Foundation for Delco hands out more than $1M in grants
MEDIA >> In its first major round of grantmaking, The Foundation for Delaware County, the largest public charity in Delaware County announced this week that $1,165,000 in grants were awarded to 42 area non-profits. Grants were awarded in the areas of children’s health and nutrition, maternal health services, preventive health care, substance use including the opioid epidemic, preparing high school students for post-graduate success, hospice and home care, and strengthening the non-profit community.
In this first formal grant cycle since the foundation gave $330K in initial grants back in March, the foundation is sending the message that collaboration and partnerships are key to moving Delaware County forward. Its largest grant - $100,000 over two years - went to CASA Youth Advocates to launch Delaware County’s Voice for Children, a collective impact campaign to improve the child welfare system in Delaware County in partnership with the county, other child-serving agencies and interested individuals and groups.
“We were extremely pleased with the quality, range and innovation of many of the proposals we received and honored to support so many dedicated non-profit partners serving our county,” said Frances Sheehan, foundation president. “While we wish we could have funded many more, the 46 proposals that received funding will address some of Delaware County’s most critical health issues. And they’ll do so with direct service and support, advocacy and education, and with innovation that could lead to even more impact in the future,” said Frances Sheehan, foundation president.
Here is a full listing of the grants:
To improve physical and behavioral health services for Delaware County’s children:
• Chester Arts and Cultural Center Corporation, received $20,000 for low income children and their families to learn to grow and cook with nutrient rich produce at Ruth Bennett Community Farm.
• Chester Community Coalition, received $47,500 over three years to support a collaborative effort (with Child Guidance Resource Centers and others) to break the cycle of violence in Chester by providing intensive counseling to children who have lost a family member to gun violence.
• Chester Eastside Inc., received $10,000 over two years, to support FoodMatters! KIDS, a healthy meal and nutrition education program.
• Chester Upland Youth Soccer, received $15,000 to develop healthy activity habits for over 500 students living in the ChesterUpland School District.
• Child Guidance Resource Centers, received
$25,000 in support for costs associated with training counselors in trauma focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (collaborative effort with Chester Community Coalition and others).
• Delaware County Board of Fire and Life Safety, received $32,000 to purchase equipment for the new Thomas Wolfarth EMS Pediatric Simulation Center at Delaware County’s Public Safety Training Center (partial funding provided by the Thomas Wolfarth EMS Training Fund).
• Domestic Abuse Project of Delaware County Inc., received $30,000 in general operating support for critical services to families, including children, who are victims of domestic violence.
• EasterSeals of Southeastern Pennsylvania, received $20,000 to open a new early intervention classroom for Delaware County children ages 3-5 with developmental disabilities.
• Elwyn, received
$20,000 to support the Early Childhood Collaborative, a partnership with Widener University and Apple Pie Academy to train child care staff in identifying the early intervention needs of low income children in day care.
• Family Support Line of Delaware County Inc, received $45,000 in general operating support over
3 years for advocacy and counseling for children who are victims of sexual abuse.
• J. Lewis Crozer Library, received $20,000 to support a reading program that reaches 700 children, using health and nutrition as focus of reading material.
• Kids Smiles, received
$25,000 to fund outreach to over 5,000 Delaware County children in need of dental care.
• Public Citizens for Children and Youth, received
$7,500 to recruit volunteer dentists to serve over
150 low income Delaware County children at the 2019 Give Kids a Smile Day.
• Vetri Foundation for Children (Vetri Community Partnership), received
$10,000 to provide the My Daughter’s Kitchen cooking club for Delaware County after school programs to improve children’s nutrition, and empower low income families to make their own nutritious meals at home on a tight budget.
To support advocacy and systems change for improved health service delivery for Delaware County’s children, the following grants were awarded:
• CASA Youth Advocates Inc., received $100,000 over
2 years to launch Delaware County’s Voice for Children, a coalition of human service, government, philanthropic, and individual advocates building a comprehensive safety net of services to ensure children’s healthy and safe development.
• Pennsylvania Health Law Project, received
$35,000 to increase access to healthcare for children with disabilities in Delaware County.
• Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children, received
$20,000 to advocate for increased state funding for evidence-based home visiting services that improve children’s health and development from pregnancy through the early years.
• Public Citizens for Children and Youth, received
$25,000 to support Leadfree Delaware County, a campaign to boost lead screening and build public will to protect children, (partial funding provided by the foundation’s Toxicology Fund established by Dr. Dorian Jacobs).
To improve maternal and birth outcomes in Delaware County:
• Pettaway Pursuit Foundation (PPF), received
$50,000 over 2 years for community-based programming in breastfeeding support, childbirth and newborn care education, life skills and more, as part of The Foundation for Delaware County’s Baby’s 1st collective impact campaign.
To support preventive health services for vulnerable and low-income Delaware County residents, these grants were awarded:
• ChesPenn Health Services, received $60,000 to support a patient centered medical home initiative.
