Newport County Fund announces 2011 small grant award recipients

Brother Michael Reis of Tides Family Service, Former State Senator and NCF Advisory Committee Member June Gibbs, and Foundation President & CEO Neil Steinberg at the June 23, 2011 grant announcement.

The Newport County Fund (NCF), through its small grants program, has awarded $110,144 to 16 local nonprofit organizations. The program supports organizations that have proposed projects where a relatively small amount of money can be of strategic assistance. The NCF grants will help these 16 Newport County-based nonprofits develop, strengthen, and expand new and existing community programs that are addressing issues of importance to local residents.

NCF was established as a permanent endowment of The Rhode Island Foundation in 2002 to benefit the communities of Newport County – Jamestown, Little Compton, Middletown, Newport, Portsmouth, and Tiverton. Guided by a volunteer advisory committee of Newport County residents, the NCF is the first Foundation-established fund with a geographic focus. NCF grants serve to supplement, not replace, The Rhode Island Foundation’s statewide grantmaking programs. Since 2002, the NCF alone has granted more than $2 million to Newport County nonprofit organizations.

“The Newport County Fund continues to make strategic investments in local nonprofits working to address urgent community issues. The small grants program has been tremendously successful as evidenced by the quality and volume of applications. We’ve seen some fantastic results from these grants and I applaud these 16 nonprofits for their efforts to do so much for the people of Newport County with a little bit of help from the Newport County Fund,” said Neil D. Steinberg, president and CEO of The Rhode Island Foundation.

Last year, the Women’s Resource Center in Newport received a $7,890 grant to implement a strategic plan to combat bullying and harassment in schools. The program’s unique approach focuses on “character development”– teaching kids that they are all valued members of a community and have a responsibility to preserve the values of their community. Launched at Gaudet Middle School, youth leaders, teachers, and community stakeholders were trained and engaged to initiate their own ideas and models to advance a cultural shift within the school, one in which everyone would be invested.

“As a 2010 recipient of a Newport County Fund small grant, we were able to make a strategic plan a reality, one that is working to prevent the tragic results of bullying. Because all participants helped develop the models, they have a stake in the program. We’ve seen great results to date so this year we applied for another small grant to build on this momentum. The support of the Newport County Fund is critical as we work to build a solid program that can translate to elementary schools where there is additional need,” said Jessica Walsh, director of prevention at the Women’s Resource Center.


2011 NCF small grant recipients are:

Common Fence Music - $10,000 (Newport County)
Connecting the Beats: Bringing African and Afro-Caribbean Music to the Youth of Newport County is a collaboration between six youth-serving agencies and schools in Newport County to expand youth access and exposure to roots music traditions through performances and workshops. Grant support will fund costs for the program's design and administration, for promotional costs, and for performers' fees.

Island Moving Company - $9,000 (Newport and Portsmouth)
Island Moving Company will deepen its relationship with two of the 13 elementary schools in Newport County by tying community-themed creative movement programs to anti-bullying efforts at the schools. Through this pilot program, students in Newport and Portsmouth will have an opportunity to use the discipline, creativity, and self-expression of dance to explore issues of community and behavior.

Jamestown Community Chorus - $1,669 (Jamestown)
This grant will provide partial support for performers' fees to add orchestral accompaniment to the rehearsals and public performances of the Jamestown Community Chorus December concert program.

Jamestown Community Chorus as fiscal agent for Jamestown community Piano Association - $1,665 (Jamestown)
This grant will support the 2011-2012 Jamestown Community Piano Association Concert Series.

Newport Historical Society - $10,000 (Newport)
This grant will provide partial funding for staff needed to complete the first phase the Newport Historical Society's Collections Records Survey Project and to create a searchable online collections database.

Jamestown Education Foundation - $2,160 (Jamestown)
This grant will support the expansion of an after school music instruction program for strings for K-5 students in Jamestown.

Norman Bird Sanctuary - $10,000 (Newport County)
The grant for the Good Gardens Initiative will provide staffing support and supplies to develop a community-based environmental education program centered on gardening. The project will expand garden areas at the Sanctuary and in the community as both growing and teaching spaces. Programs will educate both children and adults about the value of organic gardens and adopting sustainable gardening practices.

Guests listen to the announcement of NCF’s 2011 small grant recipients.

