Inasmuch Foundation announces $7.764 million in grants

OKLAHOMA CITY – Inasmuch Foundation announced today the distribution of $7.764 million in grants to 42 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.

“The grants this cycle showcase the wide range of Inasmuch Foundation’s giving; early childhood education, higher education, justice reinvestment, homelessness, hunger, mental health, and the arts are all represented” said Bob Ross, President and CEO of Inasmuch Foundation.  “Together, we believe this diversified group of grantees will improve our community and move the city and state forward.”

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

Education

• $1,500,000 to University of Oklahoma for the College of Law Collaborative Learning Center. The renovation will revitalize library space to invite increased collaboration and cooperative learning.
• $600,000 to Oklahoma City University for state-of-the-art renovation of the Dawson-Loeffler Chemistry Laboratories, built in 1954.
• $232,691 to Smart Start Central Oklahoma for Early Birds and their work to ensure that young children enter school safe, healthy, eager to learn and ready to succeed.
• $150,000 to Oklahoma Arts Institute for Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute scholarships.       OSAI is an intensive, two-week residential arts academy for high school students selected through a competitive, statewide audition process.
• $125,500 to Smart Start Oklahoma for Community Based Grants, Reach Out and Read Oklahoma and general support.
• $75,000 to Millwood Public Schools to implement the reading resource, Success for All, ensuring that students read at grade level by 3rd grade.
• $60,000 to Foundation for Oklahoma City Public Schools to support the partnership with DonorsChoose.org; and for expenses associated with recruiting teachers from Puerto Rico to assist ELL students.
• $60,000 to Oklahoma Children’s Theatre for productions, camps, classes and community outreach.
• $25,000 to Junior Achievement of Oklahoma to teach financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship lessons to OKC area students during the school year.
• $25,000 to Tulsa Lighthouse Charter School, part of a nationwide, non-profit network that prepares students for college through rigorous arts-infused programming.
• $15,000 to St. Joseph School in Muskogee for technology, including interactive whiteboards and Wi-Fi.

Health and Human Services

• $1,000,000 to Children’s Hospital Foundation for a medical and behavioral sciences program that will diagnose and treat adolescent eating disorders.
• $1,000,000 to Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma for continued development of Food Resource Centers across the state.
• $450,000 to ReMerge of Oklahoma County, an intensive year long program that provides an alternative to incarceration for non-violent female offenders with minor children.
• $300,000 to Healthy Minds and Healthy Lives, a program of the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, to identify, reduce and prevent problematic substance use and abuse.
• $200,000 to Center for Employment Opportunities for CEO Oklahoma City to help formerly incarcerated people secure and sustain jobs.
• $165,000 to Catholic Charities for Immigration Legal Services, providing low-cost legal assistance in family-based immigration law.
• $150,000 to Urban Mission in general support of their programs for low income families and children.
• $100,000 to City Care for housing programs and matching funds for a Community Development Block Grant.
• $100,000 to Mental Health Association Oklahoma to support operations in Oklahoma City.
• $90,000 to Calm Waters Center for Children and Families in support of their work with those whose lives have been affected by significant loss.
• $50,000 to Central Oklahoma Habitat for Humanity for a new warehouse.
• $50,000 to Family & Children’s Services for Women in Recovery, an alternative to incarceration for female offenders with substance abuse and mental health issues.
• $50,000 to Special Care for its capital campaign funding facility expansion.
• $50,000 to Youth Services for Oklahoma County to expand services that help young people without parental support successfully transition to adulthood.
• $40,000 to Center for Employment Opportunities for CEO Tulsa to help formerly incarcerated people secure and sustain jobs.
• $40,000 to Volunteers of America Oklahoma for Payee Services at WestTown Campus in Oklahoma City, helping the homeless to achieve housing and financial stability.
• $30,000 to Women’s Defense Team, a program that seeks to divert women who are first offenders, awaiting sentencing or on probation, from prison and further criminal involvement.
• $25,000 to Be The Change for a planning grant to provide emergency shelter and drop-in services to Oklahona’s City’s runaway and homeless youth.
• $25,000 to Community Service Council of Greater Tulsa for the Carrera Initiative, an in-school adolescent pregnancy prevention program.
• $25,000 to OKC Metro Alliance to help women with basic needs during recovery from addiction.
• $25,000 to Stand in the Gap, empowering local churches to offer practical support to people in need.
• $10,000 to Rebuilding Together Tulsa for operating support.

Community Enhancement

• $250,000 to Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center for a new arts education campus in midtown Oklahoma City.
• $200,000 to Oklahoma Philharmonic Society for the 2015-16 Classics Series at Civic Center and the Red, White and Boom! free community concert at State Fair Park.
• $135,000 to Friends of the Oklahoma History Center for free school group admissions and for interactive learning in the Crossroads of Commerce Exhibit.
• $100,000 to Enid Arts & Sciences Foundation for the capital campaign to renovate and expand Leonardo’s children’s museum.
• $84,000 to Oklahoma City Beautiful for landscape maintenance for the properties at OKC Educare and Cesar Chavez Elementary School.
• $50,000 to Oklahoma City Ballet for season support.
• $42,000 to Executive Service Corps of Central Oklahoma for office support and to provide business management reviews for four nonprofit organizations.
• $35,000 to Citizens Improvement League of Wewoka Trust for a zero-depth splash pad to be built in Wewoka’s historical Mutt Miller Park.
• $25,000 to Mid-America Arts Alliance for programs and services in Oklahoma.

Letters of Inquiry for the next cycle are due August 15, 2015. To learn more about Inasmuch Foundation, visit www.inasmuchfoundation.org or call 405-604-5292.