The Foundation is pleased to again support the Boys and Girls Club of Central Virginia (BGCCVA) and their STEM program.

Founded in 1991 and opened in 1992, BGCCVA serves 2,400 boys and girls ages 6-18, residing in Charlottesville and the counties of Albemarle, Buckingham, Fluvanna, Orange and Madison for a total of six clubs. Their mission is to “enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to realize their full potential as productive, responsible and caring citizens”.

The Grant will  support year-round STEM programming, which is a component of the Club’s plan to provide expanded services in response to the COVID-19 crisis. Among the most pressing needs children are facing to COVID is filling out-of-school time gaps. For the rest of 2020 and well into 2021, schools will primarily be virtual, leaving kids without a place to go and parents unable to return to work. Filling these gaps is critical for ensuring the academic health, mental health and the safety of these kids, as well as allowing parents to go to work and earn a wage. With that in mind, BGCCVA is expanding from the traditional after-school model to provide all-day services from 8:00a to 5:30pm, 4 days a week. Staff will also work a 5th day which will be dedicated to program planning and full scale cleaning. The primary objective of the Club during full day programs is to provide a safe space for kids and to operate as an Academic Support Center for the virtual learning and instruction they receive from school. Led by Boys & Girls Clubs’ full-time STEM specialist, high yield STEM activities will be a key component of the Clubs’ Academic Support Center to help kids stay on track. The grant will help the club fund a full-time STEM specialist, as well as provide programming materials, supplies, and equipment

The Foundation is pleases to support Medical Ambassadors International.  Medical Ambassadors International (MAI) is an international organization working to  transform the lives of children, women, and men by addressing the root causes of poverty, disease, and hopelessness. MAI uses a proven process called Community Health Education). CHE is a “grassroots-level” program and ensures that over a period of several years, whole communities are lifted out of cycles of poverty and disease. Through its leadership team, a group of master trainers, and program facilitators in the field, MAI has been able to harness the active engagement of well over 50,000 CHE volunteers around the globe. At present MAI works in 2,582 communities around the world.

The 1,000 days between a woman’s pregnancy and her child’s 2nd birthday sets the Foundation for all the days that follow. Literature proves that the first 1,000 days of life, from conception to two years of age, are the most important to a child ́s brain development and to determine educational capacity in a given population. Differing from previous assessments taking the range from birth to five years of age, it has been considered more recently that focus has to be placed on health and nutritional status of the mother, conditions of delivery, breastfeeding and weaning foods and micro-nutrients. This is in addition to the more traditional concepts of macro-nutrients, (carbohydrates, proteins and vitamins-minerals), as commonly taught in the past. MAI in partnership with Medical Ambassadors Canada Association, Medical Ambassadors Haiti, Mombin Crochu Hospital and Bwadelorans Hospital, have baseline data and three years of control studies to help them build an evidence-based work. Studies also show that much more needs to be done at the community level to decrease stunting and malnutrition.

Since 2017, MAI has focused their CHE efforts on the 1,000 days program, understanding the importance of healthy infants for the future of Haiti. To improve health conditions, reduce stunting, malnutrition and decrease anemia, MAI started multiple Moms’ Clubs where, together with local health workers (CHE volunteers), they aim to safeguard proper development during the first two years of life.

The grant will be used to continue the work that has begun and to continue to provide financial support to local partners. This will contribute to the reduction of maternal mortality and child malnutrition in the areas of North and North East Haiti.

The Foundation is pleased to support Women’s World Banking.  Women’s World Banking is a non-profit organization that designs market-driven solutions, invests in financial institutions, and helps to shape policy environments in emerging markets to create greater economic stability and prosperity for women, their families, and their communities. Over their 40-year history, Women’s World Banking has directly impacted more than 30 million women with financial services that create security and prosperity. Women’s World Banking’s co-actors are its global Network of cross-sector partners (retail banks, fintech companies, microfinance institutions, and more), which includes 49 organizations in 31 countries, with a reach of 64 million women. Network members commit to responsibly serve the underserved women’s market, advance women’s leadership and gender diversity, create insights and best practices in women’s financial inclusion, and share learnings with each other to achieve greater scale and impact.

