Moving Marion forward–this is the theme of Marion Community Foundation’s 2016 Community Grants Program. The local nonprofit charity has announced $450,000 in grant awards, with a focus on programs and projects which will help transform the Marion community.
“At the end of the process, we have to ask ourselves if we took the opportunity to move the community forward with our grant decisions,” said Grants Committee member Jeremy Dunn. “I think we did.”
Dunn said that he and the rest of the committee – Deb Alspach, Susie Brown, Kelly Garrett, Henry Heinzmann, Dan Kiger, Kim Stark, and Nicolle Wampler–took a proactive approach to each of the 75 applications received and evaluated how transformative each project could be for the community.
A total of 34 projects from 28 local nonprofit organizations were funded, for a total of $450,000 in community grant awards.
Let’s Read 20
Marion Community Foundation continues its support of Let’s Read 20 with a 2016 grant to further its mission of “building a community of readers.” Program director Mike Ring leads this community-wide initiative to promote early childhood literacy and the value of reading as a means to academic success.
“By encouraging everyone to read to a child for at least 20 minutes each day,” said Ring, “we can raise a new generation of readers who become achieving, successful life-long learners.”
The grant will allow Let’s Read 20 to increase outreach to parents and grandparents, and develop partnerships with area agencies and businesses.
“We are working to change the culture and value of education and reading within Marion over the next several years,” said Ring. “We intend to increase kindergarten readiness outcomes; increase third grade reading proficiency and achievement scores; enhance dropout prevention, and increase high school on-time graduation rates.”
Harding Home Presidential Site
Marion Community Foundation has made a major commitment to support Harding 2020 with annual grants for each of the next eight years for the development of the Harding Home Presidential Site.
“Warren G. Harding is an important figure in Marion’s history,” said Dean Jacob, President and CEO of Marion Community Foundation. “Being the home of a U.S. President is certainly one of the most unique features of Marion.”
Harding 2020 is a collaborative effort by the Harding Home Presidential Site, the Ohio History Connection and the site’s local management partner, Marion Technical College, to greatly enhance and enlarge the Harding Home site by 2020. Additional properties have been purchased, with the help of the Marion Community Foundation, for the construction of the Presidential Center along East Church Street.
According to Site Manager Sherry Hall, the enhanced Harding Home site will transform the Marion community by generating tourism, providing facilities and resources for expanded educational opportunities, including the ability to host more school children, and by stimulating other enhancement projects in Marion as the community embraces its presidential heritage and takes pride in the project. The grant provided by Marion Community Foundation is specifically for a Harding Presidential Site endowment, which will, in turn, provide a permanent source for some of the site’s operating funds.
Tallgrass Trail
“We have supported the Tallgrass Trail in every phase of its construction,” said Jacob, of the grants awarded to Prairie Park Foundation this year. “The Tallgrass Trail has made Marion a destination for cyclists and provides a first-class trail for public fitness and recreation.”
The awards are for intersection safety improvements at the points where the Trail crosses five county roads and State Route 203, and the Phase 5 expansion of the main trail to the county line.
According to Dan Sheridan, chair of the Marion County Park District which oversees the Tallgrass Trail, safety concerns have arisen on the part of both drivers and users of the Trail.
“We’ve received feedback that trail users are not stopping at the existing stop signs, and some drivers feel that they are not alerted far enough in advance that they are crossing a trail,” explained Sheridan.
By late autumn the handicap-accessible, paved Tallgrass Trail will be about 11 miles long, stretching from Holland Road to beyond SR 37. Plans are on pace to complete the Trail to the county line by 2017. The substantial grant from Marion Community Foundation will serve as part of the required local match that will facilitate a much larger grant from Clean Ohio Trails to make the completion of the Trail to the border of Hardin County a reality for its 40,000 annual visitors.
The lake which borders the Trail near its intersection with Herr Road was recently dedicated as “Marion Community Foundation Lake” in appreciation of the Foundation’s ongoing support. A 1.3 mile Lake Loop Trail has also been opened for visitors.
Marion Matters
Marion Matters has been awarded grants to address staffing needs as well as support two of its most successful programs, “Getting Ahead in a Just Gettin’ By World” and “Financial Literacy.”
