Tuesday, February 7   *   5:30 to 7:30   *   North Park Mall  

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma  73120

Let us know!!  RSVP –  842-4542

• City Rescue Mission
• New View Oklahoma
• The Homeless Alliance

City Rescue Mission - Community – $100,000 will be used to fund:

The Impact Hunger Food Pantry which will be the first of its kind in our area – – a grocery-store-style food distribution center serving the most impoverished in our community with accessible hours and the dignity of self-selecting items.  Working in partnership with The Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma, this format will streamline operations, reduce cost, reduce waste, increase accessibility, and will serve well over 12,000 hungry men, women and children in the first year of operation!

The Impact Hunger Food Pantry will have a tremendous impact on our community!  We want to not only feed the hungry, but to nourish them – – to encourage their physical health so they can be fueled to perform better in school, at work and in life.  Good nutrition is a building block for success in all other areas, so your investment will not only feed thousands, but will have an exponential impact on their success for years to come!

New View Oklahoma – Health and Wellness – $100,000 will be used to fund:

A clinic for the one in six Oklahomans over the age of 55 who have low vision caused by an age-related eye disease. Low vision can have a severe impact on a person’s quality of life, but that can be mitigated by a low vision clinic that helps clients to maximize their usable vision.

NewView Oklahoma proposes the establishment of a low vision clinic that will serve 1,530 patients annually in the Oklahoma City area. These patients would otherwise have no access to a low vision specialist. The low vision clinic would also offer needed follow-up care to keep clients safe and independent in their homes.  Funds awarded will be used for the one-time purchase of optometric and specialized low vision assessment equipment for the clinic, and for portable vision assessment and adaptive aids for in-home trainings.

The Homeless Alliance – Family – $79,500 – will be used to fund help for:

Homeless families with children -  the fastest growing sub-population of the homeless in Oklahoma City.

Homelessness has a profoundly negative impact on families, especially children. Witnessing violence, missing school, interrupted sleep and emotionally distressed parents can lead to trauma, behavioral problems, and developmental delays. The new WestTown Resource Center brings together a dozen agencies that work with families who are homeless or at-risk.   All of those agencies, working seamlessly together, can provide the care and housing so desperately needed by homeless families with children.

A gift from Impact Oklahoma will allow us to expand our program for homeless families and make it a successful, replicable model of care, adapting national best practices to our local community. We estimate that over the next two years, we will be able to help at least 200 families achieve sustainable housing and  become a national model for housing homeless families with children.

GOOD NEWS:  It is now possible to join Impact Oklahoma on line using your credit/debit card. Click on ”Join Us” on the Menu bar and scroll down to “join on line”. It is a site secured by Authorize.Net. Enter the information asked for and click on “donate”. You will be sent a confirmation email. Become a member.  Join Today!   

We will have this fun event next year as well.  Other events are planned with opportunities to meet members and to learn more about Impact.  If you would like to receive an invitation to attend one or two of these gatherings, call 747-0070 and give us your name, address and email.  We would love to meet you and tell you about our wonderful organization. 

Since the entire grant process this year is on line, you will need this up-dated information to effectively serve on grant committees this year.

Grants will be reviewed, site visits completed and finalists chosen by August 22, 2011. The Impact Annual Meeting for presentations and voting will be in September.

Anne Holzberlein and Janet Hudson, Grants Chairmen

Nine year old Jada rides the bus home from school every day. She unlocks the door and hurries inside. She makes herself a peanut butter sandwich and sits down to do her homework, alone. She’d like to be at Boys & Girls Club, where she spends school breaks and summers during the day – but her mother would never let her walk the 1.4 miles to the club. She’d have to cross three major streets to get there.

Currently, children from 10 area schools arrive at the club on our vehicles, have a hot after-school snack, participate in homework assistance, exercise in the gym, or play in Memorial Park. Members participate in the Junior League’s Reading Club, create in the Arts Council of Oklahoma City’s Arts After School program, take part in Leadership Clubs like Torch Club, Keystone Club, Boy Scouts, Students Working Against Tobacco and more, or participate in Health & Life Skills classes.