To help low-income women and their families overcome the aforementioned obstacles, Women’s World Banking developed Caregiver in 2006. Caregiver is a simple, affordable microinsurance product that provides a cash benefit after hospitalization, regardless of illness, to customers who can use funds for a range of needs including lost revenue while not being able to work or having to close their businesses. This includes maternity. Caregiver is designed based on customer research to understand women’s health risks and financial needs during health emergencies. The product is relevant and meaningful because it covers childbirth, which is often not covered under many other medical insurance programs. Unlike traditional medical insurance, in which the insurance plan reimburses for the cost of medical treatment and the money goes to the provider, Caregiver pays cash directly to the claimant. The claimant is free to use the money received as claims benefit in any way she desires, whether for medical expenses or to meet other immediate expenses. This allows her the flexibility to prioritize her needs. Funds will be used to replicate the Caregiver program in Indonesia in partnership with a financial service provider and insurer in the region.

Caregiver meets the unique health financing needs of low-income women. The program makes a sustainable difference by offering healthcare coverage that is meaningful, relevant, and affordable for low-income women, ensuring they do not need to dip into savings or resort to informal moneylenders when hospitalization occurs. To date, Caregiver has reached more than 2,000,000 beneficiaries, more than one million of them women and girls.

The Foundation is pleased to support Zoe Empowers.  Zoe Empowers is 501 (C)(3) based in the United States, with a 15-year history of breaking the cycle of extreme poverty for orphaned and vulnerable children in India, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, and Liberia. They passionately believe that simultaneously addressing the complex and multi-dimensional needs of these youth, and providing them with the capacities and tools to become business owners so they can be their own catalysts for change, is the only way to make a long-lasting economic impact in their lives and communities. Their three-year program is grounded in the United Nation’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and is a platform for orphaned and vulnerable children to achieve a healthy, safe and stable life, complete their education, learn vocational and business skills, and start their own business.

Zoe Empowers will use the funds to expand their 3 year community-based youth empowerment program. Social workers will invite youth to join an empowerment group of 60-100 children, where they will be assessed to determine their immediate needs. Youth will develop leadership teams among their groups and an adult will be will be selected by the youth, vetted by Zoe Empowers and will serve as a mentor to the youth. In year 1, support is provided so each youth is living in a safe home with improved water and sanitation facilities. Youth will also learn health promotion and disease prevention strategies. In year 2, younger kid’s progress in primary school, while older kids complete vocational training in a specific trade, learn business and entrepreneurial skills and receive tools or a grant to start a business. In year 3, youth continue to expand their business, while younger kids continue to progress in school.

Zoe Empowers program is distinctive from other programs in the following ways:  Offers a poverty escape  Targets youths that are often excluded from other programs  Focuses on female empowerment  Based on science and proven results  Cost-effective  Trained professional staff  Engages local partners  Supports families and communities.

Zoe Empowers has a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation process in place which determines achievement of program objectives. Evaluation data is used to support decision making, assure program accountability and drive improvement.

The Foundation is happy to partner with Codeni, through AHALA, to continue their education programs,  Codeni in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico  focuses on empowering street children to overcome the debilitating impacts of life on the street. They provide literacy classes, homework tutoring, arts and crafts, educational workshops related to the risks of the street, life-planning projects, and organized sports and recreation. In addition, families with strong participation are assisted with monthly food baskets, educational scholarships, psychological attention and social services for other needs detected by our staff of social workers and street educators. In 2007, they established a 501(c)(3) organization, AHALA Children’s Rights Foundation in order to provide financial support for CODENI’s programs.

With the issues of COVID, school has been specially difficult for their participants since all classes are held online and  most of the students do not have a computer.  Keeping up with classes has been hard and in many cases impossible.  As a way to continue the educational mission, AHALA choose to initiate  a fall fund drive to provide laptops for the youth of CODENI, which the Foundation matched for every dollar raised.   Happily the children the needed computers and access to a facility that allow for a meaningful year of schooling

The Foundation is pleased to support Minority Humanitarian Foundation  The mission of MHF is to provide a humanitarian response to the issues facing asylum-seekers and refugees on a global scale. MHF believes that all humans should be treated with dignity and respect, despite country of origin. Through on-the-ground relief efforts, health services, housing, transportation services and legal representation they work to ensure the health and safety of the people they work with. Then through education and job placement they work to ensure their success in a new country.

