15 Awards Statewide – $256,000
New Castle County
Kent County
Sussex County
New Castle County
The Challenge Program
The Challenge Program – $25,000
The Challenge Program (TCP) provides vocational training for Delaware’s “at-risk” youth to empower them with the confidence, skills and purpose needed to become productive members of society. CP Furniture, a social enterprise that offers distinctive, handcrafted furniture to residential and commercial clients, has a dual mission to financially support The Challenge Program and to provide jobs and advanced training to program graduates. The DCF grant will support construction of a new furniture manufacturing facility. The new facility will expand output to meet growing demand for CP Furniture products; create jobs for over four times as many TCP graduate trainees each year; generate profit that will reduce TCP’s dependence on public sector contracts; and provide a significant return on investment in terms of economic benefit to society resulting from giving at-risk youth the means to become productive citizens.
Downtown Visions – $19,000
Downtown Visions‘ mission is to create, manage and promote a quality environment for people who live, work and visit Downtown Wilmington. All of Downtown Visions’ work in the community is supported by Clean & Safe Ambassadors, who patrol the streets, lots and parking garages, provide a uniformed presence, free safety escorts, street cleaning, and trash, snow, and graffiti removal. The majority of Ambassadors are local residents who are looking for a fresh start. Many have dealt with addiction or homelessness and have never been properly employed before. The DCF grant will provide the staff with a more efficient and productive environment in which to work by enabling safety updates, space redesign and technology improvements to the Downtown Visions offices.
Bellevue Community Center – $19,119
The Bellevue Community Center provides a range of affordable and accessible educational, recreational, self-enrichment and family support services to individuals and families in the Eastern Brandywine Hundred. The DCF grant will support the installation of a new state-of-the-art security system, complete with 19 cameras and up-to-the minute security monitoring, which will ensure the protection of children, families and staff; the protection of community program participants; and the surveillance and protection of the entire property.
Family Promise of Northern New Castle County – $14,000
Family Promise of Northern New Castle County works to prevent and end homelessness for families. They provide needed temporary shelter and support to get back into housing through their Hospitality Network and new Hospitality Center. Since 2010, they have served 530+ families (1,900+ individuals). The DCF grant will support important upgrades to essential infrastructure at both of their facilities, including security cameras as well as dedicated workstations that will better facilitate clients’ ability to search for housing and employment.
Hilltop Lutheran Neighborhood Center – $15,000
Hilltop Lutheran Neighborhood Center provides supplemental educational activities for youth in the Hilltop area of the City of Wilmington so they are able to compete academically and socially for career opportunities and higher education. They are in the midst of a capital improvement project that includes replacement of a playground, replacement of the primary HVAC system and secondary single heating unit, and other necessary building upgrades. Overall, the project will make Hilltop safer and provide improvements for the agency that will last for 25 to 30 years, enabling them to continue to serve approximately 200 children a day for the next two to three decades. The DCF grant will go specifically toward replacing the primary HVAC system.
Survivors of Abuse in Recovery – $22,140
Survivors of Abuse in Recovery (SOAR) is dedicated to providing professional mental health services to victims of sexual trauma and their families regardless of their ability to pay. Headquartered in Delaware and the only organization of its kind in the region, SOAR annually provides individual, family and group psychotherapy services to over 2,000 primary and secondary victims of sexual abuse. The DCF grant will support eliminating the flooding and moisture problem in the basement of its North Wilmington location, which is SOAR’s headquarters and main therapy location in Delaware.
West End Neighborhood House, Inc. – $20,000
West End Neighborhood House works to help individuals achieve self-sufficiency, reach and maintain their maximum potential, and live responsibly and harmoniously in a healthy community and complex world. Approximately 20 years ago, West End acquired and renovated six town homes located on West 8th Street in the City of Wilmington’s Little Italy Neighborhood to be used as transitional residences for former foster care youth aging out of the system. Since that time, over 450 youth have lived in the homes, which have not received any significant renovation. The DCF grant will support necessary repairs and upgrades of all six homes to ensure the safety of youth currently residing in them.
