Wayne County Foundation awards nearly $135K

Thirteen local organizations, some based in small towns and some serving people or pets throughout Wayne County, have received a portion of $134,867 through Wayne County Foundation. 

Grants awarded during WCF’s first cycle of the year support local programs or projects that enhance the spirit of the community and improve quality of life across Wayne County.  

“The impact the grants have for our nonprofits in our community enables them to further enrich the lives of the people they serve,” said Kelley Cruse-Nicholson, WCF’s nonprofit relationship manager, in a news release. “We are grateful for the many donors whose funds provide support to address the ever-changing need in our community.” 

WCF received 18 funding requests totaling more than $192,000 for the first of three cycles.  

The organizations and projects selected for funding are: 

• A Better Way Services Inc.: $14,000 for the mobile advocacy program in Wayne County. The program utilizes an evidence-driven service model to provide services to survivors and families of domestic violence and sexual violence. 
• Animal Care Alliance: $11,000 to offer a trap-neuter-release program to address challenges posed by stray and unsocialized cat populations by stabilizing the population and fostering community involvement and awareness. 
• Dublin Community Center: $10,000 to update HVAC units within the building to enable year-round use by the community. 
• Friends Fellowship Community: $5,000 for Opening Minds through Art, an arts-based program that helps people living with dementia. 
• HELP The Animals Inc.: $5,090 for a professional-quality bathing and grooming station, equipment and supplies. 
• Main Street Centerville: $6,977 to add 20 new self-watering planters with flowers to six intersections in Centerville. 
• Neighborhood Health Center: $15,000 to expand the current remote home health monitoring kits for an additional 150 of their most vulnerable and medically frail patients. 
• Richmond Civic Theatre: $15,000 to support the 2024-2025 production of Main Stage and Stage One shows. 
• Safety Village of Wayne County: $10,000 to replace the 25-year-old subfloor and carpet in two classrooms. 
• Salt of the Earth Inc.: $5,000 to support transitional housing for men who have recently graduated from a sobriety program to continue their work toward self-sufficiency. 
• Servants at Work: $14,000 to support construction of at least eight Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant wheelchair ramps for low-income residents with severe mobility challenges, who would otherwise struggle to get in and out of their homes in Wayne County.
• Shepard’s Way Christian Ministries Inc.: $8,800 to replace and furnish dorms at Cross Road Christian Recovery Center for Women with dressers, beds and underbed storage to increase the facility’s capacity.  
• Whitewater Valley Pro Bono: $15,000 will host five free civil legal education sessions and four direct-service clinics this year. The programming assists residents who cannot afford private counsel.