Community Foundation of the Ozarks

A young girl who lost a front tooth in an accident could only have it replaced with a “flapper,” a temporary dental implant that she had to remove to play clarinet in the school band. Her family’s Medicaid coverage wouldn’t cover a new permanent tooth.

What would that do for that girl’s self-esteem, Robert Marsh asked rhetorically as he accepted the Fordland Clinic’s $9,200 grant awarded this week from the Community Foundation of the Ozarks and Commerce Trust Company through the Louis L. and Julia Dorothy Coover Regional Grantmaking Program.

The Fordland Clinic was one of 14 recipients of this year’s Coover grants for efforts to fight regional poverty totaling $127,500.

One of the themes in this year’s applications was for dental assistance because Medicaid funding is very limited in that area.

“There are children losing teeth who didn’t have to lose them,” Marsh said.

The Ozarks Resource Group in Buffalo also received a $5,000 Coover grant for dental services focused on preventative hygiene and education.

“This program brings toothbrushing to the schools for some kids who have never had a toothbrush in their lives,” Cheryl Eversole said in accepting the group’s grant for its “Bright Smiles” dental program.

Other grant awards were made to programs focused on similar basic needs such as hunger and homelessness. Care to Learn chapters in Clever, Rogersville and Willard received funds for their young chapters’ efforts to supply weekend backpacks, shoes, clothing and hygiene items to students in their districts. Least of  These, a food pantry serving Christian County, also received a grant to partner with Care to Learn to serve areas of the county where chapters don’t exist. They’ll use the money for a “personal care initiative” that will provide hygiene products, toilet paper and other necessities not covered by food stamps.

The Kitchen, Inc., will use its $18,340 grant to extend its “One Door” homelessness prevention services into Christian County.

Christian County has seen an increase in homelessness during the economic downturn, particularly among families who have had to “double up” with other households and then find themselves out on the street, Coordinator Randy McCoy said.

“By tying it all together in a regional approach, kids don’t have to move school districts, so it’s less traumatic for them,” McCoy said.

CFO President Brian Fogle, who presented the grants with Commerce Trust Vice President Jill Reynolds, summed up the stories from the grant recipients as both heart-wrenching and uplifting.

“I hear these heart-wrenching stories you are telling and it can get one quite dejected,” Fogle said. “The other side of the coin is the great work you are doing every day in transforming lives. You’re making a difference in someone’s life every day.”

About 30 residents of southern Missouri’s Ripley County kicked off their “Strengthening Our Communities” project this week with a frank discussion about how to balance growing the local economic base with maintaining the character that draws people to the heart of the Current River.

The civic leaders and interested citizens hold dear the heritage of the river, protected as a national treasure for its wide, clean waters that draw paddlers and create a tourism base. They know some residents in Doniphan and the surrounding area would just as soon leave things as is. But they also want to stem the population losses in recent Census reports, and the loss of talented young people, by creating more jobs and opportunities.

That’s why a group of Ripley County leaders applied for the CFO’s new “Strengthening Our Communities” initiative in which two communities were selected for a 12- to 18-month strategic planning process that will yield a blueprint to move the community forward. The CFO is partnering with University Extension and the USDA Rural Development, which will guide Ripley County and a Joplin-area coalition through this planning process.

As they talked about their reasons for wanting to participate, the residents said they want to create a better environment for their kids and grandkids so they’ll consider staying around after high school, as well as improve the standard of living for those living in poverty and the high seasonal unemployment related to River tourism.

“We’ve got room for improvement,” said Russ French, an insurance agent who is helping coordinate the meetings. “We need to figure out how to maximize ourselves without stepping on toes.”

Mary Ann Curry, who is being honored as Doniphan’s Citizen of the Year this week, moved to the area from Los Angeles in 1974. She and her husband raised Charolais cattle, later moved to Arizona,  and then returned to Doniphan in 1997 where they opened up an eight-lane bowling alley.

She said she personally went around to recruit participants for this week’s initial meeting for the project. She wants to see more join the effort because she thinks Doniphan has a lot going for it if it will make this effort.

The next meeting is scheduled for 1 p.m, Tuesday, Feb. 14, at the Chamber of Commerce office.

Doniphan, MO based artist Rosemary Claus-Gray received a grant for $2500 from the 2008 Ripley Butler Clay Fund Grant for the Arts. The 2008 Ripley Butler Clay Fund Grant for the Arts is designed to advance a visual artist residing in either Ripley or Butler County, Missouri, or in Clay County, Arkansas that displays exceptional aesthetic investigation in either two or three-dimensional artwork. The Ripley Butler Clay Fund is a component fund held jointly by the Butler County and Ripley County Community Foundations.

Ms. Claus-Gray is a mixed media artist who uses fabrics, acrylic paint, mesh, hand-made paper, screen-printing, and threads to create abstract compositions. Her work has been featured in exhibitions throughout the Ozarks, the United States and internationally. The funds provided through the Ripley Butler Clay Fund Grant for the Arts will be used my Ms. Claus-Gray for supplies, entry fees and travel as she explores the themes of her work in a large format. She plans to have finished this work in 2009 with regional displays to follow.

Arts and cultural opportunities promote education, economic development and an overall sense of pride in our towns, cities and counties. The Community Foundation of the Ozarks and its 40 regional affiliate foundations are committed supporting the arts as part of our mission to improve and sustain the quality of life in our Ozarks communities.

For more information about Ms. Claus-Gray and to view samples of her work, visit her website.

Pictured above: On Fire, 2008, painted silk organza and polyester