A grant from the women of Impact Oklahoma will allow us to purchase two 30 passenger busses and serve an additional 10 schools – serving every school within a three mile radius of the Club.

You can help Jada “Get on the Bus.” She’ll have a safe, positive place to spend her out of school time where caring adults will offer guidance and mentoring. She’ll increase her levels of school effort, academic confidence, integrity and community involvement. She’ll decrease her likelihood to smoke marijuana, carry a weapon, drink alcohol, interact with the police or begin sexual activity.

Help us help our seniors. Vote NewView Oklahoma!

Faith Works of the Inner City
Education

FaithWorks of the Inner City seeks to transform the future of one of the poorest and most violent communities in our state by empowering the community surrounding Shidler Elementary School with educational opportunities for three distinct groups: three year olds, teenagers, and parents. Understanding that our students begin school with significant disadvantages and the task of learning a second language (English), we will provide a jumpstart to learning for our three year olds with the implementation of preschool programs for mothers and children. With a dropout rate of 46% in the ninth grade and realizing that our teenagers are faced with potentially life-altering decisions each day, FaithWorks will provide a safe place for teens to gather life and work skills, experience enrichment opportunities, and receive tutorial assistance with homework. For our parents, many ranging in age from 16-21, we will offer educational tools to assist them in preparing their children for entry into public school, parenting techniques and communication skills, as well as individual and family counseling. Educational opportunities provided by local vocational schools will be offered to parents invested in these programs, as well as opportunities for future employment at the FaithWorks Center. The Tots to Teens program has the potential to impact over 2,500 families living in this community by decreasing the dropout rate, adding to the work force, and providing useful parenting tools. A new facility (the Impact Tots to Teen House) will open in the fall 2010 to host those programs.

Britvil Community Food Pantry
Family

Meet Dave…cancer ultimately took his life…we were his lifeline for food during his
final days.
Meet Mary…a diabetic who comes to us to help provide fruits and vegetables that she cannot afford for her diet.
Meet Joan…a single parent with four small children struggling to survive and needs desperately to feed her children.
Meet Jack…a senior citizen on a fixed income.

Have you met these people? They are just a few of the people you will meet on a daily basis at BritVil Food Pantry. Even though you haven’t met them, you can make a difference in their lives.

The $100,000 grant would enable us to purchase a much needed new refrigeration unit. This unit will preserve the quality of nutritional food that is important in fighting disease, illness, and building strong bodies.

Created in 1991, from the vision and dedication of two women, the pantry provides the nutritional food needs in a community where poverty is prevalent. We serve over 16,200 people a year and operate with only two part-time employees. We are grateful to have over 100 volunteers that help at the pantry.

We are blessed with an outstanding group of volunteers that know John 21:15 by heart, “If you truly love Me, you will feed My people”. Help us to continue making a difference in the community and the lives of our clients. As you prepare a meal for your family, think about the difference this grant can make in the lives of families less fortunate.

Thursday, September 16, 2010 from 6pm – 9pm

Step out in style for Impact Oklahoma’s 4th annual Wine, Women & Shoes, celebrating the grand opening of Balliet’s at Classen Curve.

Event Admission – $125

To purchase tickets, please email Hilarie Blaney at hblaney@arvest.com.

For more information, please go to

www.winewomenandshoes.com/impactok

• Meet and greet other members and welcome our grant finalists.
• Have a glass of wine and a bite to eat.
• Listen to our five finalists describe their grant requests.
• Vote for our choices of grant recipients.
• Hold a very short business meeting while votes are counted.
• Present results of vote.
• Adjourn

• YWCA
• Skyline Urban Ministries
• Best Friends of Pets
• Cavett Kid’s Foundation
• Crossroads Youth and Family Services

For more details about the winning grants, please visit 2009 Beneficiaries.

All nonprofit organizations interested in applying for an Impact OK Grant for 2010 should read the about grant information and deadlines on the Impact OK web site.