Handbags That Help Awards $39,320 in Grants
April 12, 2017
The Handbags That Help women’s giving circle held their annual celebration meeting Wednesday, April 12 and awarded grants totaling $39,320 to four local nonprofits.
- The Center for Safe & Healthy Children: $7,488 -This project seeks to continue providing trauma-trained therapist assessments on-site for each child served at the Center. By providing the initial assessment at the same time a child and their family utilizes the Center, and with the difficult first step taken, the hope is that the family will continue counseling for the child.
- Century Health: $7,082 - This project seeks to improve Century Health’s ability to more accurately diagnose school-age children who are referred for behavioral concerns. More accurate diagnoses lead to improved care and improved functioning. The presence of these tests, in conjunction with a comprehensive standard approach to evaluating youth with behavioral problems, will lead to more accurate diagnoses. This will lead to more appropriate and timely interventions, all of which are designed to relieve the distress and dysfunction for youth and their families.
- Children’s Museum of Findlay: $6,300 - The Museum for All Initiative will incorporate a sensory calming room and visual arts area into the Children’s Museum of Findlay. A sensory room is therapeutic for children with sensory processing disorders, from mild to severe. It will have special sensory equipment and activities and offer a space to calm intense sensory responses. The visual arts area will include performing and visual arts to provide space for budding artists. A stage, color wheel, weaving wall and washable flooring and furniture will be available.
- Christian Clearing House: $18,450 - Project Happy Feet is a shoe voucher program for Hancock County children, redeemable at Kohl’s, The Shoe Sensation and The Shoe Department for the purchase of one pair of shoes at the start of the school year. Project Happy Feet is also a resource for area schools to refer children throughout the year for necessary shoes.
HTH requests letters of intent for grants in the fall. The nonprofits whose grants are accepted are visited by a committee of women from HTH in the winter. The membership votes on the agencies that will receive grants at their March meeting.
HTH has granted $410,920 in nine grant cycles to support the following 21 local nonprofit organizations: American Red Cross of Hancock County, the Arts Partnership, Camp Fire, Cancer Patient Services, Caughman Health Center, the Center for Safe and Healthy Children, Century Health, Children’s Museum of Findlay, Christian Clearing House, Family Resource Center, Findlay Hope House for the Homeless, Findlay YMCA, Fire Relief Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, Hancock County ADAHMS Board, Hancock County Saves, the Literacy Coalition of Hancock County, Open Arms Domestic Violence and Rape Crisis Services, Owens Community College Foundation and Read for L.I.F.E.
HTH was formed in 2007 by a group of women committed to dramatically improving lives throughout the greater Hancock County community by collectively funding significant grants to charitable projects. The giving circle is open to all area women. Each year, every dollar generated by HTH memberships is passed directly on to the community through grants voted on by the members. A $500 annual donation gives each member a single vote as to how the pooled funds will be awarded that year; group memberships of 2-5 women are also available. This year, 128 local women were members of HTH.
The women’s giving circle is supported by The Findlay-Hancock County Community Foundation. HTH is currently accepting memberships for its tenth membership year in 2017-2018. For more information regarding HTH, please contact The Community Foundation at (419) 425-1100.
