National Honors Program Media Materials
THE ANNIE E. CASEY FOUNDATION AWARDS $500,000 UNRESTRICTED GRANTS TO FOUR NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS
Innovators in Strengthening Families and Communities Recognized During National Family Week, November 19 – 25, 2006
BALTIMORE – November 20 – The Annie E. Casey Foundation announced today that it has recognized four innovative, family-strengthening organizations through its FAMILIES COUNT: THE NATIONAL HONORS PROGRAM.
Each organization – ECD/HOPE (Enterprise Corporation of the Delta/Hope Community Credit Union) in Jackson, MS; Family Service Association of San Antonio, Inc. in San Antonio, TX; Mary’s Center for Maternal and Child Care in Washington, DC; and Southern Good Faith Fund in Pine Bluff, AR – receives an award of $500,000. The honorees can use the unrestricted awards in whatever way will best support their goals.
“These organizations deserve our recognition and accolades for putting families on solid ground and giving them the tools to build bright futures,” said Douglas W. Nelson, president of the Casey Foundation. “No matter where the honorees reach families – from immigrants coming to our nation’s capital to parents needing a leg up in the Delta region – they have the ingredients to help them succeed: financial and parenting education; health care solutions; and economic, social and career-building opportunities.”
FAMILIES COUNT honorees embrace a simple but powerful principle: Children do well when their families do well, and families do better when they live in supportive communities. Their leaders, staff and volunteers combine creativity with determination and passion with practicality. The honorees help families build assets and pursue their aspirations for themselves and their children, and they offer vivid examples of effective strategies for policy-makers and practitioners.
The 2007 honorees bring the total number of organizations recognized to 50 since the program began in 2000. Each organization serves families and communities in a different way:
ECD/HOPE (Enterprise Corporation of the Delta/Hope Community Credit Union), Jackson, MS, has developed more than $300 million in financing and provided a wide array of financial supports to low-income families and communities in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee. ECD/HOPE focuses on creating the community conditions that support family success over the long haul, while serving families directly through financial services and education. Partnerships with public, private and nonprofit organizations enable ECD/HOPE to develop affordable housing, stimulate entrepreneurship and bring jobs into neighborhoods.
Family Service Association of San Antonio, Inc., San Antonio, TX, strengthens 50,000 vulnerable families each year through programs across 14 service areas, easily accessible at six neighborhood centers and 38 schools. Family Service’s newest center, The Neighborhood Place, on the city’s Westside has become a hub for a striking array of programs that parents can immediately put to use – services that range from counseling, parenting classes and substance abuse prevention to education, employment opportunities and child care. Family Service also links these families to each other and to other community resources that support their long-term success.
Mary’s Center for Maternal and Child Care, Washington, DC, specializes in meeting the needs of immigrant and under-served families in and around the nation’s capital. Its health center reaches beyond clinical needs to provide parents and children with an array of supports and services, beginning with preventive health care and extending to home visitation services, case management, family literacy and education, adolescent supports and a home-based child care licensing program that enables mothers to start their own businesses.
Southern Good Faith Fund (SGFF), Pine Bluff, AR, has helped thousands of families develop the skills and economic foundation to move their families forward. SGFF works with families to build assets and helps entrepreneurial parents launch or expand their businesses. It works with employers and community colleges through the Career Pathways program to support parents in advancing to successively better jobs. SGFF also advocates for public policies that will support families throughout the region.
The Casey Foundation recognizes FAMILIES COUNT honorees during National Family Week, November 19 to 25, 2006, to emphasize the important role organizations play in strengthening families and communities.
“These organizations inspire us with their determination to ensure all families can succeed in the economy, in their communities and with their children,” said Ralph Smith, senior vice president of the Casey Foundation. “Our continuing challenge as a nation is less about know-how than it is about will – the willingness to care enough and do enough so that all families can realize their dreams for their children.”
The Annie E. Casey Foundation is a private, charitable organization dedicated to helping build better futures for disadvantaged children and families in the United States. The Foundation was established in 1948 by Jim Casey, one of the founders of UPS, and his siblings, who named the Foundation in honor of their mother.
Contact:
Betsy Parkins
(215) 747-7700 ext. 214
Steege/Thomson Communications
E-mail: bparkins@steegethomson.com
or
Marci Bransdorf
(410) 223-2852
The Annie E. Casey Foundation
E-mail: mbransdorf@aecf.org
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