“We believe—and see—that Marion Matters is making an impact on individuals mired in poverty in Marion,” said Jacob. “We want to help Marion Matters transform more people, because their program, very simply, works.”
Marion Matters’ coordinator, Heidi Jones, said, “We believe that poverty erodes the growth and health of individuals and our community. We work with individuals who struggle with generational and situational poverty.”
Marion Matters has seen a steady increase in referrals for their classes and is in need of staff and resources to meet the demand.
“The impact of the program is tremendous. We are helping to transform the lives of those who participate by giving them the tools to pass on what they’ve learned to their children,” said Jones. “We have seen participants go from homelessness to building their own homes with Habitat for Humanity; non-high school graduates have gotten their GED’s and enrolled into college; and, those who once thought they couldn’t improve their lives are now productive in the community. The benefit of the programming is community deep; the more we help individuals become self-sufficient, the more they help improve Marion’s economy.”
Marion Community Foundation Program Manager Julie Prettyman reported that 75 applications were received from 60 different nonprofit organizations in Marion, with a total request of more than $1.5 million
“Every one of the grant applications we received was for a worthy project,” said Prettyman. “Every one was about doing something good in Marion. If we had enough money, we would have liked to fund them all.”
“None of these worthwhile programs could be supported by Marion Community Foundation without the original gifts from our donors,” said Jacob. “They have a vision of a better Marion when they create unrestricted endowment funds at Marion Community Foundation. These funds are benefiting the community in numerous ways.”
The Foundation’s funds which support the annual Community Grants Program include: Robert M. & Dorothy C. Wopat Community Fund; Francis & Thelma Wise Fund; A. Merle Hamilton Fund; Dave & Anne Brown Family Fund; James & Margaret Coulson Charitable Fund; Vera O. McDanel Senior Citizens Transportation Fund; Dr. Henry Heinzmann Community Food Pantry Fund; Kathleen E. O’Shea Memorial Fund; Jerry Grubaugh Memorial Fund; Chester & Mildred Roberts Fund; Kenny Martin Charitable Fund; Paul & Susan Ludwig Charitable Fund; and Conway Family Charitable Fund. Other support for the Community Grants Program comes from the generosity of fund creators and supporters of the Health Care Fund; Child Care Choices Fund; Founders’ Fund; and Marion Noon Lions Club Fund.
Other grant recipients include:
- Black Heritage Council of Marion County for the “It Takes A Village” annual scholarship awards
- Boys & Girls Club of Marion County for their Great Futures Start Here program
- Center Street Community Health Center to support capital improvements to the medical and dental facilities
- Emanuel Lutheran Preschool and Daycare to support child care providers
- Eye-to-Eye Low Vision Educational Support Group, Inc. to purchase wireless assisted listening devices for the hearing and visually impaired
- LaRue Community Alliance, in partnership with the Center Street Community Health Center, to expand medical services to the Village of LaRue
- Marion Adolescent Pregnancy Program for the Changes & Choices education program
- Marion Area Counseling Center, Inc. for the Signs of Suicide Program and client transportation assistance
- Marion Concert Band for community concerts
- Marion County Children Services for Child Abuse is Preventable community education program
- Marion County Family Court for Bring Art to JDC program
- Marion Family YMCA for ‘We’re Here For You’ Capital Campaign, and programming for individuals with arthritis and Parkinson’s Disease
- Marion Senior Center for senior citizen transportation needs
- Marion Shelter Program, Inc. for operations of homeless shelters
- Marion Technical College for Pathways to Success program
- Mid-Ohio Fine Arts Society for Boys & Girls Club art classes
- Mobile Meals of Marion County for meal assistance
- Ohio Heartland Community Action Commission for the United Community Prescription Program
- Marion Palace Theatre for geo-thermal and HVAC replacement and live theatre and dance programming
- Peace and Freedom Committee in support of the Central Ohio Regional Oratorical/Art/Poetry/ Essay Contest
- Pioneering Healthier Communities-Marion for Pioneering Healthier Communities-Equitable Opportunities
- The Resource Foundation for MUDE healthcare program
- Rushmore Academy for Jobs Program
- Salvation Army for food security, crisis intervention, and family re-housing assistance
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