Remember the excitement of that new backpack, new box of crayons or freshly sharpened pencils – especially on the first day of school? Over 90,000 St Louis area kids share that joy because of the efforts of KidSmart. Founded in 2002, KidSmart’s mission is to empower children in need to succeed in school by providing free essential tools for learning.
“Inclusion” is defined as the state of being included or being made a part of something. Thanks to One Classroom, children with physical or intellectual disabilities are now educated in the general classroom of many Catholic schools in the St. Louis area. Rather than being segregated from their age peers, students’ individualized needs are addressed in the classroom as they work toward their individual potential.
The mission of the Down Syndrome Association of Greater St. Louis is to serve, support and celebrate the lives of all individuals with Down syndrome and their families, through every stage of life. The pillar of the organization is family support from the moment that a family receives notice that their unborn child may have Down syndrome through the end of the loved one’s life – and even beyond.
St. Francis Community Services (SFCS), a ministry of Catholic Charities of St. Louis, received a YouthBridge YEP STL! grant the first time they applied. YEP STL!
Through a $120,000, two-year, Think Big for Kids grant from YouthBridge, Story Stitchers is creating a series of public service announcements (PSAs) to help change the stigma around mental health care and provide information on accessing it.
This spirit of unity and the voices of young people 60 years ago that echo today in the work of Cultural Leadership, a nonprofit dedicated to creating a more just community by training area youth to be the next generation of civil rights leaders. The organization is a 2023 recipient of a YouthBridge YEP STL! grant.
CFS has found strength in its endowment fund and relationship with YouthBridge, says Mitchell. Established in 2019, the fund is helping to drive some important initiatives and “we see it as an opportunity for our services to continue on for another 50 years,” she says.
YouthBridge announces four new recipients of the capacity building grant – developed to assist nonprofits in building, strengthening and sustaining their organizations.
It shouldn’t matter your zip code; all kids deserve to thrive. We are hoping to impact literacy numbers by drawing in kids through positive stories that represent them and spark a greater interest in reading.
To honor our mission of partnering with donors around the sustainability of nonprofits, YouthBridge awards two Heritage Grants each year to child and youth serving organizations that are regularly supported by our clients. Heritage Grants provide $75,000 in unrestricted support over three years. This month, we highlight 2021 Heritage Grant recipient, Annie’s Hope.
2020 was a pivotal year in a lot of ways. For the St. Louis Area Diaper Bank, it marked six years of serving the region, more than six million diapers distributed through 60 partner agencies, and the launch of a new initiative to expand resources for low-income women.
We honor our veterans this month and salute the organizations dedicated to helping them live productive and rewarding lives after service, such as FOCUS Marines Foundation. YouthBridge partner Wayne C. Kaufmann Foundation has faithfully funded FOCUS since 2016, helping the organization to continue its mission of serving our nation’s veterans in their transition to civilian life.
YouthBridge is committed to the sustainability of vital community services that build strong individuals and families. In this article, we highlight a 2020 recipient of our Nonprofit Recovery and Resilience grant, which has also received ongoing support through YouthBridge donor clients.
As the second deployment of our Nonprofit Recovery and Resiliency Fund, this summer we awarded 10 child-serving charitable organizations with weeklong training in building fundraising capacity. In this article, the Megan Meier Foundation shares how it gained a new perspective and approach to fundraising after attending the workshop.
“You’d be amazed at how well our volunteers can communicate with their students without yet speaking the same language,” says Julie Fox, Executive Director of Immigrant Home English Learning Program (IHELP), formerly the Immigrant and Refugee Women’s Program. “It’s about connecting on a primal level … More →
Time and again, the newborn nursery nurse at St. Anthony’s Medical Center in South St. Louis County (now Mercy South) would see newborns that had just been released from the hospital return to the emergency room with preventable injuries and illnesses.
Generate Health is leading the charge to improve outcomes in infant mortality and maternal health for black and brown families through a Home Visiting Collaborative.
Monthly Performance, August Quarterly Performance, Q2
Why should we have an endowment fund? Stability is the main reason to have an endowment. Many nonprofits only think about the current fiscal year or the next payroll. It is important to move away from that short term thinking as soon as possible and … More →