CAPTION: Jill Reynolds, Vice President of Commerce Trust and CFO board member, along with Doug Thornsberry, CFO board member, present grant awards to representatives from the Ripley County Caring Community Partnership.

The Louis and Dorothy Coover Regional Grantmaking Program, a partnership between Community Foundation of the Ozarks and Commerce Trust Company, awarded $109,475.00 to 8 agencies serving the Missouri Ozarks in a grant presentation held on November 17th. This year’s Coover awards focused directly on solutions aimed at fighting rural poverty. The review panel received 35 applications representing $485,909.00 in requested funds. Organizations with regional service areas that are primarily outside of metropolitan Springfield and Greene County are encouraged to apply. Mrs. Coover, a 30 year employee of Commerce Bank, established the Louis L. and Julia Dorothy Coover Charitable Foundation in 1992 to honor the memory of her husband.

Recipients of the 2009-2010 Coover Regional Awards are as follows:
Boys & Girls Club of the Ozarks – $14,000
This grant will allow the Boys & Girls Club of the Ozarks to assist additional children from rural Taney & Stone counties, ages 6-15 years, who fall at or below 125% of federal poverty guidelines. The children will have access to high-quality, day-long youth development programming opportunities & physical activities during the summer.

Cabool Development Foundation – $13,000
This grant seeks to make affordable primary health care available to 43,000 residents of a 4-county region in South Central Missouri. Cabool Development Foundation has partnered with a federally qualified Health Center (Southern Missouri Community Health Center in West Plains) to help realize that goal through medical, dental and mental health care services.

Care to Learn – Bolivar, Nixa and Ozark – $15,000
Funding available through this programming will address emergency hunger, health, and hygiene needs of students in each district through food backpacks, food vouchers, clothing vouchers, hygiene items, and financial assistance for medical needs. This project is based on the very successful model started through Mr. Doug Pitt’s “Care to Learn Foundation” in Springfield.

Hope’s Bridge – $14,500
This organization is dedicated to the temporary care of children whose families are in crisis in Polk, Dallas, Cedar, Hickory, Benton and Webster counties. Funding from this grant will provide for additional staff & operational needs and is intended to double the capacity to provide temporary care for the children; thus helping families remain intact while their needs are being met.

Ozarks Resource Group – $13,950
The programming and grant assistance provided through this grant will help provide a centralized, safe location for parents to access when they need assistance through the Family Resource Center; and, help assist students in Hickory County to make healthy and responsible choices.

Ripley County Caring Community Partnership – $9,025
The funding being made available to this program will provide impoverished students with evening meals, while participating in the Ripley County CASASTART Program — a community-based, after school program that provides Doniphan R-1 students ages 8-13 the opportunity to work with tutors and mentors.

Samaritan Outreach Center – $15,000
This center in West Plains provides emergency shelter and a viable means of support to homeless people in the South Central Ozarks who need assistance in re-entering society. The services available for individuals who access the facility include referral and placements for employment, housing, transportation, educational opportunities, mental health services, and a broad range of children’s services.

The Samaritan Center – $15,000
The Samaritan Center is the only food and clothing distribution center in Henry County and has provided services for clients in Henry, St. Clair and Benton County for 22 years. This grant will allow the center to increase its services to 100 additional families by providing 150,000 pounds of meat, fruits, and vegetables. This will increase their total service outreach to 800 families in the counties served.

To view and/or listen to the story on KSMU/National Public Radio about these grant awards, please click here. 

Formalizing the precedent established in the last round of grants from the Coover program, a fall grant cycle that will exclusively seek to support grants that directly impact the effects and conditions of rural poverty in the Ozarks has been added for 2009.

The Coover regional grantmaking program supports organizations with regional service areas outside of metropolitan Springfield and Greene County.

• Coover grant requests are due by 5:00 P.M. October 30, 2009.
• Awards are November 17, 2009.

For more information or to apply visit the Coover Regional grantmaking program page of our website.

> Click here to read a feature from the News-Leader.
> Listen to a report from KSMU here.
> See photos of the grant presentation on the Springfield Business Journal’s website.

A full list of grants a brief description of all 13 can be found here.

A list of grants and program descriptions are below.

