BASIC NEEDS
Building Renovation Repair Beautification Project: Good Samaritan Home – $30,000
In 2015, the 72 year old Good Samaritan Home received much needed improvements to its 18,800 square foot facility, which housed low income veterans, seniors, and men and women with disabilities — people who otherwise might not have a place to live. The home was seriously in need of repairs generally, especially replacement of badly worn flooring in the main traffic areas.
Safety Net for Hungry Children in Boise Schools: Feed the Gap – $30,000
To close the food gap for 8,000 children who would otherwise go hungry because of their parents’ financial instability, the Boise School District used grant funds to identify and feed children for three years. Support went to schools that did not qualify for federal assistance. The three-year program helped children be ready to learn and protect them from being turned away in their cafeteria.
CULTURAL ARTS
Write from the Heart: Cancer Connection Idaho – $20,000
This grant helped transform a therapeutic outlet for teens into an annual program. It celebrated teens, raised awareness of their emotional needs as they underwent cancer related challenges, and brought catharsis and healing through the act of writing. In 2016, a booklet containing the teens’ winning essays and work by mentors was published.
EDUCATION
Life Skills and Employability Training Project: Life’s Kitchen – $ 30,000
Building Life’s Kitchen’s success, grant monies funded trainees for three years. They learned skills to live as independent young adults and job skills to secure and maintain employment. Program participants also completed their high school diploma equivalent, earned professional food industry certification, and were mentored to improve their sense of self-worth and ability to set and accomplish life goals.
ENVIRONMENT
Council Rural Environmental Stewardship Team (CREST): Council School District – $23,500
Funds brought together Council’s school, community, and community to create a sustainable, environmentally friendly park and pond. As 240 students applied inquiry based learning to real watershed problems, they gained job skills, received training in job application, and made contacts with forest industry employers. In this financially depressed area, CREST’s work benefitted both locals and visitors for many years.
HEALTH
Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Initiative: Idaho Children’s Trust Fund – $30,000
During this three-year project, funds supported a coordinator and paid for workbooks for training 5 percent of Treasure Valley adults (~22,500 people) on how to prevent sexual abuse, using the research based curriculum “Stewards of Children.” Research has shown that reaching this number is the tipping point for changing behavior, which must be done to address the most prevalent health problem children face.
In 2015, IWCF invested nearly $164,000
in communities across southwest Idaho