The Bayou Community Foundation is giving $146,000 in grants to 22 local nonprofit groups, its largest total since the foundation was formed in 2012.
"These nonprofit organizations are doing tremendous work to address critical unmet needs in our community, and Bayou Community Foundation is delighted to be able to support these innovative, impact programs," foundation chairman Stephen Peltier said. "We thank our donors for making these grants possible and look forward to the continued growth of BCF and our grants program so we can make even more impact on our community in the years ahead."
Grants go to programs focusing on mental health counseling and treatment, education, workforce development, and coastal restoration and awareness in Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes and Grand Isle.
This year, the foundation received 57 grant requests for more than $590,000.
Recipients announced Tuesday are:
— South Central Louisiana Human Services Authority, $15,000 to continue Mobile Outreach Program for outpatient mental health treatment.
— St. Vincent de Paul Tri-Parish Pharmacy, $10,000 to provide free medication to the poor and elderly.
— START Corp., $10,000 for the expansion of the Functional Family Therapy Program for at-risk youth and their families.
— Options for Independence, $10,000 for the Youth Tele-Psychiatry Program.
— CASA of Terrebonne, $10,000 for a campaign to increase the number and diversity of child advocates.
— CASA of Lafourche, $10,000 for a child abuse prevention and child advocate recruitment campaign.
— Catholic Community Center, $9,500 to expand its thrift store serving the poor in south Lafourche and Grand Isle.
— Hope Extreme, $7,500 for the After-School Tutoring and Summer Reading programs.
— Crossroads Pregnancy Resource Center, $7,500 for teen programs at local schools and for pregnancy and infant loss support groups.
— New Life Counseling Center, $6,000 to support the Access to Care mental health counseling program in south Lafourche.
— Terrebonne Foundation for Academic Excellence, $5,900 for the Dolly Parton Imagination Library.
— Virtual Academy of Lafourche, $5,000 to support the Career Development Service Project.
— Second Harvest Food Bank, $5,000 for food pantries and mobile pantry food distribution in Lafourche, Terrebonne and Grand Isle.
— Gulf Coast Social Services, $5,000 for enhanced mentoring services for at-risk youth in Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes.
— Fletcher Technical Community College Foundation, $5,000 grant for the Work It! Louisiana Program to provide an opportunity for sixth-graders in Lafourche and Terrebonne to learn about technology of the oil and gas industry through the Mobile Offshore Learning Unit.
— Bayou Council Behavioral Health Services, $5,000 for Communities Mobilizing for Change on Alcohol, a program to reduce underage drinking.
— MacDonell United Methodist Children's Services, $4,500 for technological improvements to support the SPARC Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative.
—Lafourche ARC, $4,200 for safety equipment and supplies at its vocational services facility and residential communities.
— The Nature Conservancy, $3,000 for the Grand Isle Community Outreach, Education and Conservation Program.
— The Rev. Lloyd Wallace Community Center, $3,000 to purchase Kindles for the Beyond the Bell After-School Program.
— Dulac Community Center, $3,000 for the Community Rehabilitation Program Workforce Training Initiative.
— Bayou Grace, $2,500 for the Estuary Experience Volunteer Program.
In 2013, the foundation awarded $115,000 to seven local organizations. In 2014, 11 groups were given grants totaling $110,000.
A donor-advised fund of the Greater New Orleans Foundation, the local foundation was established in 2012 by a group of business leaders and philanthropists from Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes who, after hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the 2010 Gulf oil spill, recognized the need for a foundation to strengthen the community and to attract national and international assistance in the event of a future emergency or natural disaster.
The Gheens Foundation awarded Bayou Community Foundation a five-year, $500,000 challenge grant in 2012 which, along with local contributions, provided the seed money for local programs focused on addressing the region's most critical needs. Recently, the Bayou Community Foundation met a milestone of $1 million in local contributions to meet the Gheens Foundation's challenge.
The Bayou Community Foundation continues to seek contributions to expand its grant-making capabilities in the area.
Staff Writer Sean Ellis can be reached at 857-2202 or sean.ellis@houmatoday.com