The MENTOR Network Announces Community Partner Grant Recipients
28 August 2013
The MENTOR Network Charitable Foundation has announced its Community Partners for the third quarter of 2013. The Community Partners program recognizes change agents within human services. They are non-profit organizations that are either delivering innovative care or developing new ideas and models for doing so. They also mirror The Network itself: creative, effective and focused on the highest quality standards.
Our Community Partners, including this quarter’s grant recipients, are results-oriented and leverage resources and knowledge to positively impact individuals and communities. They also transform society’s vision of, and approach to, its most vulnerable members.
Among the grant recipients for this quarter are the following Massachusetts-based organizations:
Best Buddies International, Inc.
Best Buddies creates opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities including employment and leadership development by pairing them with volunteers from the community with whom they can form meaningful and beneficial friendships. Best Buddies’ volunteer force spans the United States and 50 countries.
The Charitable Foundation grant will support Best Buddies chapters at high schools and middle schools throughout Massachusetts, funding four full-time Program Manager positions. The grant will also be applied toward operational and administrative costs such as volunteer training.
Camp Shriver
Camp Shriver offers a free summer sports camp for low-income children in the Boston area. Camp Shriver brings children with and without disabilities together in a fun, inclusive environment in which they can form positive friendships.
Funds from the Charitable Foundation grant will support camp programming, which in addition to its sports focus also includes transportation, arts and dance activities, healthy eating education as well as free and nutritious breakfast and lunch in summer.
MINDS Mental Illness & Neurological Disorders Foundation, Inc.
The MINDS Foundation seeks to eliminate stigma and social and economic barriers around mental illness in rural communities in India by providing educational, medical and other support for patients and forming collaborative partnerships in local communities.
The Foundation grant will enable the MINDS Foundation to hire a research assistant to develop a mental health education module for rural primary schools. Funds will also be used to develop training materials and train teachers.
Applications for the Community Partners program will be considered quarterly during the fiscal year beginning on October 1. Organizations are eligible to re-apply for funding every 12 months from the date of the initial grant. Successful re-submissions will demonstrate measurable progress and outcomes from the previous funding cycle.
Applications for next quarter’s Community Partners grants are due November 15, 2013. Click here to apply.