Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The Central Alabama Community Foundation (CACF) awarded $123,640.00 in grants to 18 River Region nonprofits that support education initiatives in Montgomery, Lowndes, Macon, Autauga and Elmore counties. In this award cycle, Hope Inspired Ministries received a grant of $15,000 to support ministry efforts in Lowndes County.

“The Central Alabama Community Foundation has been there for us, really from the start,” Bowman said. “Our Lowndes site has been in operation for three years and having [CACF] as a partner has allowed us to serve more people there.”

Burton Crenshaw, CACF president, said the education grants being awarded are part of the Family Wellness and Education Grant Cycle that CACF manages. 

“Funds from these grants will go directly toward assisting many within these communities,” she said.

According to Crenshaw, HIM’s grant will help support the costs of the career coach position serving the ministry’s Lowndes County site, through extensive case management, addressing student’s barriers to employment, and facilitating the Alabama Career Essentials certificate process.

“We call them career coaches, but they are also teachers,” Bowman said. “While one is teaching, the others are doing case management, helping people get identification and other things they need. We may take participants to court, for medical treatment, or shopping for clothes. Our coaches do an outstanding job teaching them how to get a job and to excel at it, but it’s all of the little things they do, going the extra mile that makes the difference. I tell people there is nothing we won’t do to help someone get back on their feet.”

At an Aug. 9 ceremony, initiatives received awards from CACF and its two affiliates, Autauga Area Community Foundation and Elmore County Community Foundation.

Central Alabama Community Foundation, totaling $86,140.00, were awarded to the following organizations:

• $5,200.00 to Boys & Girls Clubs of the River Region – to purchase musical instruments (guitars, amps, keyboards, and drums sets) and music lessons to expand the capacity of the Chisholm Club’s musical program that meets twice weekly with musical instructors;
• $15,000.00 to Common Ground Montgomery – to support the costs of teachers serving 100 students in the MAP Youth Navigation Afterschool Program and Summer; Enrichment Program administered by Mercy House at the Common Ground facility in the Washington Park community;
• $5,000.00 to Gateway Baptist Church – to support the costs of the HOPES After School Tutoring Program that serves students and their families referred by Capitol Heights Middle School;

• $7,500.00 to Girl Scouts of Southern Alabama – to provide membership fees for 200 girls in Lowndes and Macon counties and 100 girls in Montgomery County participating in school-based Girl Scouts leadership programming;
• $6,050.00 to Girls on the Run of the River Region – to provide the direct costs of implementing two teams serving students at Montgomery County Title I schools with a program that includes a curriculum blending physical activity with life skill development and culminates in completing a celebratory 5K run at the end of both seasons;
• $5,690.00 to Hope House Montgomery – to support the costs of educational and community-building activities serving the Highland Park community with a focus on Highland Avenue Elementary School students participating in the Afterschool Reading Tutoring Program, Summer Activity Days, and Community T-shirt Design Contest;
• $15,000.00 to Hope Inspired Ministries – to support the costs of the career coach position serving HIM’s Lowndes County site through extensive case management, addressing students’ barriers to employment, and facilitating the Alabama Career Essentials certificate process;
• $5,000.00 to The Ingram State Technical Foundation – to provide 10 graduating students with tools and safety equipment needed to begin work following their release from prison;
• $11,500.00 to MBA Community Ministries, Inc. – to support the costs of the Second Chance Homeschool based in the Highland Gardens community and serving students of Mixtec descent who face language and other barriers in mainstream educational settings that may cause them to drop out of school; and
• $10,200.00 to That’s My Child – to provide scholarships for 34 students to participate in the Teen to Work Program that includes a four-week curriculum teaching soft and hard skills needed to enter the workforce, a five-week training course at That’s My Dog Jr. restaurant, and a final phase of connecting students to employers.

Autauga Area Community Foundation awards totaling $20,000.00, were awarded to the following initiatives:

• $2,500.00 to Alabama PALS – to support the costs of implementing the Alabama Clean Campus Program in Autauga County schools;
• $2,500.00 to Alabama Wildlife Federation – to provide for 156 students at Autauga County School to participate in a full-day field trip at the Alabama Nature Center;
• $2,500.00 to Autauga County Family Support Center – to purchase 250 interactive training workbooks for Stewards of the Children, a child sexual abuse prevention training program that seeks to educate and engage a network of vigilant residents in the Autauga County community;
• $2,500.00 to Autauga-Prattville Public Library – to purchase 45 Wonderbooks, print books created for library use and having an attached electronic audiobook that reads the book as the child turns the page;
• $2,500.00 to Girls on the Run Serving the River Region – to support the costs of implementing one team serving students at an Autauga County Title I school;
• $2,500.00 to HEAL Alabama – to support the costs of implementing HEAL Alabama, a nutrition and fitness program taught in elementary physical education classes, at Prattville Elementary School;
• $2,500.00 to Liberty Learning Foundation, Inc. – to support the costs of providing the civic engagement curriculum, Hands on Liberty, and the Libby Liberty Celebration Event for nine Autauga County Schools classrooms; and
• $2,500.00 to Montgomery Education Foundation – to purchase equipment to support the expansion of Starbase 2.0, a 10-week afterschool program featuring STEM, robotics, engineering lessons, and Maxwell Air Force Base mentoring, in middle schools of Autauga Public Schools.

Elmore County Community Foundation, granted funding in the amount of $12,500.00 to these groups:

• $2,500.00 to Alabama PALS – to support the costs of implementing the Alabama Clean Campus Program in Elmore County Public Schools;
• $2,500.00 to Alabama Wildlife Federation – to fund 156 sixth graders enrolled in Elmore County Public Schools attending the Elmore County Water Festival at the Alabama; Nature Center;
• $2,500.00 to Girls on the Run Serving the River Region – to support the costs of implementing one team serving students at an Elmore County Title I school;
• $2,500.00 to Liberty Learning Foundation, Inc. – to support the costs of providing the civic engagement curriculum, Hands on Liberty, and the Libby Liberty Celebration Event for nine Elmore County Public Schools classrooms; and
• $2,500.00 to Montgomery Education Foundation – to purchase equipment to support the expansion of Starbase 2.0, a 10-week afterschool program featuring STEM, robotics, engineering lessons, and Maxwell Air Force Base mentoring, in middle schools of Elmore County Public Schools.

CACF Technical Assistance Grants totaling $5,000.00, were awarded to:

• $2,500.00 to Alabama Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy – to support consultant costs for the development of a strategic plan; and
• $2,500.00 to Alabama Wildlife Federation – to purchase eight iPads for use by staff and students in collecting field data to share with scientists worldwide and to use as a teaching tool when weather requires indoor educational activities

 

The Central Alabama Community Foundation has partnered with and and been a resource for nonprofits and students in the River Region and Wiregrass for more than 35 years, Crenshaw explained. The generous support of individual and corporate donors enables the foundation to provide in excess of $5 million in grants and scholarships each year, meeting diverse community needs, supporting programs and projects in education, human services, health, cultural arts, and other civic concerns. 

“Our mission is to create a better quality of life for those who live and work in the River Region for many years to come,” Crenshaw said.