October 17, 2023 – The Community Foundation of Macon County announced its Impact100 grants totaling $150,000.
Nine local nonprofits have been selected to receive a total of $150,000 in grants from the Impact100 grant fund established at The Community Foundation of Macon County (CFMC). This year’s grants are focused on projects and programs that impact the greatest needs of Macon County’s arts/culture/recreation, social services, conservation/environment, health, and youth, nonprofit sectors.
“This year’s Impact100 grant recipients represent the variety of critical needs and forward thinking of our nonprofit sector,” says CFMC Chair of Discretionary Grants, Rachel Moran. “Some nonprofits are expanding programs or creating new ones, and some are doing what they can to keep their doors open. All are working to provide a better tomorrow for our community’s most vulnerable populations.”
Grant Award Winners:
$10,000 | God’s Shelter of Love – Safe Bed Nights Program
- General support for their 2 homeless shelters for women and children with a combined 24 beds. Last year they provided 5,000 safe bed nights for women and children in Macon County.
$12,000 | Pawprint Ministries – Next Level Training & Development
- In 10 years they have grown to 43 comfort dog teams and the demand for their services is high. This funding will support volunteer training and emotional support for the volunteers, as well as the development of a chaplain program to assist when the teams go to extremely difficult situations.
$15,000 | Decatur Family YMCA – Memory Keeper’s Chorus
- 1 in 9 people over the age of 65 are living with Alzheimer’s dementia. The Memory Keeper’s Chrous is an evidence-based music therapy activity that uses singing, dancing and playing of instruments to positively improve health and well-being in people living with dementia and provide a way for them to connect with their family. This program will serve at least 75 seniors and their families.
$15,000 | Decatur Cares Rescue Mission – Building Hope and Dignity
- Funding will address some structural critical needs and safety hazards in their facility, as well as create some opportunities for job training for those who are seeking shelter there and working to rebuild their lives.
$15,000 | Boys and Girls Club of Decatur – Healing Arts Program
- Creation and implementation of an 8-month visual arts program for at risk youth in our community. Funding will allow them to hire a local instructor to come in and work with the youth on art projects, as well as support for field trips in and outside of Macon County.
$16,000 | Empowerment Opportunity Center | Empower Pantry
- Funding supports the Empower Pantry which is a personal essentials pantry that stocks personal hygiene and household products necessary for daily living. In their application they spoke to the Community Needs Assessment and found that they are the only ones offering this important service in Macon County. The items in the empower pantry are items that are not eligible for purchase with SNAP benefits. They serve several thousand in our community.
$19,000 | Children’s Museum of Illinois | Outreach Program
- Funding will support the purchase of a used van for their Mobile Museum so they can attend more community events and get the museum out into the community for those who have a barrier preventing them from attending the museum, as well as provide free museum field trips for 700+ DPS kindergarten students.
$23,000 | Greater St. Louis Area Council Scouting | Mobile STEM Lab
- Funding will support the creation of a mobile STEM lab to serve youth in Macon County. Currently, they have to reserve a STEM van from the St. Louis Council when they want to use it, and this will allow them to have one just for Macon County making it more accessible to the community. They have partnered with DPS and the Children’s Museum of Illinois to administer STEM programming, and they have found it’s been really successful in engaging students as well as showing them opportunities they can have for future careers here in Macon County.
$25,000 | The Good Samaritan Inn | Sack Lunch Program
- The sack lunch program is an extension of the noon meal program, and funding will support the growing need to provide more meals and off-set rising food and labor costs. This program provides a to-go meal for anyone who is a low-income worker, partner organizations that need to feed clients who are displaced, sick, or lack transportation, families that find it overwhelming to bring their families to the dining room, and anytime their power is out for any reason they still have the option to serve.
Rachel Moran and Dr. Dana Ray of the Community Foundation joined Byers & Co to announce the recipients. Listen to the podcast now!