Wilmington Senior Center – $10,000
Wilmington Senior Center provides life-sustaining and life-enriching services, opportunities and partnerships that have a positive impact on older adults’ physical, mental, and social well-being, and that contribute to future generations. It is located in an historic building and much of the flooring is over 20 years old. The DCF grant will support new flooring at its facility, ensuring the safety of program participants, members and staff.
Kent County
Delaware Public Media
Delaware Public Media – $17,000
As Delaware’s only NPR member station, Delaware Public Media’s mission is to create a sense of place for Delawareans, and a sense of Delaware to the nation, by providing noncommercial news, information, and digital content that is unbiased, robust, in-depth and innovative; which serves the public interest of Delaware residents; and which informs, educates and engages listeners. The DCF grant will support weatherization of Delaware Public Media’s downlink satellite and a back-up generator at the transmitter site. These infrastructure updates will stabilize operations and improve reliability, regardless of volatile weather, power outages or other systems interruptions.
Mom’s House Inc. of Dover – $9,600
Mom’s House of Dover provides nurturing, free childcare to low income, single parents wishing to continue their education. The roof of their facility, where child care is provided, is deteriorated and leaking in spots. The DCF grant will fully fund the replacement of the roof, allowing Mom’s House of Dover to continue its operations for another 20+ years. During that 20-year period, they estimate they will be able to assist 200-300 single mothers achieve an education, independence and skilled job opportunities.
Sussex County
Southern Delaware Therapeutic & Recreational Horseback Riding
CHEER, Inc. – $23,170
CHEER provides an extensive and evolving range of programs and services oriented toward helping aging Sussex County residents maintain their independence by being able to safely reside in their own homes while remaining active and engaged with their communities. The DCF grant will support the purchase and installation of a walk-in refrigeration unit, which will ensure CHEER is able to consistently produce 1,700 meals daily that are delivered to 10 different congregate sites as well as home-bound Meals on Wheels recipients throughout Sussex County.
La Red Health Center – $20,000
La Red Health Center (LRHC) provides quality patient centered care to the diverse members of the Sussex County community. LRHC is currently in the midst of a relocation of its Milford Site and expansion of services at the new site. The primary of the expansion is to add an Oral Health Services Program to address a significant amount of unmet dental health care needs of low-income, underserved populations in Sussex County. The new 9,960 square foot site will also allow LRHC to expand its current women’s health, behavioral health, pediatric and family practice services to meet an ever increasing demand for access to high quality health care services. The DCF grant will specifically support the dental suite renovation costs.
Laurel Public Library – $12,900
The Laurel Public Library works to meet the educational, recreational, and informational needs of our community by providing access to information, knowledge, and diverse ideas in a professional, courteous, and welcoming environment. The Storybook Room provides access to books, computers, toys and games as well as special programming for young patrons in the Laurel community, where the poverty level is three times the state level and 60% of students quality for free lunch. The DCF grant will support upgrades to the Storybook Room that will better accommodate children with autism, sensory issues or limited mobility. These upgrades include removing carpeting and installing laminate flooring to make the room more accessible and to reduce allergens, as well as repairing and painting the walls, existing shelving and trim.
Southern Delaware Therapeutic & Recreational Horseback Riding – $14,000
Southern Delaware Therapeutic & Recreational Horseback Riding (SDTR) works to improve the physical and emotional well-being of children and adults in Kent and Sussex counties living with disabilities through equine assisted therapy. They currently serve 157 participants with a variety of conditions including: cerebral palsy, autism, muscular dystrophy, Attention Deficit & Hyperactivity Disorder, Multiple Sclerosis, cognitive and emotional-behavioral issues, and Down Syndrome. The DCF grant will support the installation of a fire protection system for the indoor riding arena, stables, viewing area and office area which will ensure compliance with local/state regulations and enable SDTR to grow and expand by offering additional services, programs and functions to existing and new clients.
Sussex Community Crisis Housing Services, Inc. – $15,000
Sussex Community Crisis Housing Services provides safe and secure emergency and transitional housing to the homeless and to facilitate the transition from homelessness to financial and housing security. In 2018 it served 2,136 meals to non-resident “walk ins.” The DCF grant will support the renovation of the Crisis House kitchen, ensuring a clean and sanitary environment for preparing meals for residents and the community at large.