Bloc is a faith-based local non-profit that provides positive presence in urban Cincinnati, working one-to-one to break cycles of poverty and hopelessness. Working with west side Cincinnati’s at-risk students and adults, Bloc has built positive networks for personal growth over the last two decades. Its focus is on mentoring relationships, skills-building opportunities, and safe neighborhood spaces at its 15 Bloc centers recognized as respites away from the risks of urban streets.  

Grants made in September:

Arthritis Foundation, $20,000.  Kids Get Arthritis Too is a program that includes a JA Days, Fall Family Camp and the JA Power Pack filled with educational materials and other information about resources and support for children with arthritis and their parents.  

Assistance League of Greater Cincinnati, $75,000.  Operation School Bell is a back-to-school program that provides school clothes including uniforms, jackets, pants, shirts, underwear, socks and shoes along with hygiene supplies to about 4,000 children in need at 45 area public and parochial schools.  As during the last two years, items will be boxed and delivered to schools for distribution rather than using the pre-Covid distribution at the Assistance League.  

Bloc Ministries, $100,000.  Program support for at-risk urban youth in the Price Hill with a specific focus on the Youth Teaching Kitchen, Immigrant Welcome Center and Farm-2-Table garden program.

Butler Philharmonic, $20,000.  Take It To Youth is a two-pronged project: (1) to reach  to reach middle and high school students with mini-concerts and discussions, and (2) a two-day Spring Music Weekend offered at one school each year.

Children’s Theatre, $75,000.  The MainStage season features four productions and about 40 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 Art Museum, $50,000.  Family Learning at the Museum includes, the Rosenthal Education Center, Baby Tours, CAM Kids Day, Summer Camp, the 10x10 Teen Art Expo as well as Artist Workshops, Studio Classes, and Creative Reuse.

Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, $20,000.  The Community Engagement and Education Program includes partnerships with CET, MY Cincinnati, Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati Children’s, Ronald McDonald House, Joseph House, and Mindful Music Moments. 

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, $50,000 (second of five $50,000 grants 2021-2025).  The Hematology/Oncology Research Department’s Translational Core Laboratory is actively involved in moving cell and gene therapies into clinical trials.  The Foundation has made annual grants of $50,000 in this area since 2000.

 

Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, 50,000.  Education outreach tours will take three productions and present 100 performances at area elementary schools, impacting over 25,000 students in grades K through 6.  The focus is on schools that provide little or no access to the arts.  Anticipating a gradual return to normalcy, a fall production will be streamed live in school and winter and spring shows will be in-person in schools

Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, $35,000.  An in-school education program provides exposure to the works of Shakespeare and other classics through performances and workshops for about 40,000 students, including free programs at schools in underserved urban areas.  In-school and in-person programming is presumed, though virtual options would be an option if necessary.

Epilepsy Foundation, $20,000.  A free-of-charge counseling service for children and adolescents strives to identify specific problems that limit overall independence and teach coping and problem-solving skills.

Fernside: A Center for Grieving Children, $30,000.  School-based grief support counseling features on-site support for students experiencing the loss of a loved one, typically a parent or sibling, and the Crisis Program provides large scale intervention to an entire school, such as coping with the death another student.  Participation last year reached record highs.

Inner City Youth Opportunities, $20,000. A free, intensive after-school and summer academic intervention and youth development program helps about 60 inner-city children in kindergarten through Grade 6 develop life and social skills and improve their academic abilities.

Linton Chamber Music, $30,000.  Peanut Butter and Jam Sessions is a series of Saturday morning concerts that present chamber music to pre-schoolers and their parents at locations throughout the region.  The program also includes free Library & Community Concerts in inner-city neighborhoods, and an in-school programs in partnership with Cincinnati Preschool Promise,

Music Resource Center - Cincinnati, $20,000.   MRC is an after-school music and recording studio for teens in Grades 7-12.  Members pay a nominal $2 monthly fee and have access to music education, studio recording, radio broadcasting, leadership training and mentorship.

North Fairmount Community Center, $20,000.  The after-school program provides elementary school children from very low-income families with educational support , physical exercise, food, and emotional support, a sense of community and safety from the end of the school day until they have adult supervision at home.

ProKids, $50,000.  CASA University is a year-round recruitment, screening and training program for volunteers who serve as Court Appointed Special Advocates on behalf of abused and neglected children involved in child protection situations.

Ronald McDonald House Charities, $15,000. The Family Performance and Activities Program provides games, arts and crafts, shows and entertainment – many of them held in the Charles H. Dater Performance Theatre -- for guests at Ronald McDonald House.  This grant will provide performer stipends and cover a portion of administrative costs.

Taft Museum of Art, $50,000.  Educational programs for students, youth and families include school tours, Artists Reaching Classrooms, Third Sunday Funday, a Girl Scout program, and Summer Art Day Camp.  Activities typically impact more than 5,000 children and many programs take place in the Taft’s Dater Education Room, which was recently a part of the museum’s renovation for which the Dater Foundation provided funding.

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 3,400 grants totaling over $66 million since its inception in 1985.

#

For additional information regarding this news release, contact Roger Ruhl (513/598-1141).

The Charles H. Dater Foundation, Inc. is located at 700 Walnut Street, Suite 301, Cincinnati, OH 45202.