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About Foundations Community Partnership Doylestown, PA (July 1, 2009) - The current economic recession has caused serious cutbacks in federal, state and local funding for Bucks County human service programs. One private non-profit operating foundation that continues to have a positive impact on Bucks County organizations serving children and families is Foundations Community Partnership (www.fcpartnership.org), which today announced that their board of directors has approved $90,000 in grants to 9 Bucks County non-profit organizations serving children and families. Foundations Community Partnership is presenting United Way of Bucks County in Fairless Hills with a matching $10,000 Emergency Grant that will provide financial assistance to those Bucks County families most in need, especially those who have lost their jobs, have had their work hours reduced, and been negatively impacted by the economic recession. With the help of this grant, United Way of Bucks County can continue to address community needs at a time when human service organizations have been stretched to the limit.  Foundations also announced that a Capital Grant in the amount of $10,000 for The Comprehensive Learning Center (CLC) in Southampton, PA, a non-profit corporation providing education, instructional, and treatment services for individuals with autism spectrum disorders. The Capital Grant will help CLC expand its space, allowing the preschool and lower elementary school students to be separated from the upper elementary and secondary programs to better tailor the learning environments to their unique needs."With the help of Foundations Community Partnership, we will be able to expand and improve our facility, enhancing the quality of life for children with autism and their families," says Amanda Heller, CLC Director of Education. "Foundations' grant helps us to maximize the developmental potential for children in Bucks County with autism spectrum disorders." In addition to the Emergency and Capital Grants, Foundations Community Partnership's Bucks Innovation and Improvement (BIIG) Grants are offered on a competitive basis to non-profit human services organizations providing services to children and youth in Bucks County. In total, $70,000 ($10,000 each) was awarded to seven eligible grant applicants who will be developing innovative ideas and improving the quality of life for children, youth, and families in Bucks County. BIIG Grantees included: Bucks Intermediate Unit Education Foundation in Doylestown is an intergenerational mentoring program in Bucks County that matches senior volunteers with special needs children. The Bucks County Intermediate Unit Educational Foundations will use the grant to support their new Family Friends "Kids in Care" mentoring program, which provides mentors to Bucks County youth in mental health residential treatment facilities located in Bucks County. Bucks County LIFE Program in Penndel is a non-profit agency that serves Bucks County families who have a child or adolescent who struggles with emotional, behavioral, social and/or learning challenges. They will use the grant to expand upon the CARES Drop-In Center, which offers instructional books on tape and DVDs for members of the community who struggle with illiteracy and for training and workshop purposes that would allow CARES to provide higher quality presentations, workshops and activities free of charge to low income families.  Central Bucks Drug Free Project (CBDFP) in Doylestown is a community anti-drug coalition that is supported by Central Bucks Cares (CB Cares) and Bucks County Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc. (The Council). They will use the grant for the expansion of Central Bucks Drug Free Project's social marketing initiatives to further reduce alcohol and drug use by youth by addressing absentee parenting, lack of supervision and monitoring, and reluctance of parents of elementary age school children to actively engage in conversations with their children about the harms, dangers, and family rules about not drinking or using substances.  Central Bucks Family YMCA in Doylestown strives to improve the quality of community life by providing healthy programs and services. They will use the grant to benefit the Y's STARS program, which serves the special needs of youth ages 9 months and older with autism, related disabilities to autism, sensory integration dysfunction, AD/HD, mood disorders, intellectual impairment Down syndrome, spina bifida, and cerebral palsy.Child, Home & Community in Doylestown offers early intervention programs designed specifically for adolescents facing unplanned pregnancy and parenting. CHC will use the grant to offer a Creative Careers Program to assist teen parents in focusing on career objectives and education. The program provides skills assessment, researching and selecting available training and education, assistance in meeting admission requirements and course selection, financial aid application, resume writing, employment skills training and assistance with job placement.  Delaware Valley Children's Health Center in Newtown supports children, adolescents, adults and families with diverse programs that strengthen families and improve quality of life. They will use the grant to support their new Bucks County Preschool Program for children with autism and other mental health disorders, which provides age appropriate education with supportive therapeutic intervention specific to their needs. Such intensive early intervention makes a critical difference, particularly to children with developmental delays in language and socialization. The YWCA of Bucks County in Trevose provides an array of educational and social services programming to disadvantaged and vulnerable populations of Bucks County directly in their own neighborhoods and schools. They will use the Foundations grant to help support the YWCA Pre-K Program, a quality early childhood education program providing full scholarships to pre-k students from low income, minority and immigrant families who have limited education, inadequate or non-existent basic literacy skills, and face a language barrier that prevents them from being self-sufficient. "These organizations are crucial in supporting the needs of Bucks County children and their families," said Mr. Bernstein. "We wanted to make sure they could continue to provide and expand upon vital services, even in these tough economic times." Foundations Community Partnership is a private non-profit operating foundation that supports behavioral health education and research, provides grants for non-profit organizations, awards scholarships to Bucks County high school seniors, subsidizes service learning internships for college students and underwrites community education programs. To learn more about FCP and its mission please visit their website at www.fcpartnership.org or contact them at 267-247-5584. |
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