June 25, 2024
‘Opportunities to Thrive,’ capital projects funded by partnership
The Community Foundation of the Ozarks, in partnership with the Jeannette L. Musgrave Foundation and U.S. Bank Private Wealth Management, presented grants totaling $1,165,923 on Monday, June 24. These grants comprise three high-impact, multi-year grant programs and support for nonprofit capital projects in the Springfield metro area.
Launched in 2021, the Musgrave Multi-Year Impact Grants target specific areas of the late Mrs. Musgrave’s core philanthropic interests through high-impact grantmaking. The Musgrave distribution committee identified “Opportunities to Thrive” as its area of focus for the fourth set of multi-year grants. This program supports the long-term sustainability of agencies in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure continuous service to low- and no-income individuals of all ages.
Representatives of more than a dozen local nonprofits gathered to receive $1.17 million in grants from the Jeannette L. Musgrave Foundation and the Community Foundation of the Ozarks on June 24.
The grant recipients and first-year amounts for the “Opportunities to Thrive” program are:
- Boys and Girls Clubs of Springfield: $70,000 to support organizational restructuring, talent investment and development strategy.
- GLO Center: $55,000 to support the salary of the community services specialist, a new role that will create programs and partnerships to fill gaps in services to LGBTQIA+ people.
- Ozarks Food Harvest: $131,122 for structural and safety improvements at its Full Circle Gardens and to increase the capacity of the program.
- Ozarks Literacy Council: $36,432 to hire a part-time social media manager and to update its website, donor software and email platform.
- Springfield Community Gardens: $19,924 to hire a strategic planning consultant, purchase food hub management software and provide farmers with agricultural training.
If all agencies meet annual grant renewal guidelines, the total grant awards will exceed $556,000 over the three-year period.
The grant recipients and second-year amounts for the “Student Citizenship” program are:
- History Museum on the Square: $70,000 to connect K-12 students with the past and present through experiential learning. The project’s goals are to help students become informed voters and participatory citizens; comprehend current social issues and challenges; and engage in their civic responsibilities as adults with civility and passion.
- Leadership Springfield: $62,000 to support the Civic Leadership Access Program in partnership with Parkview High School, which will include a multi-step civics education program culminating in a participatory learning experience in Washington, D.C.
- Springfield Daily Citizen: $25,000 to increase civic engagement among young people by fostering engaged and thoughtful consumption of media from diversified media outlets.
OTC Foundation also is part of the “Student Citizenship” cohort, having received $35,975 in 2023 to expand Ozarks Technical Community College’s student-run, nonpartisan Politically Active program.
If all agencies meet annual grant renewal guidelines, the total grant awards will exceed $539,000 when the final grants are presented next year.
The grant recipients and final-year amounts for the “Foster Families” program are:
- Council of Churches of the Ozarks: $50,000 to develop a new case management program for biological parents whose children are currently in state custody.
- FosterAdopt Connect: $50,000 to provide advocacy and support for biological parents, and mental health support for biological parents, foster families and children in foster care through the YouthConnect Center, Fostering Prevention and Community Connections Youth Project programs.
- KVC Missouri (formerly Great Circle): $50,000 to expand the Therapeutic Foster Care program, which provides family support and training for the physical, emotional and social needs of children and youth in a supportive foster care situation.
- St. John’s Chapel United Church of Christ: $39,800 to support the addition of a Family Connection coordinator and trauma-informed training for additional Family Connection site locations, previously managed by the Connecting Grounds.
CASA of Southwest Missouri also is part of the “Foster Families” cohort, having received $108,805 in the first two years of the program to support the addition of an advocate supervisor.
Total grant awards for all three programs could ultimately exceed $1.8 million.
The CFO and Musgrave Foundation also announced grants from an invitation-only program to support capital projects for nonprofits with missions that align with Mrs. Musgrave’s funding priorities of health care and mental health, and improving quality of life for low-income communities, children and babies, and the unsheltered.
- Child Advocacy Center: $188,000 for strategic planning and consulting fees related to a future facility, and a staff site visit to Project Harmony in Omaha.
- Council of Churches of the Ozarks: $100,000 to support the Levell Up Capital Campaign for its new facility on East Division Street.
- Dickerson Park Zoo: $97,000 to re-roof and renovate the Jeannette L. Musgrave Zoo Education Facility and purchase a cargo van for its outreach program.
- Ozarks Food Harvest: $67,145 to purchase a cargo van for transporting produce from donors to delivery sites.
- Presbyterian Children’s Homes & Services: $54,500 to renovate and update the plumbing at Ashley House, a transitional living facility for youth in foster care.
The grants were announced in Springfield at 300 S. Jefferson Ave., the future home of the CFO. The Musgrave Foundation’s distribution committee is chaired by Rob Baird and includes Emily Bowen-Marler, Ferba Lofton, Danny Perches, Peggy Riggs and Thomas Slaight, with support from CFO staff members Bridget Dierks and Ashley Fleming. Thomas J. Carlson also serves on the committee but abstained from selection process.
The Jeannette L. Musgrave Foundation is a private charitable foundation managed by U.S. Bank Private Wealth Management and administered by the CFO. Since 1983, the Musgrave Foundation has granted more than $21 million to nonprofits in Springfield and southwest Missouri.
