2011 Featured Grants

BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF METROPOLITAN DETROIT

BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF METROPOLITAN DETROIT

This grant is in its third year of funding to continue support of the Sports Buddies initiative to dramatically increase the number of men serving as mentors, and significantly reduce the waiting time for at-risk boys seeking a mentor. Sports Buddies is a structured program schedule with male-focused activities that will garner all of the benefits of Big Brothers Big Sisters' traditional programs while engaging in healthy recreational activities through participation in new athletic experiences. Sports Buddies Big Brothers meet their Little Brothers in a group once or twice a month to either play sports or attend a sporting event. BBBSMD plans the activities, provides all equipment, tickets and transportation. Staff members facilitate the activity. This program is part of a larger initiative to meet the needs of Latino and African-American boys. Skills developed through mentorship help build resilience and capacity to deal with the challenges they will face and will make them more likely to succeed as they make the transition through adolescence and into young adulthood. BBSMD has been serving the needs of at-risk youth in the greater metropolitan area since the 1930s.

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CAMP FOR ALL

CAMP FOR ALL

This grant is in its third year of funding in order to expand and enhance Camp For All's ropes challenge course which remains the only universally designed challenge course in the country. Camp For All is a unique, barrier free camp working in partnership with other non-profits to enrich the lives of children and adults with challenging illnesses or special needs, as well as their families throughout the year. It includes a fully accessible camping and retreat facility that has been serving children and adults with disabilities and chronic illnesses since 1998 while continuing to provide approximately 68% of the cost for each camper to attend camp. NRF funding will help enhance Camp for All's ropes challenge course, increasing the number of participants who can simultaneously use the course from two to twelve. The ropes course encourages increased self-reliance and self-esteem, as well as teamwork. The success of this enhancement will both directly benefit the participants as well as serving as a model which other institutions in the special needs camping industry can replicate.

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Colorado UpLift

Colorado UpLift

Colorado UpLift has been serving the Denver metropolitan area since 1982 working to build long-term, life-changing rela- tionships with urban youth. The program teaches youth character values, life skills, enhances their own leadership abilities, and provides them with opportunities to develop their teamwork skills. Youth who are involved three or more years in the program have achieved a 90% rate of high school graduation. The successes of UpLift have been documented leading to replication models launching in four cities across the U.S. (Orlando, Phoenix, New York and Portland). To continue extending the program, the NRF is helping provide seed funding to transition the UpLift Model Replication Training Center (UMRTC) from a "virtual" organization supported by Colorado UpLift resources, to a formal and independent 501(c) 3 organization that will equip interested parties nationwide to address the complex needs of urban youth to ensure their success. This grant helps secure that the model will be repeated in other areas and continue to support urban youth.

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Cranbrook Schools Horizons-Upward Bound

Cranbrook Schools Horizons-Upward Bound
  • Contact:DEbRA DEbOSE WHITING
  • Grant amount:$Exercise, Gardening, and Reading Grant - $99,090
  • Email: dwhiting@cranbrook.edu

This grant will help support the \Exercise, Gardening and Reading" program, which seeks to help students develop leadership skills, healthy habits, and improved physical fitness. Horizons-Upward Bound (HUB) has been improving the quality of life in the Detroit metropolitan area for over 40 years by offering a program that encourages youth to view education as a means to economic and social mobility. This particular program provides comprehensive academic enrichment and physical activities with the interdependent components of exercise, gardening and vocabulary building. The HUB primarily serves students from the city of Detroit who are from high poverty areas and are potential first generation college students.

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Cristo Rey Jesuit High School

Cristo Rey Jesuit High School

This is the third year of funding for the Healthy Lifestyles Program at Cristo Rey Jesuit High Schools. Cristo Rey consists of 24 college preparatory high schools that serve low-income urban youth located across 17 states and the District of Columbia. Healthy Lifestyles is a pilot program that encompasses nutrition, physical activity and team-building activities in order to help students develop healthy habits that they can then model for their families and communities. Successful programs are replicated to reach all students and their families in many parts of the country.