Barceda Families – Lamar, MO
$30,000 The lack of access to mental health care is particularly acute in rural communities. Based in Lamar, MO, the Barceda Families will provide access to and availability of children’s mental health services in Barton, Cedar, Dade, Dallas, Hickory, Polk and Vernon Counties by employing a qualified master’s level mental health professional.

Bonebreak Center of Nature and History – Salem, MO
$10,000 This grant will support a multi-year youth program at the Bonebrake Center of Nature and History, entitled the “Ozark Kids’ Connection.” Serving students in Dent County, the program weaves together the study of nature, history, and culture though service projects and other opportunities.

Butler County Council on Aging – Poplar Bluff, MO
$4,800 This grant supports the ability of the Northside Nutrition Center to provide hot, affordable, nutritious meals to homebound residents in Butler County and to have personal contact with each person who receives a meal. In addition to the benefits of a nutritious meal, the personal contact provides a significant health benefit by helping to prevent social isolation among this population.

Johnson County Historical Society – Warrensburg, MO
$8,886 The historic Johnson County Courthouse has been a source of civic pride and an important community facility since it’s construction in 1840. Funds will be used to help restore and preserve the historic courthouse as well as install the necessary upgrades to make it accessible to all users, regardless of physical ability.

Laura Ingalls Wilder Home Association – Mansfield, MO
$38,100 This grant will help implement the master site plan, which includes upgrades to the facilities, including the means to expand the education offerings to the tens of thousands of annual visitors to the site.

Lives Under Construction Boys Ranch – Lampe, MO
$13,875 Community service projects are an important part of the Ranch’s mission, helping boys there learn the importance of being engaged members of the community as well as build confidence, responsibility, trade skills and more. This grant will allow the ranch to purchase the necessary equipment to carry out these tasks.

Maries County Soil & Water Conservation District – Vienna, MO
$5,000 The Maries County Soil and Water Conservation District serves the entire 528 square miles of Maries County in assisting landowners with soil and water conservation issues to prevent the loss of precious top soil and to maintain water quality. The district also educates over 250 students in their annual presentations to the elementary schools on the importance of our natural resources. This money will be used toward the construction of a permanent office building and educational facility

Ozark Seed Bank of One Garden – Brixey, MO
$16,750 The primary goal of the SEED SOLUTION (to HUNGER) collaboration between Ozarks Food Harvest and Ozark Seed Bank is to provide vegetable seeds, vegetable seedlings, and basic Ozark gardening information to local families and individuals in need in 29 Missouri counties. Ozark Seed Bank will produce 4000 booklets (with seed packets inside). The booklets will be written by the horticultural expert of Missouri University Extension Agency (southern region).

The seed packets and gardening booklets will be distributed by Ozarks Food Harvest to 29 counties in southern Missouri. The booklets and seeds will be given to low income individuals and families at centers which regularly provide food to those in need. The secondary goal of this project is the cultivation and production of 25 seed varieties which have both historical meaning and usefulness for local gardeners and farmers.

Ozarks Food Harvest – Springfield, MO
$33,004 The Weekend Backpack Program™ provides at-risk children with food over the weekends when they may otherwise go home hungry. This grant allows Ozarks Food harvest to continue the program at 14 rural Ozarks elementary schools located in Barry, Dallas, Howell, Jasper, Lawrence, Polk, Ozark, Taney, and Webster counties.

Ozarks Medical Center Foundation – West Plains, MO
$30,000 The “Ladies First” program will address women’s health issues in the 11 rural counties served by Ozarks Medical Center. This program will empower women to make their health a priority working together with local businesses, agencies and organizations to educate women about steps they can take to improve their physical and mental health and lower their risks of certain diseases. OMC will create a Rural Women’s Health Coalition consisting of local businesses, organizations, agencies and individuals that will promote the projects goals beyond an initial health fair kick off event and into a sustainable committee. This committee will continue to monitor progress towards accomplishing goals and impacting women’s lives in our region by conducting follow up surveys at 6 to 12 month intervals.

P.A.C.E. DBA Barry County Drug Court – Cassville, MO
$17,209 A rural county with a population of approximately 35,000, Barry County faces significant problems with drug abuse. This grant will allow the County to double the number of people served by drug court, which focuses on recovery by providing an effective alternative to traditional probation methods of incarceration of non-violent adult substance abusing offenders while protecting the communities safety through intense supervision, frequent drug testing and more intense treatment. Each participant will be assessed and a treatment plan developed with a treatment facilitator.

