Georgetown Health Foundation Awards $1.75 Million to 2024 Grant Partners

GHF works interdependently with its grant partners to achieve the common goal of improving community health.  Partners are carefully vetted by board-appointed Grants Committee members and GHF staff.  We are privileged to support the following organizations and initiatives in 2024 as described below, organized by our strategic priorities:  Basic Needs and Social Determinants of Health.

Basic Needs

Brookwood in Georgetown (BiG)

Housing support for BiG’s Citizens living at Grace Place.

Catholic Charities of Central Texas

Direct assistance with housing and case management for up to 18 Georgetown families.

Georgetown Backpack Buddies

Food purchases to fill weekend food packs provided to low-income Georgetown ISD students.  Backpack Buddies distributed nearly 37,000 food packs to over 1,000 students through the 2023-24 school year.

Habitat for Humanity of Williamson County

Support for Habitat’s Homeownership and Home Repair Programs.  Habitat for Humanity anticipates completing 4 additional homes in Georgetown in 2026.

Hope Alliance

Operational funding serves Georgetown residents affected by family violence and sexual assault with shelter, basic needs, mental healthcare, childcare, advocacy in court, and all other wraparound social services.

Texas Baptist Children’s Home

Support for transitional housing and wraparound services for mothers and children from Georgetown, including mental health, transportation, and childcare.

The Caring Place

Provides rent or mortgage assistance for up to 300 Georgetown residents to mitigate crisis and stabilize housing.

Social Determinants of Health

A Gift of Time

Funds support AGOT’s operations to provide all programs, including weekly respite, caregiver support groups, and care partner education.

Any Baby Can

Funds allow 60 Georgetown parents/caregivers access to the full spectrum of ABC’s offerings, including the Nurse-Family Partnership, Parents as Teachers, and other parent education and peer support programs.

Faith in Action Georgetown

Assist FIAG’s mission to provide transportation and support services for homebound seniors age 65+ in Georgetown.

Georgetown Family YMCA

Support for scholarships to 1,000 Georgetown kiddos so that they may participate in Y programming.  The grant also offsets costs for sports and recreational activities at the Carver Center for Families.

Opportunities for Williamson-Burnet Counties

Funding will facilitate a feasibility study to expand Head Start to families that are currently ineligible to enroll due to federal funding limitations.  Funds will also be used to support technology for OWBC’s Community Services program.

ROCK

Funds help to build ROCK’s capacity to meet its growing client base by supporting an additional therapeutic riding instructor who is also serving as the organization’s Program Coordinator.

Samaritan Center

Support for the provision of mental health and wellness services for 100 low-income Georgetown residents.

STARRY

Supports counseling services for up to 485 Georgetown residents.

The Christi Center

Assists with The Christi Center’s grief support groups in Georgetown.

The Georgetown Project

Directly funds The Georgetown Project staff to promote the health of our community’s children, youth, and families, including the Bridges to Growth Parent Center (parent education and healthy child development programs), the Collaborative for Children & Youth, and other TGP-led coalitions.

Williamson County Children’s Advocacy Center

Supports WCCAC’s education and outreach programs, such as Recognizing and Reporting Abuse, anti-trafficking, internet safety, and body safety.

Strategic Initiatives

GHF’s Strategic Initiatives are complex, multi-year projects intended to create, expand, and improve systems designed to promote wellness, and often involve multiple partners.  Grants were awarded in early 2024 for the following strategic initiatives:

Carver Center for Families

The Carver Center for Families (CCF) is a family resource center that strives to preserve, strengthen, and celebrate families.  It works to nurture the health and well-being of children, youth, and families, and builds on the strengths of our community’s parents, caregivers, and residents, as well as the organizations that support them.  Organizations currently providing ongoing programs and services at the Carver Center for Families include:

• STARRY
• WIC
• The Georgetown Project’s Bridges to Growth Parent Resource Center
• Georgetown Family YMCA
• A Gift of Time
• Georgetown Backpack Buddies
• GTX Connect’s Immigrant Services

Community Health Connect & Pathways Community HUB

Community Health Connect (CHC) is a cross-sector collaborative in Williamson County set on improving health outcomes and expanding access to resources for local families.  With GHF funding, CHC launched a Pathways Community HUB in 2023:  a national care coordination model designed to improve health for low-income families by connecting social and clinical services that meet a family’s needs, primarily through relationships developed by certified Community Health Workers.  Funds in 2024 continue to support the partnerships between families and Community Health Workers.

