Press Release: August 21, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: 614/251-4000, Carol Harmon x 113

THE COLUMBUS FOUNDATION AWARDS GIVING STRENGTH GRANTS TO SUPPORT 35 CENTRAL OHIO PROGRAMS


COLUMBUS, Ohio (August 21, 2009)—The Columbus Foundation is awarding 35 grants totaling $423,540 to improve the lives of central Ohio citizens through its competitive grantmaking program, Giving Strength. The Governing Committee of The Columbus Foundation approved the following Small Grants in key impact areas at its summer meeting.

The Small Grants Program provides funding or grant opportunities for all established nonprofit organizations working in a variety of impact areas, including animals, the arts, community improvement, health, social services, and special populations. These grants are made possible by donors who create unrestricted and field of interest funds to address the community’s most pressing needs.

2009 Small Grants by Impact Area

Animals
  • LifeCare Alliance—$5,000 to support the Senior Pet Care Program to assist clients in taking care of their pets.
  • PBJ Connections Inc.—$12,600 to provide 240 group equine–assisted therapy sessions to central Ohio at–risk youth.


Arts, Chamber Music

  • Carpe Diem String Quartet—$15,000 to support carpe_diem@cosi, MusiCare, and Seize the Music.
  • CityMusic, Inc.—$9,500 to support the presentation of the 2009–2010 Chamber Music Series.
  • Delaware Chamber Music Festival, Inc. dba Chamber Music Connection Inc.—$15,000 to support the Conservatory Concert Series and education scholarships and fellowships.
  • New Albany Symphony Orchestra—$9,240 to support a chamber music concert on March 7, 2010, and to support a related in–school residency.


Community Improvement—Joseph A. Jeffrey Endowment Fund

  • Citizen's Police Academy Alumni Association Inc. of Columbus, Ohio—$750 to support the beautification of the Columbus Division of Police headquarters and the 2070 Sullivant Avenue substation. 
  • City of Bexley—$7,500 to support the development of a gateway at College and Livingston avenues.  
  • Columbus Association for the Performing Arts (CAPA)—$20,000 to support the presentation of Festival Latino in August 2009 and 2010, celebrating Hispanic/Latino cultures with free two–day family–friendly festivals.
  • Four Seasons City Farms—$2,500 to improve the health of the neighborhood and encourage community gardening in the near east side of Columbus.
  • Friends of the Conservatory—$10,000 to support the new 9,100 square-foot Annual and Perennial Trials Garden of Franklin Park, where visitors will learn how to beautify their own gardens.   
  • Green Lawn Abbey Preservation Association—$19,500 to support roof repairs and develop a master plan for Green Lawn Abbey, a site on the national register of historic places.
  • Ohio State School for the Blind—$17,000 to offset travel costs to the Tournament of Roses Parade 2010.
  • Reaching the Nations International—$1,000 to help beautify and encourage the Milo–Grogan community by providing youth the opportunity to serve and work in the neighborhood. 
  • WaterFire Columbus—$25,000 to support the 2009 season.


Conservation

  • City of Grandview Heights—$8,000 to remove an invasive species of honeysuckle from the wooded area of Wyman Woods Park and to reforest with native understory plant material. 
  • Mid–Ohio Regional Planning Commission —$3,500 to support the 2009 Summit on Sustainability and the Environment.
  • Ohio Environmental Council—$20,000 to support the Vernal Pool Outreach Project to educate the public, policy makers, landowners, and others on the value of the pools.
  • Ohio Invasive Plants Council—$10,000 to support the 2010 invasive plant research conference and educational materials and workshops.
  • Rails–to–Trails Conservancy—$10,000 to support the second phase of the Central Ohio Greenway Initiative specific to Franklin County.
  • Simply Living—$7,700 to develop a community–based conservation education program.
  • The Nature Conservancy in Ohio—$25,000 to restore the natural stream flow and wetlands along a mile of the headwaters of the Big Darby Creek.


Education Projects

  • KIPP: Central Ohio—$25,000 to support service learning and the opportunity for students to explore ways to build upon their talents and enhance the core curriculum.
  • United Negro College Fund, Inc. (Cols)—$25,000 to support unmet financial need for Franklin County students completing their college education and facing financial hardship due to the current economic recession. 
     

Education – School to Work Transition

  • Center of Vocational Alternatives for Mental Health, Inc. dba COVA—$10,200 to help 30 students with developmental disorders prepare for adulthood with vocational guidance, skills development, and strengthening of independent living skills.


Health – Children's Mental Health

  • OhioHealth Foundation—$ 20,000 to support the Sexual Assault Response Network of Central Ohio's Survivor Advocacy programming.
  • United Methodist Children's Home—$8,750 to expand the Expressive Arts Clinical Program.


Health – Family Planning

  • Planned Parenthood of Central Ohio Inc.—$20,000 to support a telecommunication project.   


Health—Geriatric Medical Education

  • OhioHealth Corporation—$3,000 to Grant Medical Center to support a one–half day workshop to educate family medicine residents and physicians on issues surrounding end of life care.
  • OhioHealth Foundation, Inc.—$10,000 to support the 4th annual geriatric symposium, focusing on geriatric syndromes (syncope, incontinence, dizziness, frailty, and delirium) and their interaction with the syndrome of falls.  


Health—Substance Abuse

  • House of Hope for Alcoholics, Inc.—$10,000 to support capital expenses for the Victorian Village and Parsons Avenue buildings.
  • Victory Ministries Incorporated dba Victory Mission—$5,000 to support general operating expenses of the Hope Counseling Center.


Social Services—Character and Leadership Development in Youth

  • Common Cents New York Inc.—$19,800 to support the expansion of the Penny Harvest philanthropy and community service program for youth by See Kids Dream, a Columbus based organization.


Special Population—Elderly

  • LifeCare Alliance—$10,000 to support general operating expenses of the Columbus Cancer Clinic Home Care Support program.
  • Victory Ministries Incorporated dba Victory Mission—$3,000 to support emergency food and clothing to 1,500 elderly individuals.

 

About Giving Strength to Central Ohio
The Columbus Foundation’s Giving Strength grantmaking program seeks to impact a broad spectrum of community needs to improve the quality of life for central Ohioians. The program focuses on vulnerable and underserved populations; increasing the quality of effectiveness, and viability of nonprofit organizations and leaders; developing and testing new, creative community solutions; and promoting problem solving that supports partnerships and collaboration. For more information on the Foundation’s Giving Strength to Central Ohio’s Small Grants Program, please visit GO! GrantsOpportunites at www.columbusfoundation.org or contact Lisa S. Courtice, vice president for Community Research and Grants Management at 614/251-4000, or lcourtice@columbusfoundation.org.

About The Columbus Foundation

The Columbus Foundation is the trusted philanthropic advisor to 1,700 individuals, families, and businesses, who have created unique funds to make a difference in the lives of others through the most effective philanthropy possible. Serving the region over 65 years, The Columbus Foundation is one of the ten largest community foundations in the United States today. The Foundation's online resource, PowerPhilanthropy®, makes it possible for donors and the public to access valuable information about central Ohio nonprofits from any where, at any time. For more information visit www.columbusfoundation.org or call 614/251-4000.