Feb. 22, 2022
Grant program expands following hiatus due to pandemic
The Community Foundation of the Ozarks granted $180,000 to eight collaborative projects in Springfield and Greene County through the Collective Impact Grant Program. The projects will address “Red Flags” identified in the 2021 Community Focus Report by leveraging the perennial “Blue Flag” of collaboration.
The funded collaborations, listed by the lead agency, are:
- Better Life in Recovery: $40,000 for the Dealing Hope Partnership with New Beginnings Sanctuary, Family Therapy of the Ozarks, Peaceful Mind Counseling and felon-friendly employers. The project will offer opportunities for individuals who struggle with addiction to alter the trajectory of their lives, a continuation of the work started in 2020 with the support of a previous Collective Impact grant.
- Breast Cancer Foundation of the Ozarks: $12,550 for the Breast Cancer Survivor and Caregiver Support Groups project in partnership with Burrell Behavioral Health, Burrell Foundation and Recover at Home Caregiving. The support groups will better address the emotional and mental-health needs of breast cancer patients and their caregivers.
- Child Advocacy Center: $36,582 for the Child Abuse Multidisciplinary Team Response Training project in partnership with the Children’s Division and the Greene County Juvenile Office. The project will develop, create and implement a training program to improve response and investigation of child abuse.
- The Connecting Grounds: $5,757 for the Telehealth Expansion for Medical Outreach project in partnership with Mercy Hospital Springfield, MSU Care Clinic and Jordan Valley Community Health Center. The project will provide telehealth and virtual visits to unsheltered individuals to improve health care access and quality of care.
- Council of Churches of the Ozarks: $40,000 for the Compassionate Care for Homeless Women in the Ozarks project in partnership with Safe to Sleep Women’s Shelter, Pathways United Methodist Church, Grace United Methodist Cold Weather Shelter for Women, Women’s Medical Respite and Messiah House. The project will connect unsheltered women staying with case management and longer-term shelter.
- FosterAdopt Connect: $18,051 for the Youth Rising Outreach Center in partnership with Springfield Public Schools and Boys & Girls Clubs of Springfield. The center will provide resources and mentors to youth aged 13–17 who are unstably housed, in foster care or at risk of entering foster care.
- Missouri State University: $6,000 for the Removing Barriers Through English Language Instruction project in partnership with Sherwood Elementary School and Briarwood Mobile Home Park. The project will allow teacher candidates to deliver English language courses to parents while providing enrichment activities to their children.
- Watershed Committee of the Ozarks: $21,060 for the Watershed Natives program in partnership with Springfield Public Schools and Ozark Empire Fairgrounds. The program will teach special skills to Hillcrest High School students and expand the native plant nursery, located at the fairgrounds, that was first started in 2020 with a previous Collective Impact grant and funding from the Darr Family Foundation.
This is the first Springfield-Greene County Collective Impact program since February 2020, a few weeks before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic that prompted a shift in the CFO’s grantmaking.
“We are so pleased to bring back an expanded program for the Collective Impact grants and fund these innovative approaches to the challenges faced by our community,” CFO President Brian Fogle said. “By working together, the agencies aren’t merely tackling a problem, but building a greater sense of community.”
The selection committee was comprised of: Roy Hardy Jr., Chair and CFO board member; Abby Glenn; Emily Kembell, a CFO board member; Travis Liles; Michael Meek; Lynn Meyerkord; and Chase Snider.