Whole Kids Outreach – Ellington, MO
$30,000 This grant will add to the successful outreach programs which for the past decade have worked to address significant disparities in prenatal health for families living in poverty in six socially and geographically isolated rural Ozarks counties: Butler, Carter, Iron, Reynolds, Shannon and Wayne counties. The service area’s infant mortality rate is 11.72 per 1000 live births. This disproportionately high level of infant mortality is the result of a variety of socioeconomic, as well as geographic factors which converge in the Missouri Ozarks. The three established Outreach Programs are: The Resource Mothers Program (RMP), The Family Enhancement Program (FEP), and the Maternal-Child Visiting Nurse Program (MCVNP). All three outreach programs include home visits by lay and licensed health professionals.

Willow Springs Community Foundation – Willow Springs, MO
$30,000 This project will develop a program and location for coordinating the production and marketing efforts of approximately 150 small entrepreneurial employers in the area employing approximately 900 people so that they might grow in size and be able to provide larger salaries and more benefits to their employees. These employers will benefit from a coordinated service that provides them with access to State and Federal programs that could benefit them greatly. Many are too small to obtain training and equipment that would enhance their communications and sales activities.

The Coover Grantmaking Program was more competitive than ever this year. The review panel received 36 applications representing more than $1.3 million in total requested funds.

The Louis and Dorothy Coover Regional Grantmaking Program supports new and innovative programs or projects that address regional needs through advocacy, public education or capacity building. Organizations with regional service areas that are primarily outside of metropolitan Springfield and Greene County are encouraged to apply. Mrs. Coover, a 30 year employee of Commerce Bank, established the Louis and Dorothy Coover Charitable Foundation in 1992 to honor the memory of her husband.

We take that question for granted in a place like the Ozarks, with so many twisting miles of rivers and shoreline. Rapid growth in the region – in no small part because of the abundant natural resources – has placed considerable pressure on those resources. Maintaining water quality is therefore an essential part of keeping the area economically and naturally viable.

Dedicated to preserving the water quality in the Upper White River watershed, the Upper White River Basin Foundation has published its first “Status of the Watershed” report. Funded in part with a $38,800 grant in 2008 from the Louis and Dorothy Coover Regional Grantmaking Program, a partnership between Commerce Trust Company and CFO, this report helps answer the question above.

“Status of the Watershed” is a scientifically-based report using water quality data from ten sampling sites located throughout the White River Basin. To produce the report, the organization worked with the U.S. Geological Survey which collected and analyzed water samples from the sites. The Foundation developed an index based on the data that scores each site on a scale from 0 to 100 and assigns a letter grade to each site. The report is intended to generate public awareness about water quality in the region. Results from the survey are “mixed,” and reveal potential for improvement.

Results and the full report are available on the Upper White River Basin Foundation’s website at, www.uwrb.org. In the fall, two additional measures will be added to the report.

Related items on the web:

• The Upper White River Basin Foundation recently raised $100,000 that will be matched as part of the Stewardship Ozarks Initiative’s organizational endowment building challenge.
• Read the latest news about the Stewardship Ozarks Initiative here.
• Here’s a complete list of agencies the received Coover grants in 2007

For more information, including the online application form, visit the Coover section of our web site.

“This is an important milestone for the sustainability of our organization and helps insure that we can continue to protect water quality in our region,” said Holly Neill, executive director, James River Basin Partnership.

The JRBP has received support from CFO’s grantmaking programs for several important projects aimed at addressing water quality. The JRBP received a grant for $25,000 in 2006 to increase public awareness about pollution affecting local waterways and the means to address these challenges. One of the more visible elements of that project are the rain gardens – shallow depressions filled with native plants that filter pollutants from runoff and help recharge the groundwater aquifer – installed around the city, including one at CFO. In February 2008, the JRBP received a $26,500 grant from the Louis and Dorothy Coover Regional Grantmaking Program to expand their public education efforts, including river cleanups and watershed festivals in communities within the James River Basin.