Welcome HOME

Welcome HOME (Housing, Occupation, Mindfulness, and Education) is a pilot initiative between Texas Baptist Children’s Home, The Georgetown Project, Williamson County Juvenile Services, and Williamson County’s Transformative Justice Program and other nonprofit partners that seeks to strengthen the community-based safety net for young adults, ages 18-24.

GTX Connect

Funds support GTX Connect’s Changemaker application – a digital platform that serves as a shared resource to promote the visibility of organizations and services in our community, as well as connection and collaboration between organizations.

Georgetown Health Foundation Awards Approximately $1.6 Million to 2023 Grant Partners

 GHF works interdependently with its grant partners to achieve the common goal of improving community health.  Partners are carefully vetted by board-appointed Grants Committee members and GHF staff.  We are privileged to support the following organizations in 2023 as described below, organized by our strategic priorities:

Basic Needs

Catholic Charities of Central Texas

Direct assistance with housing for over 20 Georgetown families.

Georgetown Backpack Buddies

900 weekend food packs to food-insecure GISD students grades Pre-K-12.

Habitat for Humanity of Williamson County

Benefits 173 Georgetown residents involved in Habitat’s homeownership and/or home repair programs.

Texas Baptist Children’s Home  

Supports transitional housing and wraparound services for mothers and children from Georgetown, including mental health, transportation, and childcare.

The Caring Place

Provides rent or mortgage assistance to 140 Georgetown residents to mitigate crisis and stabilize housing.

The Salvation Army

Provides financial assistance for up to 150 Georgetown residents who are referred by a community partner, such as St. Vincent de Paul, The Caring Place, etc.

 

Community Health

AGE of Central Texas

Supports programs for seniors offered by AGE in Georgetown that reduce stress and isolation, as well as increase independence, safety, and connection.

Any Baby Can

Supports programs for young children and their parents living in Georgetown that improve physical and mental health, and parenting skills.

Boys & Girls Club of Georgetown

Supports the Club’s operations and programs toward serving 500 Georgetown Club members.

Faith in Action (FIAG)

Supports operations and programs to provide transportation for homebound seniors age 65+ in Georgetown through volunteer drivers, paid drivers, rideshare, and FIAG’s fixed-route van program.

Georgetown Family YMCA

Assists with staff salaries, supplies, and access for families with financial barriers to summer camp, STEAM, afterschool sports, and Pre-K wellness in Georgetown.

ROCK

Seed funding for a certified therapeutic riding instructor (CTRI) to the therapy team.

Samaritan Center

Supports the provision of mental health and wellness services for 175 Georgetown residents, 100 of whom will be un- or underinsured.

The Christi Center

Serves 450 GT residents through grief support groups, grief kits, and community trainings.

The Georgetown Project (TGP)

Assists the Bridges to Growth Parent Center (parent education and healthy child development programs), the Collaborative for Children & Youth and other TGP-led coalitions, and TGP’s provision of temporary, emergency food and shelter for GISD families who are unhoused.

Williamson County Children’s Advocacy Center

Supports 7,500 Georgetown residents in receiving community education through the following programs:  Play It Safe – body safety, Netsmartz – internet safety, #Notanumber – anti-trafficking, Recognizing and Reporting Abuse, and Circle of Security.

 

Strategic Initiatives

GHF’s Strategic Initiatives are complex, multi-year projects intended to create, expand, or change structures and systems designed to improve health and well-being, and often involve multiple partners.  Grants were awarded in early 2023 for the following strategic initiatives:

Carver Center for Families

The Carver Center for Families (CCF) is a family resource center that nurtures the health and well-being of children, youth, and families, and builds on the strengths of our community’s parents, caregivers, and residents, as well as the organizations that support them.

CCF serves as a welcoming hub of support, services, and opportunities that:

• Utilizes an approach that is multi-generational, strengths-based, and family-centered
• Reflects and is responsive to community needs and interests
• Provides support at no- or low-cost for participants
• Builds communities of peer support for families to develop social connections that reduce isolation and stress

Community Health Connect & Pathways Community HUB

Community Health Connect (CHC) is a cross-sector collaborative in Williamson County set on improving health outcomes and expanding access to resources for local families.  CHC’s first initiative is to establish a Pathways Community HUB:  a national care coordination model designed to improve health for low-income families by connecting social and clinical services that meet a family’s needs.  GHF is funding CHC’s first Pathways Community HUB in southeast Georgetown at the Carver Center for Families.

