ZONTA FOOTHILLS 2009-2010 GRANTS 

     Zonta Foothills Foundation is proud to announce its 2009-2010 grant recipients.  This record amount of grant funds were raised and distributed through purely voluntary efforts with minimal administrative costs.  The Zonta Foothills grants are awarded at a critical time for non-profits struggling to meet the needs of our citizens.  
     Recipients must be a non-profit organization and tax exempt under Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3) with a goal in keeping with Zonta's mission.  The services provided by the organization must not be political or religious in nature.  Zonta Foothills received many applications for qualified and worthwhile projects in the community making the final decsion very difficult.  See the Application for additional qualifications and instructions.
  
      Zonta Foothills is proud to be part of such a giving community.

     Download the 2009-2010 Application here.

 

ZONTA FOOTHILLS AWARDED NEARLY $15,000 IN GRANTS TO LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS AND OVER $7,600 TO INTERNATIONAL PROJECTS AND SCHOLARSHIPS THIS YEAR

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR LOCAL GRANT RECIPIENTS

1.  Attention Homes

     Attention Homes’ mission is to provide residential treatment, counseling, and safe shelter to at-risk youth.   Attention Homes provides the only emergency residential living facility, Broadway House (BH), for boys and girls in Boulder County.   The goal is to help teens in crisis develop into healthy, contributive members of the community.  The Zonta grant will be used for food, housing and health care for about 50 girls in crisis and to provide them with economic stability by providing a safe, stable environment where the girls can focus on educational goals, learn important life skills training and have time and tools to access jobs. Safety and protection from domestic violence, abuse and neglect is a priority for the program. 

2.  Boulder Valley School District Fairview Teen Parent Program

     The Fairview Teen Parent Program provides teen parents within the Boulder Valley School District an opportunity to graduate from High School, while providing quality onsite child care at Fairview High School.  They also provide students with Outreach services, including mental health, academic tutoring, genesis, pre/post natal education, health education, and legal services/rights. The Zonta grant would be used to cover extra student needs such as:  buying bus passes so a student can get to work, paying for background safety checks to carry out the clinical portion of a TEC course, TEC exam entrance fees, purchase of medication, eye glasses and formula.  Zonta members also volunteer time at FTP tutoring, driving and providing child care.  During the academic year 2008-200, 41 women under the age of 21 were served by the program. 

3.  MESA (Moving to End Sexual Assault)

     Moving to End Sexual Assault (MESA) provides emotional support, crisis intervention, and medical and legal advocacy to survivors of sexual assault and their families and friends. MESA provides immediate support to victims of sexual assault through a 24-hour English and Spanish hotline.  The crisis hotline often serves as the first critical contact point for victims of sexual violence to obtain immediate assistance, emotional support, and medical and legal advocacy. Additionally, MESA provides affordable therapy groups to primary and secondary survivors of sexual assault.  MESA also provides prevention education programs that promote public awareness and facilitate social change with the goal of reducing the incidence of sexual violence.

4.  American Association of University Women 

     The Zonta grant will support “Expanding Your Horizons,” the local AAUW’s yearly conference for middle school girls, to be held February 27, 2010, in the engineering center on the University of Colorado campus.  The conferences began in 1976 with a mission to promote math and science education among junior high girls.  A wide range of career opportunities and challenges in math, science, and technology are presented to them in a series of workshops.  In 2008, the conference served 274 girls, representing 50 middle schools.


5.  Mother House

     Mother House provides a safe haven in Boulder County for pregnant at risk women.  Their goals are:  1) housing and support; 2) referring Mother House women to adoption agencies or to community resources that may be helpful to them in becoming better parents; 3) promoting and encouraging activities to foster self-respect and personal growth during and after pregnancy (Graduate Equivalency Degrees, job training and continuing education).  Mother House has sheltered 22 women, 13 babies with 5 adoptions since September 2009.  Clients are interviewed and selected on a “dire need” basis.   The Zonta grant will be used to provide education assistance, food and drug purchases, clothing and necessary personal items for the residents, and provide transportation for the residents that cannot be facilitated by volunteers.  It would also provide items required for newborns including bassinets, car seats, baby clothing, diapers and formula. 


6.  RSVP (Retired Senior Volunteer Program) soon to be known as CARE Connect

     RSVP of Boulder County implements programs and services to help seniors and adults with disabilities stay safe and independent in their own homes.  Services include Medical Mobility - escorted transportation and access to healthcare program, Carry Out Caravan - grocery delivery and emergency food boxes program, and Fix-it - fall prevention, home repairs and weatherization program.  The Zonta grant would be used to expand the Medical Mobility program.  This service is unique because, unlike other transportation programs, volunteers transport and stay with clients while they are receiving care. These visits are often for crucial procedures such as dialysis, chemotherapy, colonoscopies and macular degeneration therapy.   Medical Mobility expects to provide at least 3,500 rides by July 31, 2011. Seventy-seven percent of Medical Mobility clients are women.


