The United Methodist Health Ministry Fund (UMHMF) recently received a grant for $999,058 from the Lilly Endowment to support the expansion of the Healthy Congregations Program through increased use of the Good Neighbor Experiment (GNE) program. Funding from the Lilly Endowment will be used to expand the existing program, enhance and research the impact on communities, and develop a network of facilitators. Expansion will include serving 60 new Methodist and non-Methodist congregations over the next five years. Enhancement and research will include new education, technical assistance, and assessments with the Wichita State University School of Social Work. The university will conduct formal academic research on the impact of neighbor-to-neighbor relationships on congregations and communities of various sizes and geographic settings. A network of facilitators will be trained to support churches through day-long retreats and ongoing technical assistance to help them plan and implement community-based projects that use the collective assets to address community social needs.

The YMCA of Greater Kansas City was recently awarded a $2,102,020 grant from the Hall Family Foundation for direct operating support of the Linwood YMCA/James B. Nutter, Sr., Community Center (Linwood Y). This support will ensure the viability of our positive youth development programs, which are critical community resources. This partnership will also help to bridge the gap in revenues until the programs can be underwritten by sustaining revenue from the YMCA’s new downtown facility, opening in late 2020.

The YMCA of Greater Kansas City recently received a grant for $100,000 from the Health Forward Foundation, Healthy Communities to ensure that the healthy living strategies planned and implemented at the downtown Y, many of which will be scalable across the association, are inclusive and accessible to employees and residents who are low-income, underinsured, or uninsured.

KidsTLC was recently awarded a $50,000 grant from the Health Forward Foundation, Applicant Defined Grant to support in general operating “emergency funds” for the Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility (PRTF) “Phoenix” Program and Qualified Residential Treatment Program (QRTP), the “Phoenix Sanctuary” residential programs related directly to the COVID-19 crisis.

Girls in the Know recently received a grant for $25,000 from the Dana Brown Charitable Trust to sponsor the school-based Empowerment Workshop Series for girls in four St. Louis Public Schools (SLPS). Funding will cover staff, materials, and speaker fees for licensed professional women to deliver sessions on empowerment, healthy body image, safety, and puberty.  Trusted adults will engage girls and provide a starting point for conversations at home.

Raytown C-2 School District (RQS) recently received a grant for $384,000 from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Homeless Children and Youth Grant Program (MO DESE) to provide services that ensure students currently experiencing homelessness have equal access to education without barriers including academic support which will lead to academic achievement, removal of enrollment obstacles, and assurance that policies and procedures are fair and do not negatively impact them because of their homelessness.