.
Cabin Creek Health Systems (CCHS)-CCHS’s Patient Centered Service Extension: $50,000 (Health)
Since 2017, CCHS has been providing healthcare and support to the homeless, under-housed, and underserved population in the Charleston area. Due to overwhelming social determinants of health, some of the individuals with the highest needs do not seek traditional healthcare. Therefore, CCHS has utilized service programs to meet populations where they are. Funding will support CCHS with supplies and staffing costs.
The Center for Rural Health Development, Inc.-Wild, Wonderful and Healthy Charleston West Side: $34,300 (Health)
Wild, Wonderful, and Healthy Charleston West Side is part of the Wild, Wonderful, and Healthy West Virginia Initiative led by the Center for Rural Health Development in communities throughout the state. The West Side program will work to strengthen the capacity of residents and community leaders to develop a culture of health in their community while also supporting economic development on the West Side of Charleston. TGKVF funds will specifically be used to conduct Community Health Improvement Planning and implement long-term changes to improve community health.
Three Bridges Art Experiences, Corp.-Wednesday Workshops-Providing Specialized Arts Education to WV: $5,000 (Arts & Culture)
Wednesday Workshops provide specialized arts education to West Virginia participants by stimulating a master class presented by guest artists via Zoom. The workshops’ major focus is education through exposure to entertainment professionals’ stories and expertise. This provides budding artists the perspective that a career in the arts is possible with the correct education and industry understanding. Workshops take place monthly through Zoom, with one annual live master class presented in Charleston (dependent on COVID-19 guidelines). The workshops are open to participants between twelve and forty years of age. Funding will support coordination and guest artist fees.
West Virginia Music Hall of Fame (WVHoF)-Music Career Counseling Video Project: $5,000 (Arts & Culture)
The Music Career Counseling Video Project utilizes the professional relationships the WVHoF has developed with WV musicians and industry professionals, bringing them to high schools to introduce students to the many non-performing career opportunities available in the music industry. The video project will create a library of five-minute presentations that introduce these various diverse careers. Since COVID-19 has severely limited access to schools, the “virtual” approach is more important than ever. Funding will support videography and music industry speakers.
West Virginia Youth Symphony-Outreach Through the Performing Arts-Dance, Voice, Orchestra, & Theater: $20,000 (Arts & Culture)
To promote performing arts education in the region, the WV Youth Symphony will plan and perform a collaborative ballet production of Sleeping Beauty in April 2021, showcasing over 150 young dancers, singers, actors, and musicians. The project will also offer outreach classes in ballet and violin instruction in Clendenin for economically disadvantaged children. Funding will support tuition assistance, quality instruments, instructors’ salaries, performance venue fees, and materials such as stage props, sheet music, and costumes. Funding will also enable reduced ticket prices to schools and the Ticket Town program.
American Red Cross-Basic Needs-Disaster Services Direct Client Financial Assistance: $30,000 (Basic Needs)
American Red Cross/West Virginia/ Southwest Chapter provides direct financial assistance for residents experiencing a fire, flood, or any disaster emergency in West Virginia, but specifically for this project in Boone, Clay, Fayette, Kanawha, Lincoln, and Putnam counties. Funds will be used for basic needs such as clothing to keep clients warm, shelter to keep them safe, food to prevent hunger, and medicine to maintain their health.
Covenant House-Improving Health and Quality of Life for the Homeless and Low-Income: $66,000 (Basic Needs)
Covenant House, Manna Meal, and Roark Sullivan Lifeway Center partner to fight hunger, homelessness, and poverty in Kanawha County. Estimating that these programs serve over 90 percent of the homeless population in Kanawha County, funding will support providing food, meals, clothing, hygiene items, and staffing.
Daymark, Inc.-Patchwork: $21,500 (Basic Needs)
Patchwork, licensed by the State of West Virginia, is a runaway and homeless shelter for youth ages twelve and older. Patchwork’s mission is to provide youth in high-risk situations with a safe alternative to abusive, neglectful, or dangerous environments. Patchwork provides emergency and pharmacological services, mental health assessment plans, nursing services, educational and vocational exploration, counseling, referral services, food, clothing, and shelter. Funding will support staffing, food, and utilities.
