Swanston Fund Announces $106,750 in Valley Grants
WARREN, Ohio – The William Swanston Charitable Fund announced Tuesday that it awarded $106,750 in grants to eight community organizations that seek to make a difference in the lives of Mahoning Valley children and their families.
"The Swanston group supports families with abused, neglected and dependent children that have problems within the family," said John Taylor, president of Paige & Byrnes Insurance Inc. and a member of the Swanston Fund's board of trustees. "All of these grants are designed to help with this, whether it be literacy, therapy, or working with counselors to overcome disabilities they might have."
Among the awards was a $15,000 grant to support the Safer Communities Through Safer Families program, Taylor reported. The community education effort is a partnership between Someplace Safe, the only domestic violence initiative in Trumbull County, and the Solace Center, a visitation and safe exchange program in Warren. The partnership operates as a component of Family & Community Services Inc., Ravenna.
"We are going to target educators, adults, families, community groups [and] youth groups, and we're going to take the message back to the community about domestic violence," said Bonnie Wilson, director of domestic violence and visitation services for Trumbull County.
The money would be used to fund an aggressive awareness program related not to just domestic violence, but also violence associated with teen dating, bullying in the schools, intervention strategies and other resources available in the community for those who need help, she said.
Wilson reported that a study conducted in 2010 showed a significant increase in teen dating violence in Trumbull County. "Statewide statistics show that one in 10 teens had been or was currently involved in a relationship that was abusive," she said.
Bullying is also a problem on the increase, Wilson said. "Overall, statistics show that one in seven children is either a bully or has been the victim of a bully," she related. "And, many times, the students who are bullies are the result of maybe a domestic violence situation in the home."
Other grantees include:
- Associated Neighborhood Centers, $21,000, for its World of Work program, a teen work program designed to promote job and life skills training.
- Big Brothers/Big Sisters of the Mahoning Valley. The organization was awarded $2,000 for its site-based mentoring program.
- The Camelot Center, a $3,750 grant for 50 scholarships for the organization's therapeutic riding program.
- Compass Family and Community Services, $20,000, to support general operating costs for Daybreak Youth Crisis Shelter in Youngstown.
- Inspiring Minds, $10,000, to support the organization's summer enrichment program that promotes children in grades 3-8 with an opportunity to participate in sports, art, community service, literacy workshops and STEM disciplines.
- Neil Kennedy Recovery Clinic, $30,000, toward the Eagles program at Williamson Elementary School in Youngstown. The program helps students struggling with math, reading or discipline issues.
- Oh Wow! The Roger & Gloria Jones Children's Center for Science & Technology, $5,000. The grant would be used to support the center's science, technology, engineering and mathematics program for children in foster care.
Another round of funding for additional projects should come forward in the fall, Taylor added. "We try to do this a couple times a year."
Patricia Brozik, president of the Community Foundation of the Mahoning Valley, of which the Swanston Fund is a part, said that these grants are made possible because of the generous actions of philanthropists across the Mahoning Valley.
"We've had tremendous support," reflected Brozik, a founding member of the Community Foundation and who is retiring next week. The Swanston Fund, she noted, has had an "amazing" impact with many of its programs, specifically its Campbell Works for Children initiative in the Campbell City Schools.
The program included six different agencies with six different roles striving for the same goal, and that was to improve student test scores and early childhood accomplishments at Campbell Elementary School.
Copyright 2013 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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