GREAT GRANTS

The Community Foundation Serves as the Incubator for The Greater Reading Leadership Alliance

The Community Foundation established the Greater Reading Leadership Alliance in June 2003 to capture the talent of Berks County's “new leaders,” successful people who in the past would have been drawn from large corporations but who today are more likely to work in small, entrepreneurial businesses.

The Community Foundation is serving as an incubator for the networking group of more than 100 professionals ages 30 to 50 who have the potential and desire to offer the next generation of community leadership to the county.

As a testament to the important role this group can play in our community, Governor Ed Rendell asked to speak to the group at its kick-off event last June. Our hope is that these opportunities will help forge connections that ultimately increase civic involvement and provide business growth in the county.

The Bridge Fund Helps Families Stay Together and Keeps Kids Out of Court

Family and juvenile court judges are learning that a little can go a long way to keep a kid out of the legal system. In some cases a few hundred bucks is all it takes to keep a family together and save the county thousands of dollars.

That's the concept behind The Bridge Fund, established late last year by the Berks County Bar Foundation and Berks County Community Foundation to make small grants that meet immediate, critical needs for at-risk families.

Grants from The Bridge Fund are recommended by social workers or agents of the court system and are approved by a judge on a case-by-case basis. The fund is not meant to provide continual support, but rather to "bridge" a gap in service and keep a child out of the legal system.

Keeping Families Together

In February, a single father was worried about losing his three-, four- and six-year-old daughters to foster care. Each night, he dropped the girls off at the Second Street Learning Center while he worked full-time on the graveyard shift. While he could pay for their overnight care, he couldn't afford the extra payments that would allow the girls to stay at the center until noon so he could sleep.

The father applied for assistance through the Berks County Intermediate Unit (BCIU), but the waiting list for funding was up to three months long. His social worker sent a letter to Judge Arthur E. Grim asking for help from The Bridge Fund to pay for childcare until BCIU funding came through. Judge Grim approved a $300 grant, providing five weeks of childcare and allowing the girls to stay together with their father.

Another family had a 16-year-old daughter who was out of control. They sent her to a specialized treatment center where she was diagnosed with bi-polar disorder. With medication, the girl could control her violent, aggressive and defiant behavior. When the girl came home from treatment, however, her family's health insurance would not immediately approve payment for her medication.

The family's social worker requested that The Bridge Fund provide a $50 grant to the local pharmacy to pay for one week's worth of medication until the health insurance would approve and pay for her medicine. For $50, the girl stayed on her medication and reduced the risk of a relapse that could have landed her back in the court system.

The Bridge Fund has also helped several families stay together this winter after they exhausted all other funding and programs for free or low-cost heating oil. In most cases, the families were again eligible for free oil after a waiting period. The Bridge Fund provided oil during the waiting period, allowing the children to remain in their parents' care because their homes had heat.

How The Bridge Fund Works

The Bridge Fund makes mini-grants of less than $500 to meet critical needs for children or those responsible for their care who are under the jurisdiction of Berks County judges. Grants are requested in writing by a judge, probation officer, or an agent from children-and-youth, mental-health, legal or domestic-relations services, and mailed to Judge Grim, or to the family or juvenile court judge directly involved. The judge evaluates the request, and if appropriate, signs off and faxes a recommendation to Berks County Community Foundation. The Community Foundation reviews the request and, if approved, processes the grant and sends a check to the provider of the service.

How You Can Help

The Bridge Fund was established with donations from the Berks County Bar Foundation and Berks County Community Foundation. Anyone can make a tax-deductible donation to the Bridge Fund by mailing a check to The Bridge Fund at Berks County Community Foundation, PO Box 212, Reading, PA 19603-0212. Donations can be made online by clicking here.

Sustainable Energy Fund Makes Low-Interest Loan to Birdsboro Alloy

Birdsboro Alloying Inc. (BAI), the only minority-owned secondary lead smelter in the United States, recently received a low-interest loan of $500,000 from the Metropolitan Edison Company Sustainable Energy Fund of Berks County Community Foundation to purchase a state-of-the-art induction furnace.

The Sustainable Energy Fund makes grants and low-interest loans to support projects that promote energy conservation and efficiency. Click here to learn more about the fund.

BAI, which is located in the former Birdsboro Steel facility, received the loan because the new furnace will be used to recycle aluminum and will recover more metal per pound than other types of furnaces used to melt lightweight aluminum scrap. The Environmental Protection Agency has found that far less energy is required to manufacture products from recycled metals than from virgin metals.

BAI will create 50 jobs for area residents when the company reaches full production.

Job Quest Helps Chronically Unemployed Get and Keep Jobs

Last year, Berks County Community Foundation made a grant from its undesignated funds to the Reading-Berks Emergency Shelter to launch Job Quest, a program that teaches chronically unemployed individuals the skills they need to get and keep a job. This month, thanks to efforts by Congressman Tim Holden, the US Dept of Labor, Employment and Training Administration approved a $723,000 grant to keep the successful program going.

Job Quest is modeled after a nationally proven program called STRIVE, which is a three-week intensive training course focused on attitudinal change. The graduates of the original program in Harlem have more than an 80% job retention rate after two years.

Participants learn the soft skills needed to find entry-level employment.
These skills include basic computer skills, computer assembly, customer service/hospitality and office proficiency. A job developer helps to match graduates with openings at local companies.

The program is targeted toward men and women age 18 and older who struggle to overcome employment barriers such as childhood abuse and lack of formal education. Many of the participants are high-school drops outs or have inconsistent work histories. Others have battled chemical abuse or have criminal histories.

"The Community Foundation reached out to STRIVE in Harlem to see if it was something that could work for the chronically unemployed in Berks County," said Kevin K. Murphy, president of Berks County Community Foundation. "When we realized the program could have a substantial impact here, we looked for a local nonprofit organization to house it. The Reading-Berks Emergency Shelter was an obvious choice because it has emerged as the county's front-line defense against poverty and homelessness by offering a comprehensive range of services, including emergency housing and childcare, to people in economic distress."

The Community Foundation provided the funding to launch the program in Berks County. The Community Foundation's funding including hiring and training the professional staff to work with participants and the first four program cycles.

To learn more about Job Quest, contact the Reading-Berks Emergency Shelter at 610.374.4696 ext. 234.