Save The Bay - $6,620 (all Newport elementary schools)
With grant support to cover program costs and transportation, Save The Bay will be able to expand their Bay Partners program to all Newport elementary schools beginning with one elementary grade level district-wide. All students will receive the same curriculum-based science enrichment and will participate in multiple, progressive programs that connect directly to the science curriculum in their classrooms. This comprehensive program model aligns with Newport's science curriculum, Rhode Island Grade Span and Grade Level Expectations, as well as Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines.

Tides Family Services -$4,000 (Newport County)
Tides Family Services aims to be the premier provider of a continuum of wrap-around, non-residential services to high-risk youth in Rhode Island. Tides recently opened a storefront in Middletown to provide "virtual learning" (computer-based) curricula in language arts, math, and science--with intensive, one-on-one tutorial support--to ensure that very high-risk youth re-enter the educational process and set clear goals toward high school graduation or GED completion. The self-paced virtual learning program is tailored to meet the needs of these students with the goal of raising their levels of educational success and the attainment of high school or equivalency diplomas. With grant funds, Tides Family Services will purchase computers for the program.

Nature Conservancy - $10,000 (Little Compton)
Grant support will assist in funding a part-time volunteer coordinator to help establish the Friends of the Dundery Brook Greenway Trail. The Friends group will help to build, maintain, and steward this environmental resource for educational use and enjoyment of the community. A Friends group is a cost effective strategy for preserve management and an important way to engage Little Compton residents to become conservation ambassadors in their community.

East Bay Community Action Program - $7,070 (Newport County)
The Mission of East Bay Community Action (EBCAP) is to provide high quality, comprehensive, and accessible health and human services to assist people to achieve their fullest potential. With grant funds, EBCAP will purchase supplies for the Newport County Community Based Oral Health Programs for care ranging from pediatric preventative oral health dentistry services to geriatric dental care provided in nursing homes.

Visiting Nurse Services of Newport & Bristol Counties - $3,500 (Newport County)
Caring for the caregivers is an important part of a community health program. This grant will support the mental health needs of home and hospice care staff and VNS administration and provide professional training in elder emotional and mental health issues to VNS staff, community providers, and family caregivers.

Best Buddies RI - $7,500 (Aquidneck Island)
Best Buddies creates opportunities for one-on-one friendships, integrated employment, and leadership development for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). This project will enhance educational, recreational, and social opportunities for students with IDD by providing quality afterschool programming that promotes socialization and inclusion within the following schools in Newport County: Gaudet and Portsmouth Middle Schools, Middletown and Rogers High Schools, and Salve Regina University.

Newport County Community Mental Health Center - $8,500 (Newport County)
The mission of Newport County Community Mental Health Center, Inc. (NCCMHC) is to provide quality, comprehensive, professional mental health services to individuals, families, and the community in accordance with regulatory, licensing and ethical standards and in a manner that is culturally sensitive and competent. With grant funds, NCCMHC will expand its development and grant writing capacity by retaining the services of a consultant who will assist with program evaluation and obtaining new resources to improve and develop behavioral health services relative to trauma for the children and their families of Newport County.

Leland Merrill, Jr., senior vice president, BankNewport and NCF Advisory Committee, listens to grant recipients Peter Milinazzo, executive director, YMCA,  and Pam Pomfret, associate director of philanthropy, The Nature Conservancy, discuss the impact that the small grants will have on their organizations and within Newport County.

Women’s Resource Center of Newport - $8,460 (Middletown)
The Character Development Initiative is a bullying education and prevention program operating at the Gaudet Middle School. Grant support will help to expand program outreach to parents and community-based youth organizations and to introduce the Initiative to elementary schools in Middletown.

YMCA of Newport County – $10,000 (Newport County)
The Newport County YMCA aims to significantly improve and positively influence the quality of life and social well being of its members. Emphasis is placed on the whole person through the programs and activities that help develop spiritual, mental, and physical well-being. The Newport County YMCA currently offers, for a fee, Adapted Physical Activity programming to adults with intellectual disabilities (ID). This grant will enable the YMCA to expand APA programming to adults with ID who cannot afford to enroll in the Y’s fee-based fitness classes. More than 100 adults with ID will benefit by increasing their fitness level along with opportunities to socialize in a community setting.