May 22, 2006

By SARAH Lemon
Mail Tribune

Jackson County residents, particularly children, will benefit from more than $2 million in private grants awarded to local nonprofit groups and school districts.

Health care for the uninsured and poverty-stricken received the largest boost from the Reed and Carolee Walker Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation. Community Health Center, which operates clinics in Medford, Ashland and White City, collected five grants totaling $225,000.

The funds will buoy existing programs that bring health care to students and families in Eagle Point, Butte Falls and Prospect and that enroll uninsured children in publicly funded health care programs. A new project will provide preventive dental care, including sealants, said Peg Crowley, executive director.

"We will help thousands of children with these funds," she said.

Eagle Point, Butte Falls and Prospect are targeted because of their relatively high poverty levels and rural isolation, Crowley said. Outreach is largely through school screenings, she added. A $30,000 OCF grant to Community Health Center will be dedicated to helping low-income people of all ages access prescription medications.

This year's OCF grants were the largest amounts awarded yet in Jackson County, said Cristina Sanz, charitable gift planner for the fund's Medford office. The increase, she said, is largely credited to the Walker Fund, a permanent endowment created in 2003 with $29 million to support programs for the county's needy.

The following is a list of the largest grants:

• Community Health Center — $225,000 to fund a comprehensive health care program for low-income families in the upper Rogue Valley.
• OnTrack Inc. — $175,667 to support implementation of the Whole Family Project, providing housing, substance abuse treatment and case management services for families.
• La Clinica del Valle Family Health Care Center — $175,000 to expand dental health services for low-income children and provide community education about oral health.
• Kids Unlimited — $170,265 to create an integration center to provide medical, mental health and social services to high-risk youth; fund after-school programs for McLoughlin Middle School and Washington Elementary School students; and to support drug prevention and youth service programs.
• Kids Health Connection — $150,509 to expand a mental health program for uninsured children at Oak Grove and Phoenix elementary schools.
• Southern Oregon Child Study and Treatment Center — $130,845 to fund in-home services and case management for children returning home from residential treatment.
• ACCESS, Inc. — $114,137 to support the Food Share Emergency Food Pantry Network and provide financial assistance for low-income families.
• Jackson County Meth Task Force — $100,000 to fund education, law enforcement, recovery and family services that address methamphetamine use in Jackson County.
• Southern Oregon Goodwill Industries — $100,000 to support Steps to Success, a program that helps low-income families transition from welfare to work.
• Southern Oregon Child and Family Council Inc. — $73,970 to support the Family Stabilization Project, which provides case management services to Head Start families affected by meth, and to address immediate dental needs of Head Start and Early Head Start children.
• Jackson County Relief Nursery — $72,306 to expand services to at the new Family Nurturing Center.
• Community Works — $70,078 to fund alcohol and drug services and children's mental health programs for unserved and underserved populations in Jackson County.
• Medford School District 549C — $57,900 to help low-income students access emergency health care; to provide an on-site community health nurse for the Teen Parent Program; and to expand the Leap Into Learning program to all kindergarten classrooms.
• St. Vincent de Paul — $50,000 to provide emergency rent and utility assistance to the needy.

Other recipients: Addictions Recovery Center, ARC of Jackson County, Arts Council of Southern Oregon, Ashland Community Hospital Foundation, Ashland Family YMCA, Center for Nonprofit Legal Services, Children's Dental Clinic of Jackson County, Jackson County Child Abuse Task Force, Jackson County School District 6, Kids' Imagination Discovery Center, Magdalene Home, Mediation Works, Mobility Unlimited, The Salvation Army Medford Citadel, ScienceWorks Hands-on Museum, Southern Oregon Educational Service District, Southern Oregon Film Society, Upper Rogue Community Center, White City Charitable Foundation.

Reach reporter Sarah Lemon at 776-4487, or e-mail slemon@mailtribune.com.

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