Inasmuch Foundation announces $4.6 million in grants

OKLAHOMA CITY – Inasmuch Foundation announced today the distribution of $4.6 million in grants to 41 organizations serving Oklahoma communities.

Inasmuch Foundation, founded by Edith Kinney Gaylord in 1982, supports education, health and human services and community enhancement initiatives that enrich the quality of life for Oklahomans.

“No matter the challenges our state faces, we can find hope in Oklahoma’s non-profits and the people who work for and support them” said Bob Ross, President and CEO of Inasmuch Foundation.  “We are proud to partner with these grantees who work tirelessly providing essential services to keep Oklahoma moving forward.”

Grants were awarded to organizations for projects addressing the foundation’s areas of interest as follows:

Education

• $500,000 to Positive Tomorrows for the capital campaign to build a new elementary school specifically serving homeless children and their families.
• $400,000 to Kiwanis Special Activities Fund for the capital campaign to replace the old Carver Mark Twain Head Start building.
• $200,000 to Sunbeam Family Services for early childhood education and for employee engagement and retention at OKC Educare.
• $200,000 to Teach For America – Oklahoma City to provide increased support to corps members, alumni teachers and principals.
• $150,000 to Smart Start Central Oklahoma for general operations and a pilot partnership between Early Birds and the Oklahoma Department of Human Services.
• $150,000 to University of Central Oklahoma to equip laboratories in the new STEM building to support cutting edge research and teaching.
• $150,000 to University of Oklahoma for the Price College Graduate and Executive Center at Oklahoma City.
• $100,000 to Advance Rural Education for start up funds for the Academy of Seminole.
• $100,000 to Oklahoma City University for the Kramer School of Nursing Simulation Center.
• $45,000 to Reach Out and Read Oklahoma to continue incorporating books into pediatric care and encouraging families to read aloud together.
• $30,000 to Latino Community Development Agency for an Assistant Director for the Tony Reyes Bilingual Child Development Center.
• $25,000 to Community Action Project of Tulsa County to enhance teacher effectiveness through individual coaching and professional learning communities.
• $20,000 to Cherokee National Historical Society for the Cherokee Humanities Course.

Health and Human Services

• $480,000 to Homeless Alliance for WestTown Homeless Resource Campus and for Oklahoma City’s Journey Home initiative to end veteran and chronic homelessness.
• $428,500 to ReMerge of Oklahoma County for general support of an intensive year-long program that provides an alternative to incarceration for non-violent female offenders with minor children.
• $150,000 to Center for Employment Opportunities to provide comprehensive employment services to those returning to Oklahoma City from jail or prison.
• $100,000 to Angels Foster Family Network for the capital campaign to build a trauma informed child development center serving children in foster care.
• $75,000 to HopeHouse OKC for program support; includes new hopeKIDS Program supporting educational, social, and physical development.
• $57,800 to Healthy Minds, Healthy Lives Foundation to support development of a Pay for Success Model for health outcomes for children age prenatal through age five.
• $52,500 to Citizens Caring for Children to provide basic necessities for children living in foster care in central Oklahoma.
• $45,000 to Calm Waters Center for Children and Families in support of initiatives reaching those affected by significant loss.
• $40,000 to Family and Children’s Services for the Women in Recovery program, helping female offenders with substance abuse and mental health issues avoid incarceration.
• $40,000 to Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma to focus on the resolution and prevention of legal problems for participants in Remerge, a diversion program for women with minor children.
• $40,000 to Volunteers of America Oklahoma for Payee Services at WestTown in Oklahoma City, addressing the challenges of homelessness through financial case management.
• $30,000 to Center for Employment Opportunities to provide comprehensive employment services to those returning to Tulsa from jail or prison.
• $30,000 to It’s My Community Initiative for Safe Families Oklahoma, providing an alternative to foster care and a safety net for vulnerable families.
• $30,000 to Tulsa Community Foundation for a clinical social worker for the Women’s Justice Team, helping divert first-time female offenders from prison.
• $25,000 to Be The Change to provide case management and referral services to unsheltered and vulnerable persons living in Oklahoma City.
• $25,000 to Central Oklahoma Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy for general support of public/private partnership collaborating to reduce the teen birth rate in Oklahoma County.
• $25,000 to Community Service Council of Greater Tulsa to expand the Carrera Initiative, an in-school adolescent pregnancy prevention proram.
• $25,000 to Resonance for prison-to-community reentry support services for women in diversion programs. 

Community Enhancement

• $250,000 to Oklahoma City Museum of Art for the 2017-18 season of exhibitions, education, outreach and film programs.
• $200,000 to Oklahoma Philharmonic Society for the 2017-18 Classics Series and the 2017 Red, White and Boom free community concert at State Fair Park.
• $120,000 to Possibilities for the Possibilities Innovation Program, a program that empowers participants to create community-level change.
• $84,000 to Oklahoma City Beautiful for landscape maintenance for the properties at Educare Center and Cesar Chavez Elementary School.
• $75,000 to Oklahoma City Ballet for the 2017-18 season.
• $50,000 to Oklahoma City National Memorial Foundation for annual operations and programming for the Memorial and Museum.
• $25,000 to Wilderness Matters to support construction of an accessible overlook pavilion at Martin Park Nature Center.
• $22,500 to Executive Service Corps of Central Oklahoma for consultation services to nonprofits and assistance in developing strategic partnerships.
• $20,000 to Ground Zero K9 Emergency Training Center in general support of their work to provide highly trained urban search and rescue dogs.
• $18,000 to Canterbury Voices for season support.

Letters of Inquiry for the next cycle are due August 15, 2017. To learn more about Inasmuch Foundation, visit www.inasmuchfoundation.org or call 405-604-5292.