Welcome HOME

Welcome HOME (Housing, Occupation, Mindfulness, and Education) is a pilot initiative between Texas Baptist Children’s Home, The Georgetown Project, Williamson County Juvenile Services, and Williamson County’s Transformative Justice Program that seeks to strengthen the community-based safety net for young adults, ages 18-24.

Its goals are to:

• Coordinate partnerships between organizations to transition young adults from crisis to stability;
• Prioritize safe, supportive housing as the foundational component upon which other resources are built;
• Increase the availability and visibility of transitional housing for young adults.

We are excited to share that we have a new Vice President of Finance joining our team.  Karin Sladek is a CPA who formerly served Georgetown Independent School District as an accounting manager, and previously worked for the Austin-based accounting firm Maxwell, Locke, & Ritter.  She is an active member of the community and is currently serving her second term as President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce, and is a graduate of Georgetown’s own Southwestern University.

As we welcome Karin to our team, we also celebrate the service of our Chief Operating Officer, Sam Schultz.  After 22 years of commitment to this organization, Sam announced his retirement in December 2022.  While Sam will no longer be serving as the COO of Georgetown Health Foundation, he will continue to consult with and support our team as needed.  We wish Sam and his family all the best, and are grateful for all that he has done to advance the mission of this organization.

GHF Awards $950,000 to Local Health & Human Service Nonprofits through Annual Grant Program

June, 2022

 Through its annual grants program, Georgetown Health Foundation (GHF) awarded $950,000 in grants to 21 organizations serving Georgetown residents.  Awards were based on alignment with GHF’s priorities, focused on basic needs (food, shelter, housing) and social determinants of health, and will be expended from July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023.

Social determinants of health (SDoH) are the conditions in which people are born, live, learn, work, play, and age that affect a wide range of health outcomes.  Examples of SDoH include access to housing, mental health resources, childcare, transportation, and job training.   The organizations and scope of work the funds will support include:

 AGE of Central Texas – $30,000

AGE will serve Georgetown residents through several programs focused on aging in place, providing comprehensive support to seniors and their caregivers.  Overarching goals are to reduce caregiver stress and increase social connection.

 

 Any Baby Can – $30,000

Funding supports the Nurse-Family Partnership program, a home-visiting program that matches a nurse with a low-income, first-time mom, providing guidance and support from pregnancy to age 2.

 

 BiG (Brookwood in Georgetown) – $25,000

Funds will offset BiG’s tuition costs for qualifying, Georgetown families.

 

Boys & Girls Club of Georgetown – $50,000

The Club provides childcare and out-of-school care for $25 per year per Club member.  The grant award supports all aspects of the Club’s work.

 

Catholic Charities of Central Texas – $75,000

25 Georgetown families will receive rent/mortgage assistance and 3 months of case management.

 

Faith in Action (FIAG) – $50,000

Funding supports programs and operations to provide transportation and other ancillary services for homebound seniors age 65+ in Georgetown.  FIAG prioritizes rides for healthcare, nutrition, and socialization.

 

Georgetown Backpack Buddies – $45,000

Funding offsets expenses for Backpack Buddies to provide weekend food packs to all eligible Georgetown ISD students during the school 2022-23 school year.

 

GT YMCA – $40,000

Funds will support the engagement of 750 Georgetown youth in camps, afterschool programs, swim lessons, STEAM, Rookie/Intramural Sports, and more.

 

Habitat for Humanity of Williamson County – $50,000

Funds continue Habitat’s support of 245 Georgetown homeowners, as well as research on the impact of home ownership.  This study will be conducted through a partnership with UT-Austin.

 

Hope Alliance – $50,000

Funds will support an estimated 229 Georgetown survivors of family violence and/or sexual assault through all of the organization’s programs, including counseling, case management, emergency shelter, and other basic needs.

 

Literacy Council WILCO – $20,000

Funds will support educational programs for Georgetown residents that lead to GED attainment, job-related credentialing, and increased income.

