Year 3

May, 2010 - $3605 Jennifer Rhoad championed The Center which offers professional mental health counseling services to our community. They are a United Way agency. The funding will be used for their Resource Center in outreach educational lectures on topics such as depression, dementia, dealing with chronic pain, and how children deal with loss and grief. This outreach is partially funded by the United Way and with our donation they will be able to fully fund the project.

August, 2010 - $3660 St. Joseph Youth Alliance presented by Fran Brothers received funding at our August 9^th meeting. This organization will use the funds to help pay for photo IDs for children, birth certificates, bus fares for transportation, children's books for partnering with Parents as Educators and Head Start, abuse counseling, teaching parenting skills, among other things. Their goal is to improve the lives of children and parents in Buchanan County. They serviced about 108 children and nearly 200 adults this past year.

November, 2010 - $3730 YWCA JUMP Program championed by Jean Brown received funding to be used for incentives such as diapers, wipes, a crib, sippy cups, and emergency aid to young mothers for the purpose of encouraging good mothering techniques and keeping these mothers in school to finish their education. JUMP stands for Journey to Unite Mentors and Parents and matches up adult mentors with pregnant and parenting teens. JUMP is a partnership between the YWCA, Youth Alliance and Heartland Health. JUMP provides education and support to teen parents by providing mentors, monthly group education meetings, home visits, and school visits.

We met for the first time at the St. Joseph Public Library East Hills Theater Room.

February 2011 - Social Welfare Board – Home Unit is the recipient of our Valentine’s Day donation. Linda Judah told us how the Home Unit works to stabilize the lives of those who are homeless. She told about a young woman who was homeless for a couple years due to her struggle to get on medication and be able to afford it to treat her depression and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Once she was diagnosed and seen monthly at the Social Welfare Board and they were able to get her on a steady medication regiment she was able to enroll in college and now is on her way to self sufficiency. Linda told of another client who was released from prison without any form of ID. The Home Unit was able to secure a birth certificate for this individual and he returned one day with the money to pay for this ID as a way of paying forward to help someone else in his situation. The money we donate will help to pay for a tent for someone newly homeless, gas money, bus passes, forms of ID, medications, and the like.