• Community Volunteers in Medicine, received
$20,000 to expand dental services at Surrey Service for Delaware County seniors.
• Philadelphia Freedom Valley YMCA, received
$25,000 to support the LiveStrong cancer survivor program at the YMCA Rocky Run site in Media, PA.
• Senior Community Services, received $15,000 in general operating support for health and wellness activities provided at four senior centers and for the agency’s Center without Walls, which extends services to seniors in communities without a center.
• Surrey Services, received $10,000 in general operating support for health and wellness activities at the senior centers in Delaware County.
• Widener University, received $20,000 to equip the new student-run occupational therapy clinic, providing services to uninsured and underinsured Delaware County residents.
The following grants were awarded to improve Delaware County’s students for success in college:
• Chester Education Foundation, received
$50,000 to re-establish college resource services in Chester.
• Delaware County Community College (DCCC), received $20,000 to improve college retention by studying the daycare needs of DCCC parenting students.
• The Chester Fund for Education and the Arts, received $40,000 to support the Health Sciences Elective Program at the Chester Charter School for the Arts.
To address Delaware County’s substance use, including the opioid epidemic, these grants were awarded:
• Be Proud Foundation, received $60,000 over 3 years to fund the development and marketing of a teen-developed smartphone app that educates middle and high school students about substance use and provides an emergency contact information in case of an overdose or other unsafe conditions.
• CityTeam, received
$15,000 to support the agency’s residential substance use recovery program for men.
• Mid-Atlantic Mothers’ Milk Bank, received
$10,000 to support the expansion of western Pennsylvania’s Mothers’ Donor Milk Bank to Delaware County, providing breast milk to infants born with neonatal abstinence syndrome.
To support and improve access to hospice and homecare services in Delaware County, with support from The Philadelphia Foundation’s Delaware County Home Care Fund, the following grants were given:
• Main Line Health HomeCare & Hospice Foundation, received $20,000 for general operating support.
• Mercy Home Health, received $30,000 in general operating support.
• Pennsylvania Health Access Network, received
$20,000 to assist aging Delaware County Medicaid participants as Community HealthChoices is implemented in 2019.
• Wayne Senior Center, received $10,000 to build the agency’s capacity to identify isolated seniors.
• Surrey Services, received $30,000 in general operating support.
• Senior Community Services, received $33,000 to support Senior Suppers, the agency’s home-delivered meal program.
To strengthen Delaware County’s non-profit community, the following grants were awarded to local organizations:
• Boys &
• Chester Community Improvement Project - $10,000
• Delaware County Literacy Council - $15,000
• Fair Housing Council of Suburban Philadelphia dba Housing Equality Center of Pennsylvania - $15,000
• Family Support Line of Delaware County Inc. $10,000
• Media Fellowship House - $15,000
• Natural Lands - $10,000 (from the Albright Family Charity Fund)
• Riverfront Alliance of Delaware County - $20,000
• The Salvation Army $15,000 Girls Club $10,000
Other partnership grants include a three-year commitment to Chester Community Coalition (CCC) and a one-year grant to Child Guidance Resource Centers (CGRC). Building on funding provided by Catholic Health Initiatives, CCC has partnered with CGRC to break the cycle of violence in Chester by providing intensive counseling to children who have a lost family member to gun violence.
In addition to providing grants to support preventive care, dental services, and behavioral health counseling for children and teens, the foundation acknowledged that it is often government funding and legal access that determine whether children and their families get the care they need. As a result, several grants emphasized advocacy and systems change with grants to Public Citizens for Children and Youth for their Leadfree Delaware County campaign, Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children to advocate for increased state funding for home visiting services, and the Pennsylvania Health Law Project to increase access to healthcare for children with disabilities in Delaware County.
According to Sheehan, funding was provided to three programs that will address the opioid epidemic including Be Proud Foundation’s innovative teen-developed app to give middle and high school students information about substance use and providing an emergency contact option if they see someone overdosing.
A public charity founded in 2016, The Foundation for Delaware County is the largest philanthropy serving Delaware County. Operating as the County’s community foundation, it is headquartered in Media with service sites in Chester, Upper Darby and Springfield. The foundation will make grants to improve the health and quality of life for the diverse residents in this thriving county, with emphases that include maternal and children’s health, hospice and home care, and support for those living with cancer.
The Foundation for Delaware County also operates prestigious evidence-based programs such as Healthy Start, the WIC nutrition program, Nurse-Family Partnership, Drug Free Communities, El Centro (a Hispanic resource center), and a health resource center for students in the Chester Upland School District, which serves one of the region’s poorest communities. To learn more, visit https://delcofoundation. org and on Facebook, twitter and Instagram at @DelcoFdn. Those interested in partnering with the foundation to move Delaware County forward can contact egrill@delcofoundation.org or 610-744-1014 to discuss setting up a donor advised fund or other giving vehicles, or visit the foundation’s website and click on “For Donors.”