 

NAMI Central Texas – $20,000

Funds will underwrite NAMI’s leadership of the Williamson County Community Resource Coordination Group (CRCG).  CRCGs are multiagency, county-wide groups in Texas that are designed to provide interagency collaboration and problem-solving for children, youth, and families in crisis.

 

Opportunities for Williamson & Burnet Counties (OWBC) – $50,000

Funds will work to strengthen OWBC’s Community Services program, providing emergency financial assistance for utilities and case management to low-income households.  The program projects to impact 1100 Georgetown residents over the next year.

 

ROCK – $50,000

Funds support ROCK’s operations to provide equine-assisted activities including therapeutic riding, speech therapy, veterans’ supports, and physical therapy.

 

Samaritan Center – $50,000

Samaritan offers mental/behavioral health counseling, integrative medicine, peer support, wellness education, and skills-building workshops.  For Georgetown households living at 200% of poverty, they offer 6 free sessions then sliding scale ($10-$30/session).  Funding supports mental health services to low-income, un- or under-insured Georgetown residents.

 

STARRY – $50,000

Funding offsets costs associated with free counseling and youth/parent skills training for an estimated 450 Georgetown clients in the coming year.

 

The Caring Place – $75,000

Funding supports rent and mortgage assistance for Georgetown households.  From July 2021-February 2022, The Caring Place provided housing assistance to 760 individuals totaling $212,720.

 

The Georgetown Project (TGP) – $70,000

TGP offers programs that support children and youth from birth to young adulthood, from parent and childcare provider education to college and career readiness training.  Funding supports several TGP programs as well as emergency housing for GISD students and their families who are experiencing homelessness.

 

Texas Baptist Children’s Home (TBCH) – $50,000

TBCH offers transitional housing, case management, financial/job readiness training, mental health counseling, transportation, and childcare to single-parent families facing hardship.  They serve approximately 25 Georgetown residents with these comprehensive services year-over-year.

 

The Christi Center – $20,000

As a nonprofit devoted to supporting families struggling with grief due to loss of a loved one, GHF funds assist The Christi Center in providing peer support groups, training, and grief kits to local families.

 

Williamson County Children’s Advocacy Center (WCCAC) – $50,000

Funds will support parent education through Circle of Security, a curriculum designed to improve caregiver skills and mitigate unhealthy discipline techniques in families.  WCCAC also offers community education for recognizing and reporting child abuse.

Responding with Resilience:  Reflections from Local Nonprofits on the Impact of COVID-19

~Suzy Pukys, Georgetown Health Foundation, suzy@gthf.org

September, 2021

As a local philanthropy whose mission is “to generate and accelerate positive change in our community’s health,” Georgetown Health Foundation (GHF) works to help the helpers.  We see the difference they make for people who need food, housing, healthcare, education, employment, transportation, and childcare.  We invest in opportunities to strengthen and scale their work to serve more people, better.

In spring 2020, when the pandemic forced its way into all of our lives, nonprofits rushed to adapt their work to keep serving this community.  GHF also moved quickly to provide flexible funding to our nonprofit grant partners, aiming to support their clients as well as the organizations themselves as they suffered a range of financial blows:  shuttering revenue-producing programs, suspending volunteer help, and cancelling fundraising events.  These challenges were exacerbated by the additional stressors brought by COVID that all businesses were experiencing:  employee quarantines, remote work, and the ongoing tug-of-war between staying safe and staying connected.

Through our 2020-21 annual, strategic, and COVID Relief funding, GHF distributed over $1.7 million to 28 organizations serving Georgetown and Williamson County.  We asked them to reflect upon their work over the last several months.  Overwhelmingly, the narrative that emerged was one of resilience.  GHF is honored to shine a light on some of their stories.  The reflection below comes directly from a piece written by Cat Phelps, the formidable leader of our local Y.

 Spotlight:  Words of Wisdom from Cat Phelps, Georgetown Family YMCA Extension Director

 When I think back on 2020, I am instantly reminded of so many milestones and hurdles.  Milestones like opening a COVID Child Care Space, One Room School House, Summer Camp, teaching children to swim, driving the Y on the Fly bus every week to the parking lot of Head Start, and sometimes just showing up for our community in unique spaces.  The hurdles are just as many – do we have PPE, masking, ratios, Zoom, communication to parents, budget?  How do we teach children to be superheroes in a parking lot?  Who needs help?  Can we survive with so little staff?  The items I just shared have so many layers.  It’s the layers and complexity of 2020 that I will carry with me for years to come.

