Doylestown, PA (December 21, 2015) – Foundations Community Partnership‘s Board of Directors has announced the distribution of $152,000 in grant funding to support 21 Bucks County non-profit organizations and the families they serve. The grant program is an integral part of Foundations’ mission to improve the lives of youth and their families in Bucks County. The grants included $100,000 in Bucks Innovation and Improvement Grants (BIIG) and $52,000 in Capital Grants.

Foundations’ Bucks Innovation and Improvement Grants (BIIG) were awarded to the following 14 organizations and programs:

• A Woman’s Place in Doylestown will use the grant for a multifaceted project to provide parent training, parent-child bonding, and equestrian therapy for abused women.

• Bucks County Health Improvement Partnership (BCHIP) in Newtown will use the grant to enhance the integrated behavioral and medical health project at BCHIP’s  free behavioral support clinic in Lower Bucks.

• The Central Bucks Family YMCA in Doylestown will use the grant to support their Transition Opportunities for Post-Secondary Success program. The program works with transitional-age youth to provide social skills and health and wellness training.

• The Community Conservatory of Music in Doylestown will use the grant to continue to provide music therapy at organizations serving 300 special needs children and youth.

• The Council Rock School District (Newtown) will use the grant to support their ACHIEVE program, which provides social skills/vocational training to transition age youth.

• The Girls Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania’s Funded Initiative Program (Trevose and Levittown) provides funding for 500 girls with special needs and those who require financial support for the program.

• The grant will support Ivy Hill Therapeutic Riding Center’s 4 Gait Project in Perkasie, which is a collaborative program with the Penn Foundation Reach Program and Wellspring Clubhouse to provide the benefits of equine-assisted therapies to the young adult population of Bucks County who suffer from mental, emotional, and cognitive illness.

• The Lower Bucks County YMCA in Fairless Hills will use the grant for their Special Opportunities Program, which provides support and services to 225 adults and transitional-age youth.

• The grant will support Neighborhood First’s Health Choices Program in Bristol, which provides a healthy lifestyle program for 100 underserved youth.

• Pegasus Therapeutic Riding Academy will use the grant for their Leading the Way Equine Assisted Learning, which supports 8 – 15 Bucks County special needs youth using equestrian programs.

• Snipes Farm and Education Center in Morrisville will use the grant for Our Farms, Our Future, a farm to school program for students with special needs, which provides educational, social, and vocational training opportunities to special needs youth.

• NHP Foundation’s Operation Pathways Brighten-up Program (Levittown) is a site-based program that helps satisfy the needs of low- to moderate-income families by providing a safe, educational environment for children during out of school time.

• The Upper Bucks YMCA’s Seventh Grade Initiative program in Quakertown will use the grant to provide after school services and free membership to seventh grade students.

• The YMCA’s Reading to End Racism project in Trevose will provide reading and discussion opportunities for children and adults to discuss racism.

Seven organizations received Capital Grants from Foundations Community Partnership:

• Bucks County Children’s Museum in New Hope will use the funding for a new Water Table Exhibit which will provide sensory development opportunities for all children, including those with special needs and developmental delays.

• Easter Seals of Southeastern PA (Levittown) will use the grant to replace a playground surface for ease of use by special needs children.

• Refuge Child Academy in Bristol will improve safety for children in their childcare center by replacing entry doors and carpeting.

• The Angela M. Felt Memorial Fund (Bensalem) will build a playground at the Samuel K. Faust Elementary School, which serves students in a low-income, underserved area.

• Bucks County Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Newtown will provide equipment to expand their services for special needs families.

• The Pennsbury Society in Morrisville will use the grant for hardscaping of student/family picnic facilities at Pennsbury Manor.

• The grant will benefit the Acting Naturally theater program in Langhorne, which uses improvisation to overcome shyness and insecurities and provide the skills necessary for everyday decision-making to children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

“The Board of Directors is pleased to support these worthwhile local organizations that are making such a positive difference in the community,” said Ron Bernstein, Executive Director, Foundations Community Partnership. “Our grant program provides funding to the groups that are fulfilling unmet needs for underserved children and families in Bucks County.”

“We are grateful for Foundations’ continued support of the YWCA and the Reading to End Racism program,” said Kristin A. Chapin, Director of Youth Services, YMCA in Trevose. “We are very excited to launch this new program here in Bucks County.”

 

Media contact:

Beth Brody
609-397-3737
beth@brodypr.com

*Pictured Left to Right: Dave McCracken (Bensalem Kiwanis); Deborahlee Johnson (Samuel K. Faust Elementary School Reading Specialist); Ron Bernstein (Executive Director – Foundations Community Partnership); Leland Felt (Angela M. Felt Memorial Fund); Jodie Sauers (Samuel K. Faust Elementary School Principal); Dr. Sam Lee (Bensalem District Superintendent); Lauren Walsh (Faust Librarian); and 1st grade students.