Grants Update: Foundation Announces 2025 First Quarter Discretionary Grants

The Salvation Army – The Salvation Army Red Shield Youth Center:
Readers Are Leaders: $60,000 (Education)

Readers Are Leaders (RAL) is a literacy-based program designed to help the youth of
Kanawha County succeed and advance in their education. Led by The Salvation Army
Red Shield Youth Center, RAL works with community partners with an emphasis on developing literacy skills and overcoming educational challenges. Incorporating evidence-based programs including virtual tutoring, interactive activities, a summer literacy focus, and family engagement, RAL will cultivate life-long readers. Funding from TGKVF will provide for the continuation of the successful RAL program and the replacement of aging computer equipment at the St. Albans site.

The Education Alliance – EmpowerEd Fund: Supporting Educators with Flexible Funding to Transform Teaching and Learning: $50,000 (Education)

The Education Alliance, in partnership with Clay and Fayette County Schools, will launch the EmpowerEd Mini-Grants project to provide educators with flexible funding to enhance teaching and learning. The program will award 10-12 mini-grants of $3,000 each in its pilot year, empowering teachers to implement innovative classroom initiatives. Additionally, the project will host two EmpowerEd Table Talk gatherings where teacher grantees can share project outcomes, exchange ideas, and build professional networks. This initiative aims to spark creativity, foster innovation, and support educator collaboration, ultimately enriching the educational experience for students in participating counties.

West Virginia Public Broadcasting – Daniel Tiger’s Little Learners Year 3: $50,000

This project expands the Daniel Tiger’s Little Learners initiative, bringing curriculum,
instruction, and support to preschoolers in Clay, Lincoln, and Kanawha counties. Based
on Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood from Fred Rogers’ landmark social-emotional learning
curriculum, it includes classroom kits with lessons to help manage emotions and develop
critical social skills while exploring and creating. Caregivers receive family activities, monthly updates, and books for children, and they attend a family night. Ambassadors from Boone County who have implemented the program will help train and support new educators. TGKVF funding will support classroom materials, books, and staffing.

Exceptional Possibilities of WV, Inc. – Talking Time AAC Summer Camp: $16,000 (Education)

Augmentative and Alternative Communication Summer Camp (AAC), a program of Exceptional Possibilities of WV, Inc., specializes in work with children and young adults with disabilities. The weeklong camp will occur July 14-18, 2025 in Kanawha County, and will be accessible for individuals with disabilities who use AAC to communicate. The requested funds will pay camp fees and educational sessions for parents/caregivers, purchase materials for daily themed activities pertaining to the use of each child’s AAC device, and offer nutritional meal options. Each participant will participate in real life scenarios with community partners to improve their functionality.

City of Smithers, WV – Renewing Americorps/VISTA Assignment at Smithers: $17,000 (CED)

Through this project, the City of Smithers will renew their Americorps/VISTA position.
TGKVF funds will support the remuneration, training, and oversight as part of the WV
Ready Program. The Americorps volunteer will continue the growing trajectory of helping expand city’s capacity to lay groundwork for community improvements and critically needed economic development in ways sustainable after their volunteer service has ended.

West Virginia Military Authority – Base Innovations: Supporting Veterans and their Families in Economic Development: $40,000 (CED)

Base Innovations will support veterans, active military, military family members, and
those in substance abuse recovery with an opportunity to learn the skills to become
an entrepreneur or expand an existing business to meet today’s everchanging business
landscape. Programs and support services offered will target these individuals located
in the Kanawha Valley counties of Boone, Clay, Fayette, Kanawha, Lincoln, and Putnam, as well as many of the surrounding counties in the area. Through this project, the supplies to complete Base Innovations as a facility will be purchased to make it an all-inclusive and welcome small business center in the heart of Charleston.

Advantage Valley, Inc. – Empowering Entrepreneurs: Learning and Certification Initiatives for Small Business Growth: $35,000 (CED)

TGKVF’s funding will support Advantage Valley’s mission of fostering entrepreneurial
success and economic development in Boone, Clay, Kanawha, Lincoln, and Putnam counties. Funds will be allocated to two key initiatives. The first is the development of a Learning Management System for the FASTER WV program, offering practical training modules to equip entrepreneurs and small business owners with essential skills. The second initiative focuses on assisting disadvantaged businesses in obtaining certifications to expand their market opportunities. These projects aim to strengthen the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, promote inclusivity, and drive economic growth.

West Virginia Community Development Hub, Inc. – Community Leadership Capacity Building and Project Implementation through HubCAP V (Year 3): $45,000 (CED)

TGKVF funding will support the participation of the Communities of Achievement Program (HubCAP V) in Montgomery, Oak Hill, and Smithers. This program focuses on
cultivating leadership, building strong teams, connecting communities with economic
development resources, and strategizing to identify and advance key local projects.
Participating towns leverage these efforts to create new pathways to wealth and resilience. HubCAP communities are collaborating with municipalities, community-based nonprofits, local Economic Development Authorities, and the WVU Center for Design, with efforts continuing through 2025.

