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THE ANNIE E. CASEY FOUNDATION AWARDS $500,000 UNRESTRICTED GRANTS TO THREE NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONSInnovators of Family and Community Strengthening Activities to be Recognized During National Family Week (Nov. 20 - 26)
BALTIMORE—NOVEMBER 21, 2005—The Annie E. Casey Foundation announced today that three organizations are being recognized as innovators that strengthen families and children through FAMILIES COUNT: THE NATIONAL HONORS PROGRAM.
Each organization – Atlantic Street Center in Seattle, WA, Grace Hill Settlement House in St. Louis, MO, and Georgia Justice Center in Atlanta, GA – receives an award of $500,000. The monetary awards are especially valuable because they are unrestricted so that honorees can use them in whatever way will best support their goals.
“We will change the future of our most at-risk children only when we change the present for their parents,” said Douglas W. Nelson, president of the Casey Foundation. “The FAMILIES COUNT honorees show how much can be achieved by connecting low-income families to the opportunities and supports they need to succeed.”
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 2006 honorees bring the total number of organizations recognized to 46 since the program began in 2000. Each one serves families and communities in a different way:
Atlantic Street Center, Seattle, WA, helps low-income families strengthen their roles as parents, wage earners, and engaged community members through a wealth of programs and services, ranging from parent support groups and child care to citizenship classes for immigrant and refugee families. ASC develops programs such as Grandparents and Kinship Care in Action, a support group for caregivers raising the children of relatives, as new needs arise in the community.
Georgia Justice Project, Atlanta, GA, couples pro bono legal counsel with social services and jobs in its landscaping company to help formerly incarcerated clients put their lives and their families on the right track for the long term. As a result of this holistic approach, GJP's recidivism rate for its clients is one-third the national average. Its legal services have also helped families restore housing vouchers that were revoked due to minor criminal offenses.
Grace Hill Settlement House, St. Louis, MO, lives by the credo, “neighbors helping neighbors,” in its efforts to strengthen families and communities. Its innovative Member Organized Resource Exchange (MORE) engages community members in designing courses for their own Neighborhood College, a training program that helps neighbors realize their potential and build their confidence to assume roles as leaders. As part of the MORE program, families can also use "time dollars" to barter for services, purchase health care at a Grace Hill Health Center, or redeem for household items at a MORE store.
By recognizing FAMILIES COUNT honorees during National Family Week (November 20-26), the Casey Foundation also honors the many other organizations working in their communities to strengthen families.
“The honorees remind us that people already at work in communities throughout the country know a great deal about what families need,” 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. It was established in 1948 by Jim Casey, one of the founders of United Parcel Service, and his siblings, who named the Foundation in honor of their mother.
For full program description and photographs, please go to: www.aecf.org/familiescount/2006.
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