Heart and Hand Outreach Ministries, Inc.-Heart+Hand Basic Needs Programs: $22,000 (Basic Needs)
Heart and Hand provides basic needs assistance in the form of free food, clothing, housewares, utility and rent assistance, diapers, work boots and shoes, holiday food, and gifts for low income families in Kanawha and Putnam Counties. Funding from this grant will be used for utility assistances, rent, and to supplement Heart and Hand’s food pantry.
Kanawha Valley Collective, Inc. (KVC)-Centralized Point of Entry and Housing Stabilization: $60,500 (Basic Needs)
Kanawha Valley Collective is the local Continuum of Care – a collaborative network of providers serving Boone, Clay, Kanawha, and Putnam counties. Funding will support utility assistance, furniture, and bus passes for clients; utility assistance for Covenant House’s Drop in Center; and salaries for YWCA Sojourner’s Shelter, Roark Sullivan Lifeway Center, and Daymark.
Kanawha Valley Fellowship Home, Inc.: $20,500 (Basic Needs)
The Kanawha Valley Fellowship Home is a transitional home for men in recovery from addiction. The Home, aftercare apartments, and newly opened intermediate apartments provide 30 beds for its mission of housing, feeding, and building positive habits through structured accountability. Funding will support utilities, food, and shelter.
Regional Family Resource Network-Project Bottle and Diaper Duty: $30,000 (Basic Needs)
In an effort to address the diaper, formula, and breastfeeding needs in our communities, a team of community-based organizations from Boone, Clay, Fayette, Kanawha, Lincoln, and Putnam Counties have come together to create a system that will place or strengthen baby pantries in these communities. Pantries will provide diapers, formula and bottles, breastfeeding accessories, and educational materials to low-income families struggling with unforeseen financial hardships.
Tyler Mountain/Cross Lanes Community Services-Cross Lanes Basic Emergency Needs: $18,000 (Basic Needs)
Funding will support Tyler Mountain/Cross Lanes Community Services’ food pantry, Christmas food basket program, and utility and prescription drug assistance for residents in Kanawha and Putnam counties.
YWCA Resolve Family Abuse Program: $22,250 (Basic Needs)
YWCA Resolve’s Victim and Shelter Services Coordinator, along with other advocates, assist victims of domestic violence by providing basic needs such as food, clothing, and safe emergency shelter. The Coordinator provides case management, referrals to various resources, transportation, and housing relocation assistance services which empower survivors to build safer, more secure futures for themselves and their children.
West Virginia University Foundation Inc.-Children’s Vision Rehabilitation Program (CVRP): $108,650 (Field-of-Interest)
Families and providers of children with visual impairment struggle to gain information, identify resources, and gain support. CVRP/SenseAbilities (SA) ensures children with visual impairments–including those with cortical visual impairment, blindness, and low vision–receive services from knowledgeable providers. Interventions, equipment, and devices are diverse. Funding will support evaluations, mentoring, and low vision and blindness equipment and programming that will address blindness-related skills needed to encourage success in higher education and employment. CVRP/SA serves the entire state of West Virginia but specifically TGKVF’s six-county region.
Kanawha County Dental Health Council, Inc.-Kanawha County Dental Health Council, Inc.: $80,000 (Dental Health)
Kanawha County Dental Health Council’s mission is to promote dental health for the children of our community through education within Kanawha County Schools and to provide comprehensive dental services for children of low-income families. The Council does accept CHIP and Medicaid, but there remains a significant number of uninsured patients. Funding from TGKVF will help cover the expense of treating patients, thereby supporting the Council’s mission that “no child within Kanawha County will ever go without needed dental care and education.”
Family Care-Oral Health Services for Women in Recovery Year 4: $90,000 (Dental Health)
Family Care Health Centers have partnered with Recovery Point Charleston to offer preventative, restorative, and oral health services to Recovery Point residents. Based in Kanawha County, residents of Recovery Point will have access to dental cleanings, X-rays, fillings, root canals, crowns, and dentures.
Nitro Mission Team-Nitro Community Food Pantry Freezer/Refrigerator: $3,000 (Emergency Aid)
The Nitro Food Pantry has relocated to the former West Sattes Elementary School. This new space will allow pantry clients to be served through a drive-up window. Funding will support and match United Way funding to purchase a commercial walk-in freezer/refrigerator.