The Community Foundation of the Ozarks’ Stewardship Ozarks Initiative (SOI) is dedicated to preserving our natural environment through:

• Targeted grantmaking
• $1,000,000 Challenge for Conservation, an endowment building program
• Planned giving

For more information about the Stewardship Ozarks Initiative please visit the SOI page of our website.

Pictured above: Holly Neill (left), executive director of the James River Basin Partnership, is congratulated by Gary Funk, CFO president.

If you missed the report that appeared Friday on KOLR 10, you can see a video of the news story here, on the KOLR 10 website. If you missed the article in Sunday’s (February 10) News-Leader, you can still read it online at the News-Leader’s website.

The Coover Grantmaking Program was more competitive than ever this year. The review panel received 62 applications representing $1,668,927.50 in total requested funds.

Click here for a list of recipients.

Area Community Health Emissaries, Inc.
$11,950 This organization provides quality dental care for underserved youth in Jasper, Lawrence, Barry and Barton counties. Funds from this grant will be used major facility upgrades at the clinic, including: rewiring, plumbing, carpentry, dental chairs, rent/utilities, phone/internet, dental instruments and supplies and specialized equipment.

District III Area Agency on Aging
$30,000 The Area Agency on Aging offers and coordinates services for older adults that make independent living a viable option. This grant will support evidence-based health program Enhance Fitness, paying for staff time, travel, materials and publicity, for individuals in 13 rural Missouri counties.

Good Samaritan Care Clinic
$30,000 The Good Samaritan Care Clinic provides quality medical and dental services to uninsured individuals in South Central Missouri. Money form the Coover grant will be used for pharmacy needs, general office needs, medical and dental equipment and roof replacement.

James River Basin Partnership
$26,500 The James River Basin Partnership works to protect and improve water quality in the James River watershed at the grassroots level through specific programs and public education. Counties served include Barry, Christian, Greene, Stone, Taney and Webster. This grant will be used for watershed festivals in communities within the watershed to promote water quality awareness, including involvement at the individual level. James River Basin is also a partner in CFO’s Stewardship Ozarks Initiative.

Ozarks Family YMCA
$29,900 Using resources provided through this grant, the Ozarks Family YMCA will develop a safe, constructive after-school program for teenagers in Mountain Grove and Seymour. The grant will pay for staffing costs, educational supplies, computers, transportation and scholarships.

Polk County House of Hope
$30,000 House of Hope will enhance and expand services to victims of domestic and sexual violence in Dade, Dallas, and Polk Counties. Specifically, funds will pay for staff training for advocates, client transportation, weekend hotline staff, emergency shelter staff, staff development and emergency client expenses.

Shapes Mentoring
$30,000 Shapes Mentoring provides a long-term mentor to children coping with parental incarceration. This grant will allow the organization to expand these services throughout 21 counties in Southwest Missouri. Costs associated with this program include background checks, reference checks, mentor training, applications, interviews, activities, recruitment, pre-matching process and support, contract meetings, and administration.

Springfield-Greene County Library District
$20,310 The Springfield-Greene County Library district will develop the Funding Information Center and Training Project for nonprofit organizations in five Ozarks communities served by community foundations affiliated with CFO.

Texas County Memorial Hospital
$13,872 The Texas County Memorial Hospital will implement the Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders (NICHE) program to enhance geriatric patient care. The program will serve patients from Howell, Shannon, Wright, Douglas, Phelps, Laclede and Pulaski Counties. Funds will pay for program instruction and materials for staff, assessment, onsite program management, and printed materials.

Upper White River Basin Foundation
$38,800 These resources will be sued to add four water quality monitoring sites in the region and add parameters to existing monitoring through a contract with the US Geological Survey. This is part of the Upper White River Basin Foundation’s effort to promote water quality in the rivers, lakes and streams of the Ozarks region, including Missouri and Arkansas, through research, public education and policy advocacy.

West Plains Council on the Arts
$26,489 This grant will facilitate the agency’s goal of developing a network of community folklorists serving the eastern counties of the Missouri Ozarks. Folklorists will document and preserve the Ozarks’ rich culture and history. Specific expenses to be covered with funds from this grant include staff, printed materials, digital storage media, honorariums, performance space, public education, archival supplies, internet and mileage.