In-person SchoolTime performances at the Aronoff Center and Artists on Tour classroom outreach performances bring the arts to 30,000 youth and supervising adults.  Subsidies expand arts access to underserved school-aged children throughout Greater Cincinnati by bringing artists into schools during the school day, after school, and by providing field trips to performances at the Aronoff Center. 

The program ensures year-round access to transportation, tickets, and classroom arts infusion for teachers, students, and families.  Arts integration professionals are trained in DEIA and trauma-informed care, fostering a positive, supportive, and empowering environment. The program provides equitable access to arts education, enriching the lives of students while supporting their academic and social development.

Grants made in February:

Big Brothers Big Sisters, $35,000.  Igniting Potential Through Site-based Mentorship is a program that connects mentors (Bigs) with over 300 at-risk youth (Littles) in a school setting.  Many mentors are upper class high school and college students.

Breakthrough Cincinnati, $30,000.   A five-week summer academic program in which 360 select inner-city middle school students are taught by 75 high school and college students interested in pursuing careers in education.  The year-round program features intensive one-on-one mentoring attention.  There is no charge to students accepted into the program.

Cincinnati Arts Association, $30,000.  See above.

Cincinnati Ballet, $30,000.  Cincy Dance! is a collaborative effort between the Ballet and local schools that provides free, long-term dance instruction to students in the community. The three-phase program starts with dance instruction to third graders and includes scholarships to a more intensive training program for those who excel.  

Cincinnati Public Radio:

• WGUC/Classics for Kids, $75,000. Classics for Kids is designed to introduce elementary schoolchildren to classical music in a fun way and features weekly radio programming and a comprehensive, interactive web site.

• WVXU/Democracy and Me, $75,000.  This program is an initiative to give young people a sense of their civic responsibility by providing teachers with tools and curriculum and students with concrete learning experiences. 

• Additional children’s programming support on both WGUC and WVXU includes announcements that promote the good work being done by other Dater grantees.  $25,000.

Cincinnati Therapeutic Riding and Horsemanship, $25,000.  .  A menu of Equine Assisted Services uses horses to promote mental wellness, emotional growth and physical improvement for young persons with a wide variety of disabilities.

HER Cincinnati (formerly Cincinnati Union Bethel), $30,000.   Scholar House is a transitional housing program for low income, single parent families.  While seeking a post-secondary degree or certification, parents know their children receive quality childcare and early childhood education.

Community Meal Center, $20,000.  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. 

East End Adult Education Center, $25,000.  Free GED education and job readiness skills instruction is available to young people and adults who have dropped out of school and need credentials to improve their opportunity for success in life.

Ohio River Foundation, $30,000.  River Explorer and the Mussels in the Classroom are hands-on programs that introduce about 8,000 students to the benefits of environmental stewardship.

Parachute Special Advocates, $35,000.  Community volunteers go through rigorous training to become Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASAs), and then advocate for foster children, ages birth to 18, who are often abused, neglected, abandoned, or lost in the child protective system.

Springer School and Center, $25,000.  Springer’s Diagnostics Center is a year-round community tutoring program for students with learning disabilities.  A financial aid fund helps provide tutoring for students in need of financial aid.

Stepping Stones, $30,000.  Saturday Kids Club provides extracurricular activities for children ages five to 16 whose disabilities prevent them from participating fully in typical after-school activities, and Saturday Young Adults offers late-afternoon and early evening social opportunities for similarly disabled young people.

Valley Interfaith Community Resource Center, $50,000.  Schoolchildren in the Upper Mill Creek Valley neighborhoods of Hamilton County benefit from new backpacks and supplies as they return to school and additional supplies and outreach throughout the school year.  Financial literacy workbooks and educational presentations are provided.

  

Xavier University, $30,000.  The summer service internship program fosters young people’s commitment to community service by placing 14 college students in full-time, eight-week internships at non-profit organizations.  Hundreds of community members benefit from the work they do.

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 3,800 grants totaling over $79 million since its inception in 1985.

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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.