Clay County Commission-Old Courthouse Roof Project: $8,000 (Emergency Aid)
Funding will be used to replace the roof on the building that contains the History and Landmarks Commission and the Clay County Magistrate Offices. The building is located in Clay, WV and serves citizens from many counties throughout West Virginia and others researching family and regional histories.
YWCA of Charleston-YWCA Charleston Racial Justice Program-Changing Hearts and Minds: $17,200 (Special Initiatives)
The YWCA Charleston Racial Justice Program increases local capacity to mitigate the effects of racism and to understand its root causes. The program will work with community leaders in Boone, Clay, and Kanawha counties to help participants recognize racial bias. Funding will support training, outreach through Conversation Cafes, and the annual Race to End Racism, a conscious-raising event celebrating communities of color in Charleston, WV.
CADCO Foundation, Inc.-GROWing Entrepreneurship in the Kanawha Valley: $22,850 (Special Initiatives)
The Charleston Area Alliance and Advantage Valley will employ a two-prong approach to support entrepreneurs in the Kanawha Valley region. The Alliance will implement GROW 2.0, a proven effective boot camp style training for entrepreneurs and small businesses, supported by additional technical expertise and professional services to reinforce sustained business success. Advantage Valley will target women and minority-owned businesses by providing services for certification, business coaching, and scholarships for the Fast Trac program at BridgeValley Community and Technical College.
West Virginia State University Foundation, Inc.-Opening Soon Entrepreneurial Program: $49,500 (Special Initiatives)
The Entrepreneurial Program will be a multidimensional business and product development program for entrepreneurs, start-ups, and micro-enterprises in Kanawha County. The program will provide education and guidance in launching participants’ business ideas into a viable product or service through a series of workshops, peer meetings, and technical assistance. Planned activities include 10 weekly sessions of instructional delivery that will incorporate product development, credit counseling, financial management, and media marketing. Funding will be utilized to pay instructors’ fees to deliver instructional content, develop workshop booklets, and marketing of the program.
The Salvation Army Boys & Girls Club-MAKESHOP Appalachia: West Side Youth Entrepreneurship Workshops: $26,400 (West Side Place-Based Initiative)
The MAKESHOP Appalachia: Entrepreneurship Workshops are technology and design entrepreneurship-focused programs, free of charge for underserved youth on Charleston’s West Side. West Side partners Salvation Army Boys & Girls Club, MESH, Financial Literacy Bootcamp, Fun Fitness Kids Club, and Elk City Renewal Association will build on our pilot year to collaborate on 40 new workshops to develop the entrepreneurship pipeline in Kanawha County. The workshops will give 60 youth a creative outlet to develop coding, digital design, and other career development skills to form a community-based project or company idea.
The Kanawha Valley Council on Philanthropy (KVCOP): $25,000- (West Side Place-Based Initiative)
The KVCOP provides support through the initiative for projects on Charleston’s West Side. It is the Council’s goal to support programs and projects that will meet the interest of its members who may contribute to multifaceted place-based philanthropic campaigns. The funding raised in 2019 went to support mental health, education, and community economic development initiatives.
Bible Center Church-The Maker’s Center: $15,000 (West Side Place Based Initiative)
Through The Maker’s Center program, mentors will motivate creativity using cutting-edge technology, a fully-equipped workshop, and an art studio. The program will serve Kanawha County high school students and statewide students in local recovery programs and offer a unique atmosphere, hands-on opportunities, and technology to dream, learn, innovate, and create. Funding will be used for next level technology and art supplies.
The Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation is grateful to our community of generous donors who make these and other grants possible. The programs and work approved for the third quarter of 2020 distributions are supported by the following funds: Anonymous/Dental; Anonymous/Emergency Aid;
Marian H. Angell Memorial Fund; John C. and Ada K. Arter Memorial Fund; Frank W. and Joan Allison Badger; Beatrice Bell Memorial Fund; Juanita M. Boll Memorial Fund; James F. Duncan Charitable; Brent B. Galyean Memorial; George and Patty Herscher; Bernard H. Jacobson Cultural; Lois and Lawrence C. Kaufman, Jr.; Alice Ann Koontz; Lowenstein #1; Lillian M. Mairs; W. Alfred and Lucy McClung; Nancy Gay Randolph; George and Josephine Rogers; Harry and Florence Silverstein; Thomas R. and Anna Bond Stephens Charitable; L. Newton and Katherine S. Thomas General; and Paul and Opal Vaughan.