MHF  helps refugees, asylees & asylum seekers with basic needs, transportation, and transitional services. When they are released from detention at the San Ysidro border, MHF is there waiting. They provide them with quick and safe transportation from the border to a hotel or host family. They provide them with clothing, suitcases, hygiene items, baby formula, diapers, and essential items. If someone needs medical assistance they will take them to the doctor and ensure they get proper care before traveling. From here they arrange their travel, via plane, train, bus or Lyft, to their family or sponsor home in America. If they have nowhere to go MHF will work to find them a long-term sponsor home.

Some nights they have waited for the ICE bus to release people until 3am. MHF waits for the bus to ensure the safety of the people being released. Instead of sleeping on the street, they will make sure they sleep in a warm bed. 95% of these people have family somewhere in the United States they are trying to reunite with. Usually they don’t even have a cell phone to contact them. MHF ensures each person picked up is reunited with their family. If they can’t afford their own travel, MHF will arrange it for them. They hold their hand each step of the way, until they walk them through TSA security and leave them at their airline gate. There is no official post-release program in place for people being released from ICE detention. They are usually the only organization waiting for the ICE bus when they go down to the border to pick up a client. MHF may have knowledge that one person is being released, and end up helping 10. The organization has provided services and case management for hundreds of refugees, asylees & asylum seekers this year alone. Funds are used to purchase hotel rooms, transportation, luggage fees, and basic needs for the families. The result of the program is life-changing to those that need help.

The Foundation is pleased to continue their support of the West End Center in Roanoke, VA.

The mission of West End Center is to provide a safe place for children after school and during the summer. The purpose of West End Center is to equip children with the assets they will need to become successful adults by providing programs that meet their key developmental needs: academic education, social skills development, and overall wellness.

The funds will be used to provide West End Center’s educational programs to 150 disadvantaged school-aged children, specifically to pay the staff who teach the children and provide strong role modeling and support, and a small portion will be used for learning materials and outings. There are several components to the academic program. Children participate in tutoring four days each week. During these sessions, they complete homework assignments with the help of volunteers and professional staff and then work on enrichment activities. They participate in reading class twice each week in the school year and daily during the summer. The teacher uses the After School KidzLit curriculum, a program designed specifically for the after-school setting that uses engaging literature and hands-on activities. Emphasis is placed on STEM activities daily during the summer program. The education director also provides oversight and monitoring of the children’s academic progress. The social skills program relies on PeaceBuilders, an evidence-based curriculum that focuses on anti-bullying as well as a leadership curriculum for older students. Social skills development is emphasized in every environment and activity at West End Center. The Wellness program has a dual focus: fitness and nutrition. Children participate in a wide variety of physical activities, many that can be done throughout their lifespans. They also learn about good nutrition in addition to enjoying healthy meals and snacks daily at West End Center. Favorite activities include gardening and preparing their own snacks. In order for fragile families headed by single mothers to be successful, there must be high quality educational programs and dependable childcare. In order for the children enrolled in the program to escape the cycle of generational poverty, they must have access to programs that will support their acquisition of critical assets. This is not a problem that will be solved this year or next but only with ongoing, sustained efforts. West End Center has a successful track record of making a difference in the lives of the children who attend. Research has established the effectiveness of high quality out-of-school programs. The ability of out of school programs to provide hands-on, experiential learning is a particular strength.

The Foundation is pleased to again support the  IRC during these difficult times.  The International Rescue Committee was founded in 1933 by Albert Einstein to aid Germans suffering under Hitler. More than 80 years later, they are working in over 40 countries helping people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict or disaster to survive, recover and gain control of their future. The IRC responds to some of the world’s worst crises, delivering aid that saves lives while paving the way for long term recovery.

