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Blue Springs School District (BSSD) was recently awarded a $64,960 grant from the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City (now the Health Forward Foundation) to support one full-time therapist and one half-time therapist for Valley View’s Hall McCarter Education Center (HMEC) and the Freshman Center to provide school-based mental health services. This funding increases the amount of time a therapist is available to students.  This gives the school a chance to work together to create a more consistent and efficient referral and reentry process for the students. It also provides the counselor with more time to provide services to students.

Several years ago I attended a webinar through the Grant Professionals Association entitled “Pet Peeves of Funders.” The trainer had conducted extensive surveys with grant-making entity officers in her area to assess their biggest pet peeves with the organizations they fund. One program officer surveyed...

Comprehensive Mental Health Services, Inc. was recently awarded a $61,600 grant from the Greater Kansas City Community FoundationJackson County Community Children’s Service Fund to provide school-based intervention services. CMHS Prevention Specialists bring psychosocial groups into the school setting covering various topics: anger management, coping with anger/anxiety, drug prevention, risk taking, decision making, dealing with grief caused by death/divorce, social skills, and communication.

Comprehensive Mental Health Services, Inc. (CMHS) recently received a grant for $166,751 from the Jackson County Community Children’s Services Fund to place prevention specialists and therapists in numerous Jackson County schools, which significantly decreases risk factors and gives CMHS direct access to youth in crisis.

YMCA of Greater Kansas City was recently awarded a $15,000 grant from the USA Swimming Foundation – Make a Splash to help provide scholarships for children to receive full session of swim lessons and for the Safety Around Water Drowning Prevention curriculum. This program will provide potentially life-saving swimming lessons and drowning prevention education to school-age children most at risk for accidental drowning.

Developing Potential Inc. (DPI) was recently awarded a $50,000 grant from the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City – Applicant Defined Grant to support the salary of their Increase Access to Services program’s full-time registered nurse. Developing Potential Inc. serves adults with developmental disabilities with onsite day services, offsite program activities, and employment support. The Increase Access to Services program provides extensive medical support to individuals attending DPI’s onsite Day Services program, as-needed support to off-site Day Services and Employment Connections participants, and health training to staff and individuals receiving services. The program supports better health for all individuals at DPI, increases program participation, and improves quality of life for all participants.

The YMCA of Greater Kansas City recently received a grant for $500,000 from the J.E. and L.E. Mabee Foundation to support capital funding for the Downtown Y/Kirk Family Community Center. The $500,000 will be used towards the construction of a 60,000-square-foot Downtown Y/Kirk Family Community Center (Downtown Y). In partnership with Truman Medical Center (TMC), the building represents a new journey for the Y, focused on improving the health and wellness of residents across the Greater Kansas City area.

Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools (KCKPS) was recently awarded a $5,723,005 Head Start, Year 4 Continuation grant from the Department of Health and Human Services to provide universal access to quality early childhood services. These services will include a high-quality, comprehensive program using Creative Curriculum for Preschool. This curriculum promotes school readiness, and is aligned with the Kansas Early Learning Guidelines and the Head Start Child Development and Early Learning Framework for preschoolers.