7.  Safe Shelter of St. Vrain Valley

     Safe Shelter’s primary goals are to serve victims of domestic violence and raise awareness of the issue of domestic violence.  Safe Shelter of St. Vrain Valley provides safety, support, and resources to individuals affected by domestic abuse.  It advocates for the right of every individual to live a life free of intimidation, exploitation, and abuse. Services include:  Shelter Program - housing up to 23 women and children nightly, Outreach Program - counseling those affected by domestic violence, Children and Youth Program - focusing on breaking the inter-generational cycle of abuse, Legal Advocacy - providing legal assistance to victims, TERA (Teens Ending Relationship Abuse) -  educating adolescent peer groups, Transitional Housing Program - assisting families in transition, and a 24-Hour Crisis Line.  Approximately 84% of Safe Shelter’s clients are female.


8.  There With Care

     There With Care’s mission is to provide a range of practical services for families facing critical illness in order to ease the burden of life’s day-to-day obligations.  Many families experiencing a medical crisis are isolated and in need of basic support for daily living.  There With Care’s interventions help a working parent to continue to provide money and health insurance that allows a family to maintain economic stability.  There With Care considers the family unit as a whole and understands that during such a sensitive time, it is critical to keep the routine and schedules of a family moving along seamlessly.  There With Care offers a vast range of program services: Transportation, Home Maintenance, Meals, Sibling Support, Baby Essentials, Evening Soup Station at Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children, Professional Services (for example, tax, legal, translation),  and Information Technology (such as computers, digital cameras and internet access).  The Zonta grant will provide meals for families in crisis.


9.  YES (Your English School)

     The mission of the YES School is to encourage international women and men of all cultures, beliefs and ages to come together as a community in order to improve their English skills.  Costs are kept low by providing experienced volunteer ESL teachers.  Childcare is offered on site so mothers can attend.   The school provides a financial aid program for tuition and childcare.  With the increasing costs of textbooks, insurance and childcare, more students are asking for aid and many cannot pay at all.  Generally, ten women need funding for tuition and childcare each semester.  The Zonta grant will be used to fund the new “Zonta Foothills YES School Scholarships.”


10.  Foothills United Way – Imagination Library

     Imagination Library’s goal is to help children start kindergarten ready to learn by providing an age appropriate book to preschool children monthly.  Research shows that preschoolers exposed to reading are more likely to look forward to starting school, do well in class, read at or above grade level, finish high school, and go on to college.   FHUW pays for the books and mailing, promotes the program, registers the children, and enters the information into the database.  The Dollywood Foundation then manages the system to deliver the books to the home.   The program also helps strengthen families by encouraging positive interaction between parents and children through shared reading.  The Imagination Library is especially valuable for children in underprivileged families, who may find books to be an unaffordable luxury in today's economic slowdown, and children love getting their own special mail.

 

International Grant Recipients

     Zonta Foothills awarded $7670 to programs supported through Zonta International and implemented through various United Nations agencies:

 

 

 

 

 

Scholarships

  • Bev Hackbart Scholarship, founded by Zonta Foothills Club, provides a undergraduate scholarship for a single parent attending the University of Colorado. A contribution was recently made to the endowment in honor of the first recipient of the Zonta Foothills Humanitarian and Advocacy Award.

 

 


 

 

 

2008-2009 GRANT RECIPIENTS


     Zonta Foothills awarded over $13,000 in grants to several Boulder County based non-profit organizations and over $6,100 to international efforts in 2008.


LOCAL GRANTS

  • Attention Homes which provides emergency & short term residential shelter, care, counseling & treatment, to at-risk teens.


  • Boulder County Imagination Library Program, run by Foothills United Way, provides preschoolers (ages 0-4) with books, preparing them for school. Approximately 600 students have been in the program this year. Zonta’s support will help buy books.

                                         

 

  • Boulder Valley Women’s Health provides low-income and uninsured women and teens with reproductive healthcare and preventive care, as well as education and outreach, serving 5,300 clients per year.

 

  • Carriage House Community Table offers transition assistance and daytime services to homeless adults in Boulder. Immediate survival needs are met, and services are provided leading to employment, housing, personal stability and healing. Zonta’s support will help with the purchase of needed prescriptions.

 

  • CSAW (Collaboration of Sudanese & American Women), a Boulder based organization that provides housing, educational opportunities, health service, language assistance, job search and mentoring, to Sudanese refugee women and children through community partnerships and support services.

 

  • PeopleWeaver provides micro credit loans to women refugees living at the Kyangwali Refugee Settlement in Uganda. In the last year, 20 $75 loans have benefited 93 people, including the women and 73 children, many of whom are orphans.

 

  • MESA (Moving to End Sexual Assault) offers crisis intervention, counseling services, case management, community referrals, and medical and criminal justice advocacy to sexual assault survivors, as well as a 24-hour rape crisis hotline.

 

  • Safe Shelter of St. Vrain Valley offering emergency and non-emergency services 24/7 for women and children seeking help, has provided shelter, food, support and community education for 30 years.

INTERNATIONAL GRANTS


     Several grants were made to programs supported through Zonta International and implemented in conjunction with various United Nations agencies:


 

 

 

 

 

SCHOLARSHIPS

  • Bev Hackbart Scholarship, founded by Zonta Foothills Club, provides a undergraduate scholarship for a single parent attending the University of Colorado. A contribution was recently made to the endowment in honor of the first recipient of the Zonta Foothills Humanitarian and Advocacy Award.