Community Cache

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: TUESDAY, AUGUST 7, 2018

MONTGOMERY—The Central Alabama Community Foundation (CACF) on Tuesday awarded $84,600 in grants to thirteen River Region nonprofits that support education initiatives in Montgomery, Elmore and Autauga counties.

The education grants awarded Tuesday are part of the Family Wellness and Education Grant Cycle that CACF manages.  Applications were submitted in February, and education grants were approved by CACF’s Board of Directors in July. CACF previously awarded $125,479 in family wellness grants, bringing the total funding for the Family Wellness and Education Grant Cycle to $210,079.

Nonprofits receiving 2018 CACF Education Grants include:

• Alabama Institute for Education in the Arts – to support the Arts Connections Enhance Student Success program at Vaughn Road Elementary. This program teaches teachers and engages K-5 students in data-driven, arts-connected lessons that address student learning across all subject areas.
• Capital Area Adult Literacy Council – to purchase 24 Samsung tablets, a projector, and the Ultimate Phonics Reading Program. This will provide a classroom environment for tutoring where there is no internet capability and a training tool when doing tutor-training workshops. 
• Girls on the Run serving the River Region – to provide scholarships to three teams at Title 1 schools in Montgomery County. This nonprofit organization provides youth development to 3^rd – 5^th grade girls that combines training for a 5k running event with healthy living education.
• Girl Scouts of Southern Alabama – to provide a school-based Girl Scouting program to 550 girls at 7 schools throughout Lowndes and Macon counties.
• Hope Inspired Ministries – to provide transportation, drug testing and background checks for students enrolled in a nine-week job training program. Low skilled, poorly educated, and chronically unemployed men and women will learn employment skills, financial management, character development, problem-solving and anger management.
• The Ingram State Technical College Foundation – to provide at least 25 qualified graduates with $250 worth of tools. These tools are necessary to begin work following release from incarceration.
• Service Dogs Alabama – to train and place a professionally trained service dog with an educator handler in a classroom. When service dogs are placed in a classroom, they can decrease anxiety, behavior problems, aggression and hyperactivity among students.
• That’s My Child – to purchase 8 computers for the TMC Learning Center. TMC provides afterschool tutoring and a GED readiness program to children in the Chisholm community located in North Montgomery.
• The Cloverdale Playhouse – to fund scholarship financial assistance for 28 students and provide teacher support for six classes in 2019. Students will study acting, storytelling, puppetry and other theater disciplines.
• Elmore County Board of Education HIPPY Program – to purchase five tablets for a coordinator and home visitors. The home visitor meets weekly, in the home of an educationally disadvantaged child to increase literacy, parental involvement and prepare preschoolers for kindergarten using HIPPY educational materials.
• Heritage Training and Career Center – to provide 25 clients from the Elmore County Department of Human Resources with GED training, job readiness training, basic computer skills training and job placement.
•  The Noah Foundation, Inc. (New Hope Academy) – to purchase seven Chromebook laptops and downloadable software for students with dyslexia at New Hope Academy.
•  Montgomery Christian School – to purchase Customer Relationship Management software. This software will allow the school to increase donor communication and create a donor database that can grow donor relationships and steward the gifts that have been given to educating their students.  This is a technical assistance grant.

“For thirty-one years, the Central Alabama Community Foundation has been making grant investments in our community,” CACF President Burton Crenshaw said. “Every grant is a result of a generous donor who wants to support the work of nonprofit organizations in our area. The education grants announced today will make an important mark in the well-being of our citizens.”

Through its more than 230 funds established by donors, CACF addresses a wide variety of concerns, supporting projects and programs in education, health, human services, cultural arts, recreation, historic preservation and other civic concerns. Each year, the foundation distributes more than $5 million through hundreds of grants and scholarships.

CACF was founded in 1987. Since its inception, CACF has grown to hold more than $65 million in charitable assets while distributing more than $55 million to organizations that serve the community. CACF serves several counties including Autauga, Coffee, Dale, Elmore, Geneva, Henry, Houston, Lowndes, Macon and Montgomery.