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National Recreation and Park Association

National Recreation and Park Association

Community garden programs are important to broadening children's exposure to and knowledge of the foods that lead to lifelong nutritional decision-making, as well as changing attitudes towards environmental sustainability. Especially in urban and underserved areas, the clear benefits of introducing young people to food sources, outdoor activity in concert with conservation, and the importance of healthy fruits and vegetables in creating nutritional stewardship are evident. NRF funding is in its second year of support for the development and expansion of community gardens within urban settings. In 2010, 10 park and recreation agencies were awarded grants to expand their community garden programs. Agencies are using the funds to improve their programs, expand their gardens, and involve more children. NRPA has also developed a Grow Your Park handbook specifically designed for park and recreation agencies to plan, fund, implement, and sustain community garden programs. This resource will help park and recreation professionals better serve their communities by increasing youth participation, nutritional awareness, and stewardship. Programs will continue to be implemented in urban parks and recreation agencies with the NRPA facilitating community design and construction, ground-breaking and planting, and harvesting.

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Russell Byers Charter School

Russell Byers Charter School

The ABC Leadership Program will provide innovative opportunities for Russell Byers Charter School's predominantly low- income third through sixth grade students in the Philadelphia area. Through this program, RBCS aims to use recreation as a positive force, promoting students' physical, mental and social health. Components of the ABC program are Adventure, Bound for college, and Competition: Using a low ropes challenge course, the program nurtures self-confidence, leadership and trust (Adventure); encourages students to aspire to lofty goals by visiting local colleges in order to expand horizons for urban youth (Bound for college); and, facilitation of chess team, ballroom dancing and debate for opportunities to engage in healthy competition and good sportsmanship (Competition).

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TCU Institute of Child Development

TCU Institute of Child Development

The Institute of Child Development at Texas Christian University strives to help children suffering the effects of early trauma, abuse or neglect by conducting research to deepen the understanding about the complex needs of these children and how and why these harmful experiences can impair development and lead to social, behavioral and emotional problems. The grant is in its third year of funding and goes to support the implementation of a comprehensive training program for children's residential care centers, community agencies, and other professionals who support at-risk youth. The training program teaches others how to replicate TCU Institute of Child Development's successful, research-based methods of supporting and empowering vulnerable children throughout the country. Funds from NRF have helped organize and launch the training program, which offers hope to families and their communities.

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Latino Theater Company

Latino Theater Company
  • Contact:DANIELLE TOLENTINO TUASON
  • Grant amount:$Summer Conservatory For Dance Grant - $75,000
  • Web site: www.thelatc.org

The mission at the Los Angeles Theatre Center (LATC) is to provide a world-class arts center for those pursuing artistic excellence; a laboratory where both tradition and innovation are honored and honed; a place where the convergence of people, cultures, and ideas contribute to the future. The LATC Summer Conservatory for Dance program aims to address the needs of low-income, minority students in the Los Angeles community who are interested in pursuing dance. It was developed under the leadership of Latino Theater Company Artistic Director and UCLA professor, Jose Luis Valenzuela, to create an opportunity for high school students from under-served communities to experience and train in a conservatory setting. The program will provide high school students with college preparatory skills as well as training in dance. Furthermore, it will offer at-risk youth with recreational opportunities to develop their sense of creativity, physical capabilities, and ability to be proactive in their own personal development.

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USTA Serves, Incorporated

USTA Serves, Incorporated

USTA Serves and Community Tennis Associations (CTAs) across the country will adopt military units from nearby military installations in the US that have troops serving in Afghanistan and other locations where service members may be deployed. The Adopt-a-Unit Program, in partnership with an equipment partner, will ship packages of recreational equipment that will allow military personnel to play tennis in their off-duty hours. In providing portable tennis equipment and related materials to the troops, USTA hopes to provide recreational and psychological support to service members while educating communities about the importance of welcoming military families into USTA leagues and programs. Through tennis, returning service members will be able to reintegrate with their families and communities upon their return from conflict, helping them to address stress and re-connect at home.

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