This past year we have worked tirelessly to be a positive change maker for all the children and families we serve.  Like many, we are tired.  But, we won’t stop.  Our nonprofit leaders have not been tested in community crisis like this before.  Be it worried for your own job, your staff, or helping the parent who just needs you so they can get back to work – the look of “we got you” and “I know” that was shared with people above our masks is enough to break a person.  The reality was that we knew we could help, but we also needed as much grace as possible to navigate it as well.

GHF challenged me to think back on best practices and lessons learned through this pandemic.  My mind went to all the scrambling, crashing budgets, furloughed staff, wondering if another family would ever come to the Y.  I allowed my thoughts to dive into logistics planning, communication, readiness, collaboration, etc.  However, my heart was pulling towards a different message.  These three themes would be the three things I would want to share with the next generation who will face the next crisis.

1.  BE A PARTNER TO ALL, AVOID BEING AN ISLAND AT ALL COSTS

When organizations put themselves on islands, they lose all hope of their community being able to toss them a life raft when they need it most. During the pandemic and past year, I watched dear groups become paralyzed with not knowing.  This not knowing led to can’t do, led to no money, and now sadly, many no longer exist.  When we collaborate and support each other, we can help those frozen see they have a hand or a cheerleader.   We all need a cheerleader at times and we all must be someone’s cheerleader – even one that may view you as a competitor.  The community helped us, and we tried to help others with best practices and lessons learned.  We shared the playbook with anyone who needed it, regardless if the next page was still blank.

2.  RETURN TO YOUR STRENGTHS WHEN FEAR OF CHANGE IS OVERWHELMING

When you just don’t know what will happen next, saying that statement of “I don’t know” is an echoing voice that a leader never wants to say.  Will this really be over in two weeks?  Will the kids really go back to school?  Do we know how to teach virtually?  We would find ourselves so overwhelmed with “I don’t know” that we would have to force ourselves back to our strengths.  I was a basketball player.  We have a hoop and a ball.   I would play PIG with campers, and it would remove the weight.  It would create clarity to dream and become innovative.  While the burden and fear were there, we would focus on cleaning something better, perfecting Zoom backgrounds, making friendship bracelets, forcing ourselves to fall in love with the programming and try to leave the uncertainty of the outside world there – outside.  We all find ourselves struggling with this both personally and professionally.  2020 challenged us all on both fronts.

3.  YOU ARE NOW A BULLET POINT. WHAT WILL IT SAY?

YMCA history is so vast.  We have bullet points that highlight over 175 years of mission-based service.  Some of these are ones of social change and war responses.  As a leader in this movement, it is not lost on me that in 40 years when I read the bullet points, I will see myself in Georgetown, checking temperatures, and telling families “it’s all going to be ok”. We must track what we’ve accomplished so when we are faced with new adversity, we can remember what we have overcome.  Fifteen years ago, no one would have said, ‘In your Y career you will lead your branch and community through a global pandemic that will cripple, cause loss of life, and divide so many.’  As a community, our bullet point will be one of resilience, trust, and strength.  I pray that we continue to fight to ensure that our bullet point remains there.

“Everyone Came Together”:

How Williamson County’s Mobile Outreach Team Activated Our Community’s COVID Response

~Suzy Pukys, Georgetown Health Foundation

August, 2021

As a local funder supporting health and human services, Georgetown Health Foundation (GHF) works to help the helpers.  We see the difference they make for people who need food, housing, healthcare, education, employment, transportation, and childcare.  We invest in opportunities to strengthen and scale their work to serve more people, better.

So, in spring 2020, when the pandemic forced its way into all of our lives, prompting nonprofits and first responders to spring into action in new and unexpected ways, we directed our resources to efforts designed to support our most vulnerable neighbors.

This story spotlights one such effort from the everyday heroes who walk among us.  Community Organizations Active in Disaster, or COAD – was and is a collaboration led by Annie Burwell, Williamson County’s Mobile Outreach Team (MOT) Director, in partnership with Pam Ward of the County’s Parks Department, outreach pastors from local churches, and every member of the Mobile Outreach Team, including administrative staff.  These individuals were central to mobilizing 51 churches and 103 nonprofit agencies and volunteers to donate, collect, and distribute needed goods and services to those who needed them through the pandemic, particularly during those first, uncertain spring and summer months in 2020.

