Community Foundation of Morgan County provides Impact grants to local nonprofits
MORGAN COUNTY — The Community Foundation of Morgan County (CFMC) recently announced the awarding of $28,500 in Impact Grants to nonprofits around the community.
In recent years, the CFMC has seen an increase in need for K-12 workforce development and K-12 mental health. During the fall grant cycle, CFMC partnered with nonprofits that seek to provide resources for these critical areas.
To address K-12 mental health in Morgan County, CFMC funded Youth First, Inc, and RemedyLIVE.
Youth First is a program in Metropolitan School District of Martinsville and Mooresville schools which provides a social worker as a first response for students who are struggling with mental health.
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Social workers direct the child to a plan of success, referrals to free counseling services, and programs that support a healthy family dynamic.
RemedyLIVE will be working with Monrovia schools to provide a mental health showcase for all high school students. The showcase will address stigmas surrounding mental health. In addition to this, RemedyLIVE provides a 24/7 text line for assistance for youths in crisis or who have experienced trauma.
CFMC also wanted to address problems students faced when trying to establish themselves in the world after their graduation.
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"Students in our community have stated they are unaware of pathways to successful post high school careers," CFMC said in a recent press release. "In 2018, 709 high school students participated in a community survey addressing how prepared they feel for life after high school. (Seventy seven percent) of students reported going directly into the workforce was the most important pathway after graduation."
In response to the findings, CFMC provided a grant to the Barbara B. Jordan YMCA to put on an entrepreneurial program for all after-school centers in Morgan County. Smartup Startup, the program the YMCA will be using, has an evidence-based curriculum to help youth start their own businesses. Through the 15-part program, participants will identify a need, or a niche in which they can work, and will create a financial and marketing plan to begin their own business.
“We feel strongly that we need to help our youth become successful by providing services to improve mental health and create a pathway after high school,” CFMC President Brittani Bentley said. “Impact can be accomplished in many ways... that comes with funding dynamic programs that help our youth, but also move the needle in the lives of those they serve."
The Impact Grants are provided from funds given by private individuals as well as local businesses through donations to the foundation.
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"We live in a county with many giving individuals, but also a county with many needs," Bentley noted. "CFMC is partnering with our community to make the lives of everyone better – in particular, those we may not know.”
Every dollar donated returns to the community in the form of funding programs addressing the most critical needs throughout the county.
More information on grant recipients and their outcomes will be featured on the CFMC’s website at CFMConline.org and on the Facebook page at Facebook.com/CFofMorganCounty.
Contact Reporter-Times reporter Grace Phillips at gphillips@reporter-times.com or at 765-346-4815
This article originally appeared on The Reporter Times: Community Foundation of Morgan County offers grants to nonprofits
