Published Date: August 8, 2019
Dater Foundation Awards 22 Grants in July
Cincinnati, Ohio, August 12, 2019 – The Charles H. Dater Foundation awarded 22 grants totaling $585,000 in July, including a $50,000 award to Bethany House Services for its Brighter Futures for Homeless Children program.
Bethany House provides services for homeless and at-risk families, from prevention through emergency shelter services, re-housing and housing stabilization. Homelessness is traumatic, especially for children and teens. Last year, over 800 homeless kids and 300 families were helped.
Bethany’s program is comprehensive. Infants and toddlers are entered into high-quality child care, so moms are free to find jobs and housing. All school-aged kids in shelter are enrolled and transportation is arranged so they can attend school daily. Kidz Zone groups help kids cope with their anger and resentment through group sessions fostering self-confidence, building resilience, reinforcing family bonds, and building a sense of security. Excursions into the community expand horizons, promote development of goals, and teach social skills. Evaluations of programs and field trips demonstrate dramatic changes in the kids’ attitudes and plans for their futures, which often include post-high school education and careers.
Grants made in July:
American Diabetes Association, $20,000. Camp Korelitz is a one-week summer residential camp for children ages 8 to 15 at Camp Joy. Besides enjoying tradition summer camp activities, campers are taught self-management skills and they learn to be more independent as they build confidence in dealing with their disease.
Art Academy of Cincinnati, $20,000. AAC’s Artist & Writer in Residence Program provides quality instruction in the visual and literary arts to youth in grades 7-12, 74% of whom are economically disadvantaged.
ArtWorks, $30,000. The Youth Apprentice Employment Program employs about 150 young artists ages 14-21 from over 60 neighborhoods who work alongside professional artists to produce about 25 arts-related projects around Greater Cincinnati.
Bethany House Services, $50,000. The Brighter Futures for Homeless Children program supports young people through the trauma of homelessness, teaches them how to behave in social settings, and exposes them to activities and ideas beyond their usual experiences.
Cancer Family Care, $25,000. Treehouse Children's Services is a core program offered free for youth ages four through 18 who are coping with their own diagnosis, a loved one’s cancer diagnosis or the death of a loved one from cancer.
Children’s Theatre, $50,000. The 2019-20 MainStage season features four productions and 60 performances that will be seen by an expected 100,000 students, children and families at the Taft Theatre. Students from low income families attend weekday school performances free or at a nominal charge.
Cincinnati Nature Center, $30,000. A robust school program serves 6,000 K-6 students annually and with a variety of programs designed to spark a passion for nature and the environment.
Cincinnati Works, $25,000. The Job Readiness program assists about 500 at risk young adults in identifying their strengths and skills, and then moving forward with specific goals and strategies toward employment and economic self-sufficiency.
City Gospel Mission, $25,000. Whiz Kids is a one-on-one, volunteer-based tutoring and mentoring after-school program at 53 locations that impacts about 1,000 children ages 6-14 who are academically at-risk due to disabilities, poverty, homelessness and other barriers to success. The volunteer tutor is paired with the same child year round.
Clovernook Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired, $25,000. The Youth Adaptive Sports Program promotes fitness and muscular endurance to visually impaired young people who are often sedentary and prone to obesity and low self-esteem.
Community Meal Center, $15,000. Hot, homemade evening meals are served on Fridays and the last Monday of each month at two Hamilton churches to homeless and low-income individuals and families. Food is served to guests at their table and seconds are encouraged.
Crayons to Computers, $30,000. The Crayons for Kids Fund allows the organization to purchase needed core products with a particular emphasis of helping early learners at underserved schools.
DePaul Cristo Rey High School, $30,000. The College Success Program’s All in @10 initiative will provide students with College Board testing preparation and at least 10 college experiences each school year.
Gateway Community and Technical College Foundation Inc., $20,000. The Childcare Program is provided free to students at the Edgewood campus, helping remove one of the major barriers to academic success for Gateway students and providing high quality learning sessions for their children.
iSPACE, $25,000. Subsidies for program fees and transportation enable underserved students in the urban core to access extra-curricular space-themed and other STEM programs designed to engage and excite participants.
Karen Carns Foundation, $25,000. Coats for Kids provides more than 1,300 winter coats, hats and gloves to young people in need while strengthening the bond between teachers and the students they have nominated to receive a coat.
Kennedy Heights Arts Center, $20,000. Teen Artists for Change empowers young people to use their creativity as a vehicle for self-expression and become agents of change. Mentored by professionals, the teens develop their media-making skills to develop stories they want to share through an online magazine.
LifeCenter, $15,000. The Celebrate Life Calendar 2020 is a publication distributed strategically in the community to raise awareness levels about the organ donation network by sharing the stories of donor families and recipients.
Literacy Network of Greater Cincinnati, $25,000. The Children’s Basic Reading Program uses the Orton-Gillingham multi-sensory structured language technique to provide assistance to children in kindergarten through grade five who have severe reading difficulties or symptoms of dyslexia.
New Life Furniture Bank, $25,000. Beds for Kids is part of a program that provides up to 18 pieces of donated, gently-used furniture at no cost for low income families living in bare or sparsely furnished housing. When donated beds are not available, the organization purchases them.
St. Vincent de Paul - Cincinnati, $25,000. As volunteers make home visits to families in need, over 1,000 beds will be provided to children who are sleeping on the floor. This grant will fund about 200 beds for children.
Sweet Cheeks Diaper Bank, $30,000. Mindful that diaper need can be more stressful than food insecurity, a largely volunteer organization works to raise funds and leverage in-kind support to provide diapers for low income families who cannot afford one of life’s most basic needs. More than 750,000 diapers were distributed in 2018.
The Dater Foundation makes grants to non-profit organizations in the Greater Cincinnati area to carry out programs that benefit young people and focus in the areas of arts/culture, education, healthcare, social services and other community needs. Information about the grantmaking process and guidelines and links to an online grant application website are available at www.DaterFoundation.org.
The private foundation was established by fourth-generation Cincinnatian, businessman and philanthropist Charles Dater (1912-1993) to ensure that his resources would continue to fund worthwhile community programs after his death. The foundation has made more than 3,100 grants totaling over $50 million since its inception in 1985.
