2023 Finalists
Abbott House Child Advocacy Center
EDUCATION
Project: ”alrt!”
Did you know current research indicates surges in child pornography and trafficking? One in five youth WILL be sexually solicited online. Every day, children fall victim to online exploitation and experience pain and trauma.
To combat this rising issue, Abbott House dreams of launching alrt! – an education initiative to bring awareness to and prevent online child exploitation.
alrt! educates children and teens in 5th-12th grades to keep themselves safe online by empowering them to take action WHEN they encounter digital dangers as well as run a public awareness campaign and outreach events aimed at educating all relevant adults.
Education is more urgent now than ever before as investigators are faced with an increased volume of online child exploitation cases while simultaneously facing endless challenges to working these crimes. Currently, it would take OSBI 337 years to work through all the online exploitation cases in their cue.
As a child advocacy center, Abbott House is uniquely qualified to lead this initiative. We are working to develop an evidence informed curriculum that will allow us to train multiple facilitators: including OSBI, OBN, local law enforcement officers and other qualified adults to implement alrt! in their respective communities.
alrt! is scalable and sustainable. Abbott House will educate 5,000 students and parents in central Oklahoma our first year. By year 3, our goal is to be in every school in the state. Your vote will impact over 400,000 students every year. Through education we can prevent abuse before it starts.
Visit us at www.abbott-house.org.
Focus on Home
FAMILY
Project: Ending “Home”lessness in our Community
At Focus on Home, we don’t believe homelessness ends when a family secures housing! There are hundreds of local OKC families who may have a roof over their heads and are no longer considered homeless, but are still sleeping on a cold, hard floor, without many of the basic items needed to set up a safe, healthy, happy home. Our program, Ending “Home”lessness in our Community, serves families escaping domestic violence, going through recovery programs, and experiencing homelessness. The families receive furniture and home essentials from us, allowing them to stay together and focus on jobs, school, and growing as families, rather than worrying about how to get a good night’s sleep when there is no bed.
Our goal is to provide a dignified home, designed with a family’s needs and interests in mind and provide a home where parents know their children are secure and they can grow together as a family. Each family receives an individualized furniture package – everything from a couch to a can opener. If selected as an Impact OK grant recipient, we will purchase a new 26ft. box-truck and secure much needed additional warehouse space. A fully operational box-truck and warehouse space is paramount to our mission for two reasons. First, the box-truck is in the community daily picking up donated furniture and furnishings to ensure our warehouse is fully stocked. Second, the box-truck delivers the furniture packages to the families, with volunteers working to set up the “home”. Focus on Home provides all the items needed for the family to live comfortably and feel proud and confident in their home.
Visit us at www.focusonhome.org.
Peppers Ranch
ARTS & CULTURE
Project: Community Theater for the Performing Arts
Welcome to our Ranch. At Peppers Ranch Foster Care Community, we seek to break the cycle of child abuse and neglect through loving foster homes in our one-of-a-kind neighborhood. Our community consists of on-site counseling, therapeutic programming and growth-oriented activities. We believe Oklahoma’s foster care youth deserve every possible opportunity to succeed, thrive, and become productive citizens of society.
Our safe and nurturing community inspires and equips each child to break the cycle and reach their full potential. Each family at Peppers is dedicated to ensuring that siblings can stay connected whenever possible. This often means large family units and many needs to juggle all at once. We work to lighten this load in bringing programming to the ranch so that no child has to compromise on therapeutic services, academics or their engagement in the arts.
As an Impact Oklahoma member, we are seeking your help in providing our youth with the ability to grow in music therapy, dance therapy, arts and cultural programing onsite through the Impact Oklahoma Performing Arts Center. These additions to our Learning Center will not only help our youth in their healing journeys but will allow beautiful partnerships in the communities surrounding Peppers Ranch, bringing cultural exposure to the local area and a place of community for all youth members to grow.
With every life that is changed at Peppers Ranch, a significant and measurable impact is felt in our community. Within just two generations, well over 100 Oklahoma lives will be positively impacted by breaking the cycle of abuse and neglect for foster care in our state.
Together let’s help Oklahoma’s foster youth heal from their past hurts and dream big, bold dreams that will forever IMPACT their lives.
Visit us at www.peppersranch.com.
RIVERSPORT Foundation
HEALTH & WELLNESS
Project: OpportUNITY Initiative at the RIVERSPORT Youth Rowing League
Rowing changes lives in unexpected ways, building not just physical strength and athletic ability, but also trust, resilience and leadership skills that last a lifetime. The RIVERSPORT Youth Rowing League (YRL) has been removing financial barriers and providing access for middle and high school students to participate since 2009. RIVERSPORT provides the program, coaches, uniforms, boats, and oars to Title I schools for free.
Over the last decade, the YRL has served 2500 youth. Consequently, the original fleet of boats has aged to the point where repair costs far exceed the value of equipment. RIVERSPORT is requesting funds to update the fleet with three new boats, oars, cox boxes and safety equipment.
In Oklahoma, kids who do not initially excel at traditional ball sports start to self-identify as being non-athletic. RIVERSPORT is redefining “athlete” by offering non-traditional water sports to youth from underserved communities. Additionally, giving youth from Title I schools the opportunity to be a part of a Boathouse community and introducing them to the networking and possible collegiate opportunities opens a brighter educational and economic future. The potential is significant – RIVERSPORT junior rowers have earned over $13M in college scholarships – and these opportunities are resonating. Seven new schools have signed up to start rowing teams, and Oklahoma City Public School District has committed to providing transportation from school to the Boathouse District. Investing in new boats ensures we can keep the momentum going as we provide access and opportunity for this next generation of student rowers.
Visit us at: www.riversportokc.org.
Skyline
COMMUNITY
Project: Skyline’s Impact Mobile Pantry
Oklahoma is the 5th hungriest state in the nation, with 1 in 8 Oklahoma residents experiencing food insecurity. Skyline has been bridging the gaps in resources for Oklahomans in need for over 50 years. We need your help to have a bigger IMPACT in the fight against hunger!
Skyline’s Mobile Pantry is a trailer outfitted as a grocery store, with custom shelving and two freezers. Designed to bring a choice pantry shopping experience to Oklahoma City’s most vulnerable and food-insecure citizens, the mobile pantry served patrons monthly at 12 locations providing over 5400 service deliveries of free groceries in 2022.
Impact can help Skyline fight food insecurity- expanding our Mobile Pantry capacity, efficiency, safety, and sustainability. Imagine the newly branded Impact Mobile Pantry being pulled by a new pickup truck wrapped with the Impact and Skyline logos traveling to an expanded 16 or more sites around the metro monthly. Funding would provide trailer improvements including new brakes, an awning for sun protection in the summer months, and collapsible stairs for better safety and accessibility for patrons. Picture a look of relief and hope on the faces of our patrons when they receive the food they need to make it until their next paycheck.
In a strong community ALL residents have access to resources to meet their basic needs. Help Skyline expand the Mobile Pantry program to ensure our neighbors have access to the groceries they need to live a healthy life.
Visit us at www.