But before we dig deeper into the Community Organizations Active in Disaster work, a word about the Mobile Outreach Team.  The Team is a group of mental health first responders, working within the County’s Emergency Management Services.  They integrate with EMS, police, and fire departments to manage and transport patients suffering from mental health issues, creating a comprehensive, mobile healthcare system in Williamson County.

 

As you might imagine, the Mobile Outreach Team’s work is intense.  Under the umbrella of mental health first response, MOT is called upon to render aid to Williamson County residents who have overdosed, problem-solve for people experiencing homelessness, and de-escalate violent situations where mental health crisis is a factor.  MOT staff describe the work as stressful, challenging, rewarding…and constant.

Not surprisingly, the onset of COVID-19 only exacerbated mental health crises across the County.  Just as the Team was designing new protocols to respond to people in a moment when it felt unsafe to breathe each other’s air or to make any kind of physical contact, Emergency Management Director Michael Shoe asked Annie to activate a county-wide Community Organizations Active in Disaster (COAD), a group that “…coordinates the emergency response and recovery efforts of community organizations in the event of a disaster.”  COADs have been established across the U.S. to respond quickly to disasters, helping communities move quickly from rescue to recovery.  The County’s emergency management leadership was instrumental in catalyzing this response, understanding early that the whole community would need to be involved, and calling upon the talented people in their ranks who could engage them.

While MOT was figuring out how to get the COAD moving in early March, Pam Ward in the County Parks Department got a call from Director Shoe asking her, as she recalls, to “answer a few emails” related to concerns surrounding emerging news about the coronavirus.  “I had just started my job at the Parks Dept. when I got the call,” Pam remembers.  Within days, Pam was serving as the COAD’s coordinator and liaison with churches.  Annie explained their working relationship as: “Pam finds the resources; Annie meets the resources.”

Pam leveraged her knowledge and skills to make contact with people who wanted to help, establishing distribution hubs and a storage warehouse for PPE, food, water, and other goods to serve every community across the County, while Annie worked with her team to deploy these resources – material and financial – to the people who needed them.

Distribution hubs are still being utilized across the County to address basic needs, often within churches and nonprofit organizations.  Even Wilco’s EMS Conference Room in Georgetown remains such a hub, allowing MOT and EMS staff to grab supplies for folks as they are responding to an emergency.

 

 

This coordination, organization, and distribution of literally thousands of goods and services was a herculean effort that required involvement beyond the County’s staff.  Annie and Pam recognized Mel Stauber of Celebration Church, Chad Warren of First Baptist Church, Doug James of Hill Country Bible Church, and Derick Zwerneman of Austin Disaster Relief Network as key COAD advisors.  These leaders galvanized their faith communities and surfaced wide-ranging resources to help their neighbors.  Below are examples of items that were distributed throughout COVID and Winter Storm Uri:

But this is only part of the story.  Let’s now turn back to the Mobile Outreach Team’s dual role as mental health first responders and distributors of greatly needed goods and services.  The Team was used to thinking on their feet in a crisis, but the intertwined escalation of mental health crises and unmet basic needs begged the question:

“Am I going to die doing my job?”

With limited knowledge of the coronavirus, MOT and all first responders had to quickly learn how to protect their own lives while potentially saving others.  How is this possible in a pandemic?  The Team had the answer embodied in a recent addition to the team – Rico Williams – who happened to hold a master’s degree in public health.  With his background in epidemiology, Rico not only helped MOT and emergency management develop safety protocols when working with the public – wearing PPE, putting on/removing a hazmat suit, administering a COVID test – he trained and equipped residential care facility directors to do the same.

Rico recalls, “When we would come to residential centers with PPE and food, people would cry.”  His safety training helped everyone feel more secure as they did their work.  Rico also found himself helping residential centers find creative solutions to keep their residents socially distant, like installing shower curtains in shared bedrooms to create separation.

Ife Oyedokun, MOT quality assurance clinician, reiterated that the work requires flexibility and a willingness to do what needs to be done, especially over the last 18 months.  “You go out for one thing,” he reflected, “but it’s never one thing.”

 

To illustrate this point, MOT staff shared that the calls to the field they were receiving with COVID’s onset were more intense and violent, with more drug overdoses and suicide outcries than ever before.  They noted a concerning uptick in suicides of 18-20 year olds, as well as suicidal outcries coming through virtual spaces, like the remote classroom.  MOT staff found themselves visiting homes following requests from teachers whose students had shared they were feeling suicidal through the Chat function in Zoom during class time.   Team members also described their rush to provide temporary housing for dozens of homeless folks during the February freeze, many of whom were sick and disabled.  Annie explains that in the context of a disaster like COVID and Winter Storm Uri in February 2021, the MOT “…is the responder of first resort [and] the payer of last resort,” describing the overlay of months of ongoing crisis as “exhausting.”

Still, this Team, like all first responders, showed up every day and went to work.  Throughout our discussion, I asked more than once how they were able to do the work, to keep going.  Ife said he sees clearly that his job has purpose and value, as does the rest of his team.  Herein lies another key to their success – the Team knows the work matters, that they matter, and that their work makes a difference in the lives of their neighbors.

Regarding their response to COVID, Ife said simply, “Everyone came together.”  To me, this statement acknowledges that the Mobile Outreach Team, County leadership and staff, church leaders, nonprofit organizations, volunteers and many others knew with certainty that the only way to respond effectively to a pandemic-level crisis was through unity and partnership.  Together.

Through its annual grants process, Georgetown Health Foundation (GHF) awarded $910,000 in grants to 20 organizations serving Georgetown residents.  Awards were given based on alignment with GHF’s priorities which are focused on basic needs (food, shelter, housing) and social determinants of health (SDOH).

Social determinants of health are the conditions in which people are born, live, learn, work, play, and age that affect a wide range of health outcomes.  Examples of SDOH include access to affordable childcare, transportation, and job training, as well as support for homebound adults.

Consideration was also given to each applicant’s history in the community and capacity to meet its mission and goals.

GHF PRIORITY 1:  Basic Needs – Food/Shelter/Housing

•  Catholic Charities of Central Texas – $75,000. Support homelessness prevention and achieve housing stability for Georgetown households through financial support and case management.

•  GT Backpack Buddies – $45,000. In partnership with GISD, serve income-qualifying GISD students in academic year 2021-22 with packs of food for the weekend.

• Habitat for Humanity of Williamson County – $50,000. Ensure clients maintain homeownership despite pandemic-related crises, and support Habitat’s home repair and home build programs. 

• Hope Alliance – $75,000. Support survivors of family violence and/or sexual assault in the Georgetown community and ETJ through all of the organization’s programs, including emergency shelter, counseling, legal advocacy and case management. 

• Meals on Wheels Central Texas – $10,000. Help clients remain independent by improving food security and nutrition to homebound older adults Georgetown.

• Opportunities for Williamson Burnet Counties – $50,000. Funds support meal preparation and distribution through the Meals on Wheels program to homebound older adults in the Georgetown area.

• Texas Baptist Children’s Home – $50,000. Assists with costs associated with TBCH’s transitional housing program for single moms and their children. 

• The Caring Place – $75,000. Addresses basic needs of Georgetown households facing unexpected financial crisis by providing short-term assistance with rent or mortgage payments. 

• The Salvation Army – $25,000. Provides financial assistance to Georgetown families at risk of losing their homes. 

 GHF PRIORITY 2:  Basic Needs & Related Social Determinants of Health

•  AGE of Central Texas – $30,000. Funds work to reduce caregiver stress and mitigate social isolation among Georgetown senior clients. 

• Any Baby Can – $30,000. Supports the Nurse-Family Partnership, with the goals of improving women’s physical and mental health and improving children’s health.  Each client is matched with a Registered Nurse who not only provides critical health support, but also assistance with life course goals.

• Boys & Girls Club – $50,000. Funds support summer and afterschool staff working directly with Club members. 

• Faith in Action (FIAG) – $50,000. Funds support the core program of providing transportation to homebound Georgetown seniors, primarily for healthcare and groceries.  

• Georgetown YMCA – $40,000. Supports youth engagement in YMCA programs, including summer camp, afterschool, water safety, parents’ night out, and intramural sports.  

• ROCK – $50,000. Support for therapeutic programs for individuals with disabilities and disorders to improve independence and life skills.  

• Samaritan Center – $50,000. Provides mental health services to Georgetown residents through therapy and educational workshops.  

• STARRY – $50,000. Provides free counseling and youth/parent skills training for youth, parents, and caregivers.

• The Christi Center – $25,000. Serves children and their families through Grief-at-Home kits, community trainings on grief, and peer-facilitated grief support groups.

• The Georgetown Project (TGP) – $50,000. Equip parents and caregivers to encourage healthy development of young children; provide high school students and recent high school graduates with training in life skills and career exploration; continue TGP Collaborative to identify needs, develop resources, etc. to influence positive youth development.

GHF PRIORITY 3:  Social Determinants of Health

• Brookwood in Georgetown (BiG) – $30,000. Enhance lives of GT Citizens through work and a supportive environment.

Georgetown Health Foundation (GHF) has awarded $193,750 in strategic grant dollars for multi-year partnerships designed to meet specific, mutual goals for both GHF and its grant partners in mental health, community development, and out-of-school care.

Georgetown ISD Campus-Based Mental Health Program

2015-22 Overall Award:  $750,000 

2021-22 Award:  $75,000

Now in its 6^th year, this program provides eligible GISD students with free, campus-based therapy to support students’ mental/behavioral health challenges during the school day, and to improve access to therapeutic services for families experiencing barriers such as cost, lack of insurance, and/or transportation.

GTX Connect, formerly Southeast Georgetown Community Council (SEGCC)

2017-2021 Overall Award:  $500,000

2021 Award:  $100,000

GTX Connect’s mission is to facilitate community problem-solving by bridging the gaps between neighbors, city agencies, elected representatives, and other groups, and creating a community where no one feels excluded.  Working in partnership with local agencies, organizations, and city entities, GTX Connect encourages the community to find and use its collective voice to better the lives of all our residents and their families. Examples of current programs include Why Can’t We Be Friends? and immigration legal services.

Boys & Girls Club of Georgetown

2017-22 Award:  $262,500

2021-22 Award:  $18,750

In 2017, the Boys & Girls Club and GHF partnered on a 5-year initiative to strengthen the Club’s programs through staff training and compensation, fundraising expansion, and volunteer recruitment and retention.  Results thus far include increasing staff salaries, investing in a professional development position for fundraising and event planning, and the creation of a volunteer program.

2021 Annual Grant Process Opens December 1, 2020

Georgetown Health Foundation (GHF) will begin accepting Letters of Intent (LOI) from eligible organizations interested in being considered for funding through our annual grants process in 2021.  LOIs are due by 5:00pm Central Time on Friday, January 29, 2021.

**NEW IN 2021** Current Priorities

Due to the impact of COVID-19, our funding in 2021 will prioritize basic needs, as well as social determinants of health supporting such basic needs:

ELIGIBILITY

In order to be considered for funding, nonprofit organizations must ensure that their mission, vision, priorities, target population and service area align with GHF’s.

Our Mission
Georgetown Health Foundation generates and accelerates positive change in our Community’s health.

Vision
We imagine our Community as one in which all are empowered to build and sustain healthy, productive lives and we believe the health of Georgetown residents is influenced by the environment in which they live.

Vision Philosophy
Georgetown Health Foundation agrees with the World Health Organization’s definition of health as ‘a complete state of physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of infirmity.’

We believe that social determinants of health are powerful influencers on this comprehensive definition of health.  Social determinants of health are the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age, and the wider set of forces and systems shaping the conditions of daily life. These forces and systems include economic policies and systems, development agendas, social norms, social policies, and political systems.

Target Population & Geographic Service Area. In order to be considered for funding, nonprofit organizations must serve GHF’s target population: Georgetown children, youth, elders, and families who are low-income and/or have significant need.

• Low-income is defined as households whose total annual income is no more than 200% of federal poverty guidelines in any given year.
• Geographic service area encompasses all residents living within Georgetown and its extra-territorial jurisdiction (ETJ) and includes the following zip codes:  78626, 78628, 78633, 78673, 78674, and 78634.

Funding Threshold: $10,000-$50,000

Grant Period: July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2022

TIMELINE

December 1, 2020                LOI Opens

January 29, 2021                   LOI Deadline

February 19, 2021                 Notification Regarding LOI Status

April 9, 2021                           Full Proposal Deadline for Invited Organizations

Last week of May 2021        Notification of Grant Awards

 

Questions?  Contact Suzy Pukys at suzy@gthf.org or Kathi Ray at kathi@gthf.org.