Community Foundation Awards $1.56 million in grants

The Community Foundation announces awards of nearly $1.43 million in competitive grants to local nonprofits. Additionally, scholarships in the amount $135,000 were granted to five local colleges and universities.

The awards make a difference in the success of area agencies seeking to provide vital services to residents of the Shreveport-Bossier City community. Organizations receiving funding address education needs, health and human services, and arts and culture programming. All are integral to the well-being of our community.

The Community Foundation utilized research conducted by the RAND Corporation to help guide funding decisions. In a 2009 white paper commissioned by The Community Foundation, Rand identified three priority areas for the Shreveport-Bossier community -- educational attainment, child maltreatment and infant mortality. More than 50 percent of the Foundation’s grants were awarded to programs that address these issues.

In an effort to strengthen the effectiveness of local nonprofits, The Community Foundation provided two training sessions on outcome measurement to all grant applicants. The sessions were conducted by Debra Natenshon, CEO of the Center for What Works, a national leader in the field of outcome measurement. Each grant recipient will receive additional individualized technical assistance from Natenshon during the grant period. The purpose of the technical assistance is to aid grantees in identifying meaningful program outcomes and structuring quality data collection and evaluation plans.

Among the grantees is ACCION Texas-Louisiana, which provides small loans and management training for start-up businesses and other companies. Its main focus is businesses that do not have access to loans from commercial sources. ACCION received $100,000 from The Community Foundation.

Other grant recipients include the Volunteers of America, $150,000 for the LightHouse program; the Salvation Army, $150,000 for the Boys and Girls Club; Providence House, $150,000 for its program to break the cycle of homelessness; and the Alliance for Education, which received multiple grants, including $73,980 for its Learning to Finish: Cradle to Career program.

"Our commitment is to maximize and leverage the resources entrusted to the Foundation for the benefit of our community” said Executive Director Paula Hickman. "Through its competitive grant process, the Foundation strives to support local agencies that demonstrate effective strategies to meet critical needs.”

Since its start in 1961 The Community Foundation has provided more than $39 million in grants and scholarships to benefit the Shreveport-Bossier City area.

Following is a listing of nonprofits receiving grants in the 2010 competitive grant cycle.

ARTS & CULTURE
Highland Area Partnership, Inc. -- $10,000 
Highland Jazz and Blues Festival

LSU in Shreveport Foundation, Inc. -- $40,000
KDAQ/Red River Radio News and Cultural Affairs Programming

New Arts Cultural Society -- $10,000
Celebration of the Negro Spiritual

Red River Revel, Inc. -- $35,000
Red River Revel Arts Festival

Shreveport Metropolitan Ballet -- $4,000
Ballet Under the Stars at Riverview Theater

Shreveport Opera - $45,000
Shreveport Opera Xpress presents DiverCity

Shreveport Regional Arts Council -- $10,460
Renovation of Central Fire Station for SRAC’s New Arts Center

Theatre of the Performing Arts of Shreveport -- $12,500
The Yazzy Series: Youth Celebrating Jazz

CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
Louisiana Association of Nonprofit Organizations -- $20,000
Community Leaders Program

EDUCATION
Alliance for Education -- $73,980
Learning to Finish: Cradle to Career

Alliance for Education -- $50,000
Positive Attitudes Will Succeed (PAWS)

Alliance for Education -- $25,000
Leading For Learning Institute

Caddo Community Action Agency -- $3,000
Reading Is Fundamental, Inc. Program

Literacy Volunteers at Centenary College -- $10,000
Sponsorship of 30 Literacy Students

Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities -- $38,629
PRIME TIME Teacher Institute for Educators in Greater Shreveport-Bossier

NZBC Urban Corporation, Inc. -- $25,000
Project Yes NZBC 21st Century Community Learning Centers

Sci-Port: Louisiana's Science Center -- $77,900
Be the Dinosaur - Traveling Exhibition

Volunteers of America of North Louisiana -- $150,000
The LightHouse Pogram

Youth Enrichment Program -- $15,650
YEP Plus

HEALTH & SCIENCE
Children and Arthritis -- $10,000
Jambalaya Jubilee

David Raines Community Health Centers -- $60,000
Medical Home School Initiative

Forensic Nurse Examiners of Louisiana, Inc. -- $15,000
Forensic Nurse Examiners (FNE)

Martin Luther King Health Center -- $32,720
Night Owl Clinic for individuals who require non-traditional patient care hours

HUMAN SERVICES
ACCION Texas-Louisiana -- $100,000
Expansion of ACCION Texas-Louisiana into Shreveport

Caddo Council on Aging -- $30,000
Home Delivered Meal (Meals on Wheels)

Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse of Northwest Louisiana -- $39,205
Cavanaugh Treatment Center

Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana -- $30,000
Back Pack Program for children

Gingerbread House Bossier/Caddo Children's Advocacy Center -- $30,000
Child Advocacy Program

Holy Angels Residential Facility -- $108,157
AngelWorks

Kids in Distressed Situations, Inc. -- $15,000
Shreveport - Bossier New Merchandise Distribution Program

Providence House -- $150,000
Breaking the cycle of homelessness, one family at a time

The Salvation Army Boys & Girls Club -- $150,000
The Shreveport Boys & Girls Club