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Bank grants benefit abused children, adult work force
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Related Topics: BALTIMORE
BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Sexually abused children will receive therapy and workers will avoid cracking under pressure, thanks to grants a new bank awarded this week.
“It was a wonderful surprise,” said Connie Sgarlata, director of Family and Children’s Services of Central Maryland, which counsels sexually abused children, adult survivors and victims of domestic violence.
“We haven’t decided yet how we will use it, but our clients often need transportation assistance, and with gas prices so high, we could use some help,” she said.
As grants from state and federal governments decrease or plateau, nonprofits often turn to private grants to supplement their incomes.
“We struggle a lot for funding, because it’s more [organizations] competing for fewer dollars,” said Suzanne Savage, clinical supervisor for Family and Children’s Services.
Community Banks, which recently merged with Bucs Federal Bank, presented grants this week worth $1,000 each to Family and Children’s Services, United Way and Wellness Employee Service Transfer Inc., an agency that aims to keep the work force healthy and off welfare.
“This keeps the doors open for a few months,” said Amy Scott, a WEST volunteer.
“Workplace wellness builds the economy,” said Esther Davis, founder of WEST, which began in Towson and Baltimore City seven years ago to help workers struggling with depression, anxiety, substance abuse and ill family members obtain or retain their jobs.
WEST’s grant could pay for visits to high schools for student job training, for businesses to teach employers how to destress their employees or to aid non-college-bound teens in their quest to find employment.
With Maryland spending $35,000 a year on each child in its care, “we save the state a lot of money” by helping young adults land jobs, Davis said.
Herbert Moltzan, who became regional president of Community Banks after it merged with Bucs Federal Bank, said banks strive to be corporate citizens.
“Banks, especially community banks, are the cornerstone of the financial area, so it just stands to reason that we would give back,” he said.
kvolkmann@baltimoreexaminer.com
Comments from Examiner Readers
8:06 PM MST on Wed., Jun. 13, 2007 re: "Stiller urges common sense, better assessment on grantmakers"
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Examiner Reader said:
Running a small to medium size non profit organization is potentially more difficult than operating a small to medium profit business.To have the support, investment, and understanding of what it takes to walk in our shoes from major foundations helps sustain non profit execs and boards.It is not easy cobbling together multiple funding streams, finishing the year in the black, reporting out both financial results and program outcomes, supporting a staff and board, and delivering effective front line services to clients, students, etc. Assessment data and outcome measurements are critical to proving that a program or organization has the ability to operate at optimal levels. Adult literacy has received one of the highest rankings (effective) from the federal OMB because of a system of focused and measureable assessments & outcomes. Adult literacy state grantees have, because of proven results, been deemed as a good investment in education. Providers are efficient in delivering outcomes.
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