Community Foundation of the Ozarks

The recipients of this year's Senior Issues grants at the April 8 award ceremony.

This morning’s “Making a Difference” segment on Springfield’s public radio station KSMU featured the partnership between the CFO and the Greene County Senior Services’  Tax Fund Board.

On April 8, the Senior Board and the CFO awarded more than $80,000 in grants to improve the quality of life for Greene County seniors. It’s the second year of this partnership, which leverages public and private dollars to reduce duplication of effort or services.

Reporter Mike Smith talked to several of the grant recipients about the important services they provide to help senior citizens stay in their homes as long as possible, which was the highest priority among seniors surveyed after voters approved the property-tax increase several years ago. The CFO’s funding comes from field-of-interest funds where donors specified support for senior citizens.

Click here to hear the full story.

The Community Foundation of the Ozarks has announced the Glenstone Square Big Idea Program, a new program for its Springfield-area nonprofit agency partners in need of space and funding for special projects, initiatives, grant programs, or innovative ideas.

The Glenstone Square Big Idea Program is a grant of office space as well as funding. The selected agency will receive the use of a 1,000-square-foot office unit in the Glenstone Square Office Complex, on South Glenstone Avenue just north of Sunshine Street in Springfield, including utilities and some furniture. One organization will receive this one-year grant to begin July 1, 2013. The opportunity is open to all nonprofit agency partners of the CFO.

The grant is valued at $20,000 ($16,000 in in-kind donations of office, utilities and furniture) plus a $4,000 unrestricted grant for operations or innovations associated with the project.

An application for the Glenstone Square Big Idea Program is available online by clicking here.

Contact Bridget Dierks, Director of Nonprofit Services, at (417) 864-6199 with questions about the program. Applications are due on June 1, 2013. The recipient of the grant may move in on July 1, 2013.

The Greene County Senior Services Fund Board and the Community Foundation of the Ozarks awarded $80,109 in grants this week for projects that improve the well being of senior citizens in Greene County.

The Greene County Senior Services Fund Board was created after county voters in 2005 approved a levy of $0.05 per $100 of assessed valuation to provide services to residents aged 60 and over. The CFO’s portion of the funding is made possible by donors who have made gifts designated for the well being of senior citizens.

Senior Services Fund Board Vice President Denny Pilant said that after the passage, the group worked with Missouri State University to survey seniors and their top priority was to be able to stay in their homes as long as they could safely do so. That became a goal of grantmaking to improve health, nutrition and quality of life for Greene County residents ages 60 and above.

Pilant and CFO Board Chair presented the six grants to the following agencies: