2015 Grants, Focus Area: Breaking the Cycle of Poverty
Boys and Girls Club of El Dorado County
$20,000
Every day, the Sponsor a Child Program helps hundreds of low income children take advantage of the Club’s services. It offers them the opportunity to believe that they can and will be whatever they dream of becoming. The program shows these children that all things are possible if you do not let your situation define who you are and who you can become. We hope they learn to never give up on themselves.
Kevin’s father and his grandfather before him were poor and incarcerated much of their adult lives. Kevin is now 12 years old and he still has an opportunity to alter the way his story unfolds. The cycle of poverty can end with Kevin and we are hoping that the WFED can help us break the pattern for him and many more! At our Club we see this story daily. We see the hopelessness of poverty and the hollowness that it brings into the eyes of the young people with whom we work. Providing tools to break the cycle is what we do for our young people every day. These tools are in the form of a healthy snack, a helping hand with homework and a positive adult reinforcement that the Club provides. The Club is there for our youth and the Club is there for Kevin. This is his story.
The program begins with the intake and diagnosis of the client. Treatment addresses the issues of drug/alcohol dependence and also any mental health disorders. As the client becomes more stable and gains the tools and resources to cope, we begin to provide support, training and any other skills needed to attain and maintain financial stability. The Cycle of Poverty becomes the Cycle of Recovery. All funding for this program will be spent on clients living on the western slope of El Dorado County.
The Club is there for our kids and the Club is there for Kevin, this is Kevin and this is his story. For more information on Boys and Girls Club see www.bgce.org.
Boys and Girls Club Final Report 2015
Boys and Girls Club Site Visit Report
Tahoe Turning Point of Placerville
$22,500
“The biggest enemy of health in the developing world is poverty”
Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations
With that said, Tahoe Turning Point is positioned to Break the Cycle of Poverty by providing a full spectrum of out-patient counseling and therapy services. The cycle then becomes one of Recovery. Our programs and services apply the research and client diagnosis to address a condition called Duel Diagnosis (also called co-occurring disorders or COD). Dual Diagnosis describes a practice that treats people who suffer from both an addiction and a mental health disorder. By providing the proper therapy to address the mental health issue, and applying appropriate drug/alcohol dependency education and programs, clients attain the necessary skills and coping ability. They become better prepared for the focus needed to address the solutions for the cycle of poverty: attaining job skills, attaining meaningful employment, performing well at a job, and being able to manage their time and their money. They gain the self-worth and coping skills to become productive citizens in their community.
The program begins with the intake and diagnosis of the client, Treatment addresses both the issues of the drug/alcohol dependence, and the necessary analysis and treatment of the mental health disorder. As the client becomes more stable and gains the tools and resources to cope, we can begin to coordinate the support and access to the training and other skills needed to attain and maintain financial stability. The Cycle of Poverty becomes the Cycle of Recovery. All funding for this program will be spent on clients living on the western slope of El Dorado County. For additional information on Tahoe Turning Point see www.tahoeturningpoint.org.
Impact Grants
Providing Solutions to Mental Health Challenges: NAMI El Dorado County Western Slope
$5,000
Mental illness is lonely and debilitating. Brain disorders are misunderstood, stigmatized, and often feared. Individuals living with mental illness and their families experience trauma and a frustrating lack of resources. NAMI El Dorado provides education, support, and advocacy through quality educational programs and trained support group facilitators at no cost to those who need them. Our goal is to expand our outreach to inform and educate our community, provide additional classes for families and those living with mental illness, and begin a new class, BASICS, directed toward families with a child or children developing symptoms before the age of 13. For more information on NAMI seewww.namieldorado.org.
Promoting Senior Services: A Brush with Kindness and Safe at Home Programs
$5,000
This impact grant will make the Women’s Fund a matchmaker for the marriage of two young programs ripe with potential. “A Brush With Kindness,” a Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative of Habitat for Humanity, and “Safe at Home,” a program of Rebuilding Together Sacramento, will establish a valuable working relationship.
The proposed collaboration, utilizing existing staff and trained volunteers, will provide home safety measures, such as grab bars, railings and bathroom supports, plus exterior repairs such as painting, landscaping, and maintenance, for eight or more Western Slope senior homeowners, providing them the dignity of a well-maintained home where they can age-in-place safely. For more information see www.edchabitat.org.
Supporting Children and Families: Child Advocates of El Dorado County (CASA El Dorado)
$5,000
In 2013, El Dorado Health and Human Services agency spearheaded the formation of a multidisciplinary team known as the Foster Youth Human Trafficking (FYHT) task force. The focus of this task force is on children who have been determined to be at-risk of falling victim to the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC). CASA is honored to be the first private social service agency to be invited to join the FYHT task force. We are requesting the help of the Women’s Fund El Dorado, to ensure that every identified at-risk child is provided a CASA Advocate in 2015. For more information on CASA see casaeldorado.org.