Appalachian Service Project – Home Replacement and Repair: $35,000 (CED)

Appalachia Service Project inspires hope and service through volunteer home repair and
replacement in Central Appalachia. ASP’s home repair program will continue to make
homes warmer, safer, and drier in Clay, Fayette, and Kanawha counties, contributing to
neighborhood revitalization as well as reducing housing as a negative social determinant of health. Activities include providing critical home repairs for 30 homes as well as strategically collaborating with other community organizations to provide a renewed sense of safety, pride, and hope for underserved citizens. ASP will serve approximately 60 individuals (2 individuals per home) across the service area.

Camp SOAR – Camp SOAR – Summer Outdoor Arts and Recreation: $35,000 (Health)

Camp SOAR is a six-week half-day summer camp for youth in Fayette County. At the
Camp, youth aged nine through 12 learn through outdoor education, recreation, arts, and
relaxation. Campers are guided by teen counselors and responsible adults. Experiential
learning balances structured activities with opportunities for free play to help foster
curiosity, whole body health, social skills, self-efficacy, and connection to community.
Teen counselors learn leadership, teamwork, organizational skills, empathy, and patience. The Greater Kanawha Valley funds will be used to provide scholarships, equipment, and transportation fees.

West Virginia University Foundation – Building Nurse-Led Access to Care Points Within West Virginia Faith Community Settings: $41,000 (Health)

This project aims to identify and support nurses from rural communities within TGKVF’s six-county service area. Selected nurses will complete the National Foundations of Faith Community Nursing course to enhance their ability to provide holistic care and address community health needs. The requested funds will be used to provide training, equip nurses with necessary supplies, and offer mentorship, support, and stipends to facilitate their work in these underserved areas. By empowering nurses through education and resources, the project seeks to improve health outcomes and strengthen community-based access to care within these rural counties.

West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Inc. – Symphony Sunday 2025: A Community Building Celebration of Music: $10,000 (Arts & Culture)

The WVSO will connect visual, performing, and culinary West Virginia artists with
customers and clients by inviting them to exhibit and perform during AVN Symphony
Sunday, a free, daylong celebration of the arts on June 1, 2025, featuring the WVSO and
other community bands at the University of Charleston. This festival has the potential to
benefit artists from all West Virginia counties, but specifically, Boone, Clay, Fayette, Kanawha, Lincoln, and Putnam counties by providing participation and exhibition opportunities. Costs include renting and setting up the stage, tents, display tables and chairs, and paying professional WVSO musicians to perform.

Mid-Atlantic Dance Initiative, Inc. – Mid- Atlantic Dance Initiative (MADI) Guest Artist: $10,000 (Arts & Culture)

Broadway choreographer James A. Kinney and three professional dancers will visit the
MADI (Mid-Atlantic Dance Initiative) Festival 2025. Without professionals like Kinney, MADI could not fulfill its mission of connecting aspiring dancers with accomplished professionals, particularly those lacking resources for summer intensives or college programs. As West Virginia’s only educational dance festival of its caliber, MADI provides fee waivers to disadvantaged students. Beyond teaching master classes, Kinney and his Broadway dancers will perform in a free public gala concert with MADI dancers, bringing professional-level dance performance to the Kanawha Valley community this June.

FestivALL Charleston, West Virginia, Inc. – FestivALL Charleston Sustainability Project: $32,000 (Arts & Culture)

In consideration of an evolving artistic and funding landscape and changes in audiences and organizational leadership, The FestivALL Charleston Sustainability Project is a capacity-building project. The project aims to ensure the success of FestivALL and its unique contributions to our community for years to come. The primary activities of the project take place in Kanawha County, but FestivALL attracts visitors from the six-county TGKVF service area and beyond. The funds requested for this project will be used to maintain programming while conducting a strategic planning and implementation process to support organizational and programmatic structure for long-term sustainability.

West Virginia State University Foundation (WVSU)– Building Capacity for the WVSU School of Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources: $1,000,000 (Special Initiatives)

WVSU proposes to leverage its designation as an 1890 Land-Grant Institution by fully
implementing its tripartite mission of teaching, research, and extension through establishing a School of Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources which will deliver interdisciplinary programs that will prepare students to address the critical challenges facing the food and agriculture industries. Specifically under this funding opportunity, WVSU will focus on resources to build the structure needed to support the school overall as well as starting two new academic programs around Veterinary Technology and Food Science. Funding from TGKVF will be awarded over an extended 10-year period.