Over the past few months, Centerstone has been honored to receive over a dozen new philanthropic grant awards in Indiana to support our work delivering care that changes people’s lives.
Awards came from a number of foundations across our Indiana service area and will underwrite a number of special initiatives serving children and families.
The following grants have been received since March:
- The Smithville Charitable Foundation supported Centerstone’s Stepping Stones youth street outreach program with a $20,000 grant in May. This gift will help provide emergency assistance, mental healthcare, and outreach case management to teenagers and young adults experiencing homelessness in Monroe County. By meeting their immediate needs for food, shelter, clothing and healthcare, Stepping Stones staff build rapport and help mitigate the risk that homeless youth will be exploited or fall victim to abuse, trafficking and other forms of violence. Outreach staff provide supportive services, assist with accessing community resources and help homeless youth find safe, stable housing.
- The Horseshoe Foundation of Floyd County approved a $20,000 grant in June to fund life skills training for uninsured or underinsured Floyd County students, broadening access to quality, evidence-based care for Floyd County children and youth.
- The United Way of Whitewater Valley invested in Wayne County youth through a $13,005 grant in April to develop and implement a Teen Leadership Program. The initiative is modeled off an existing school-based program that has been successful at Richmond Community Schools’ Community Youth Services campus. Centerstone staff will facilitate an afterschool Teen Leadership Cafe at four intermediate and high schools, where students will have opportunities to develop life skills and strong personal values, engage in motivational and service-based experiences and develop relationships with local college mentors.
- The Brown County Community Foundation, Inc. provided an $11,364.87 gift in May to create a Mental Health Safety Net Program, which ensures that students at Brown County Schools are able to receive life-skills training and other mental healthcare services they need, even if they have no health insurance. This program will allow Centerstone to provide life-changing care to children who may otherwise never receive much-needed mental health treatment.
- The Henry County Community Foundation[insert hyperlink: https://www.henrycountycf.org/ ] awarded $3,200 in March to create mobile Suicide Awareness and Prevention Kits. Staff will use the kits at Henry County schools to speak to students about suicide prevention, ways to support good mental health and ways to get help for someone experiencing suicidal thoughts.
- The Drug Free Wayne County Partnership awarded a grant of $3,012 in April for “Youth Alive!” This is a special event for promoting alternatives to teen drug and alcohol abuse in partnership with Richmond Community Schools. This community event is tentatively scheduled for September 2019.
- The Women’s Fund of the Wayne County Foundation invested $2,300 in March in Centerstone’s “Girls Mean Business!” program, a career-development and mentorship program for Northeastern Wayne Middle School girls that will launch in the fall. The program will focus on helping girls cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset and build self-confidence. It will provide a structured forum to learn about career opportunities and create relationships with strong, successful female mentors and role models.
- Through its Bartholomew REMC Membership Community Trust, Bartholomew County REMC provided $1,500 in June for the purchase of a Therapeutic Resource Library for our Columbus Child & Family Services Team. The library will contain a curated selection of books and resources for children, youth, parents and providers that address a wide range of behavioral health issues and major life events, including anxiety, depression, substance abuse, trauma, self-harm, grief and loss and healthy relationships.
- The Owen County Community Foundation provided funding in May for youth services, granting Centerstone $1,000 in seed money to purchase art supplies for our Spencer clinic’s art therapy program. Centerstone has seen outstanding success with art therapy in neighboring counties in recent years and we’re excited to extend this evidence-based practice into Owen County as well.
- The Fayette Community Foundation provided $776 in March for media upgrades in our Connersville clinic. Funds will allow the clinic to purchase new televisions, wall mounts and portable media carts that can be used to deliver modern multimedia content during group therapy sessions and support presentations by community partners.
- Three grants were received to purchase Mobile Play Therapy Kits, making play therapy available to hundreds of children who learn and speak more freely through play. The grants were:
- Kits will be added in Clark County thanks to a generous $7,500 gift from the Hazel & Walter T. Bales Foundation.
- The Madison County Community Foundation granted $3,500 for kits to be used in Madison County schools.
- The Community Foundation Muncie and Delaware County, Inc. awarded $2,100 for Delaware County Mobile Play Therapy Kits.