Funds will support their preparedness, prevention and response efforts designed to stanch the spread of the virus and mitigate the multifaceted negative impacts of the outbreaks on the world’s most vulnerable families and communities. the grant will benefit the world’s most vulnerable people such as refugees, internally displaced families and members of communities that host them in 34 countries. Funds will be specially used in 3 areas: supporting staff safety, ensuring the continuity of critical existing programs, and conducting frontline response to the COVID-19 pandemic. More specially funds will be used to scale up their frontline response to the pandemic, establish COVID-19 isolation units, support infection prevention and control efforts, conduct community level testing and contact tracing, educate communities and provide technical global and regional support to the field. Funds will be spent over a 2 year period as the effects of COVID-19 will be lasting. Funds will primarily be spent in South Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen.

The Foundation is pleased to again support MUAFCIG during these difficult times.  MUAFCIG was created in 2012 by a group of dynamic young men and women with the goal of empowering the poor and needy in rural and semi urban communities in the South West Region of Cameroon, Africa. MUAFCIG belief is rooted in teaching people on how to catch a fish and not just giving them a fish.

The Grant will be used  for their relief and emergency aid project that is aimed at empowering over 1,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs), primarily made up of vulnerable and poverty stricken women and children who are mostly widows and orphans. The COVID-19 pandemic is a threat that is spreading in the South West Region of Cameroon and claiming lives. This project is intended to relieve extreme human suffering through provision of humanitarian assistance to many families that are victims and who have already been affected by the current crisis in Southern Cameroon. They are living in Buea and Bangem sub divisions without any reliable source of income. The project objectives include ways to sensitize IDPs and the general population alike on the dangers of COVID-19. It takes measures to reduce the spread of the virus in the Buea and Bangem sub divisions. It provides hand washing facilities, face masks and hand sanitizers to over 1,000 vulnerable people. They will also distribute essential food and other items to homes hosting many displaced families. Additionally, they work to provide displaced children (many of whom are orphans and girls) with educational support, so that they can return to school. This emergency aid project is necessary as many are faced with severe hunger and have been dying of starvation for many years, even before the pandemic hit. Children, in addition to being out of school are already suffering from malnutrition and limited access to health care facilities. Host families, who are mostly peasant farmers, are unable to cope with the increased number of people in need. Consequently, MUAFCIG expresses fear that these vulnerable women and children may die from the COVID-19 infection itself, but also from hunger and psychological trauma. The project will help provide relief for many individuals who have been suffering. It will provide educational assistance and food for children who have been internally displaced as well as help host families, widows, homeless, and disabled persons. It will also improve personal hygiene of vulnerable populations, especially girls, and help curb the spread of the COVID-19 threat that is diminishing the region’s population. Above all, the project will help prevent the local populations, who otherwise do not have access to reliable support from an NGO or government, from dying of hunger, starvation, and trauma.

The Foundation is pleased to support the efforts of BeyondHomes.  In 1986 Connie Zimmerman was moved by a co-worker at an assisted living facility who lost his home despite having a job. She responded by beginning the journey to raise money and get him and his family house. In 1988 she created a 501c3 to help working families obtain housing and secure a career which allowed them to stay housed. BeyondHome has three main goals: economic self-sufficiency, career development, and family stability for Colorado Homeless.

BeyondHome works to address the problem of homelessness facing working families, most of whom are single moms who have overcome domestic violence. BeyondHome solves the problem through affordable housing and programming that leads to a livable wage career, allowing these families to become able to provide housing and take care of their needs upon graduation from the BeyondHome program. BeyondHome serves an average of 47 working families that were formally homeless or on the verge of becoming homeless each year. This is done through the BeyondHome SelfSufficiency Program and the WWAC Scholar program that has an additional 14 single mom scholars. Five of our WWAC Scholars also live in BeyondHome housing. While 80% of the families at BeyondHome are single moms, BeyondHome also works with refugees, immigrants, and other two parent households who need a second chance at life. BeyondHome will use  funds received from the Kathryn B. McQuade Foundation to help their single moms in both the Self-Sufficiency Program and WWAC Scholar Program. While they care deeply for all the families that they work with, they know that single moms have many added challenges to overcome. BeyondHome’s Self-Sufficiency Program and WWAC Scholar Program take on a comprehensive, relational approach to allow families to heal from past wounds and to prepare themselves financially for a successful, self-sufficient future. There are currently 165 individuals in the program, all of whom were classified as low-income upon entering their programs