impact-oklahoma-august-2024

Mary Abbott Children's House

Wed, 26 Jun 2024 21:01:12 GMT

2006 $76,000 |

Norman – The Mary Abbott Children’s House is a child-centered facility that serves as the child abuse response center for Cleveland, Garvin and McClain Counties. The existence of the Mary Abbott Children’s House is essential for reducing trauma in children who are the victims of sexual abuse, severe physical abuse and neglect, or who are witnesses to death or abuse. The Abbott House is located in a beautiful 100 year-old Victorian house and provides a child-friendly environment for a video-recorded interview of the child after an allegation of abuse or neglect.The video may be reviewed by other professionals and decreases the number of times a child must tell their very personal story. Abbott House is in close proximity to our community partners, which allows us to provide comprehensive services to more children in our community. As a Child Advocacy Center, we coordinate a team comprised of law enforcement, child welfare/child protection, medical professionals, mental health service providers and the district attorney. This team works collaboratively with the goal of evaluation and treatment for the child victims and families experiencing abuse or neglect and holding offenders accountable.

The organization’s growing staff, number of community partners who are located on-site, and an increased need for services have resulted in a real demand for additional space. This spurred the organization’s board of directors to initiate a capital campaign in order to expand. With the help of Impact Oklahoma, we will be able to secure the purchase of the building adjacent to Abbott House and continue our project of connecting and renovating the two buildings. The new 3,000 square foot property will eventually house the response team, so that the original house may be used exclusively for providing services to children and families.Abbott House has made a huge impact in our community. Children need a safe place to tell their story and a group of professionals to make sure they get the best care possible. We are the friendly faces they see when they come in the door and we are the arms that wrap around each family as they begin the long process of healing. With the help of Impact Oklahoma, we could extend those arms and serve more children and families in our community.

To learn more, visit Mary Abbott Children’s House at www.abbott-house.org .

Regional Food Bank

Wed, 26 Jun 2024 20:51:22 GMT

2006 | $100,000 | Health and Wellness

klahoma City – The Food 4 Kids Program of the Regional Food Bank provides for the needs of hungry children in 16 counties. Three thousand five hundred elementary school children in 116 schools participate in this program. Food 4 Kids provides chronically hungry children with a backpack of child-friendly food over weekends and holidays. These backpacks allow chronically hungry children to feed themselves during the critical period between Friday afternoon and Monday morning when many of them would otherwise have nothing to eat.

This program is growing faster than the Regional Food Bank can keep up. Your selection of this program for the Impact Oklahoma grant would allow the Food 4 Kids program to buy a truck to both expand the program and make it more efficient. The rest of the money would go directly to feed these needy children.

Food 4 Kids strives to reach more kids, more often, and when they are the most vulnerable. The primary goal of the program is to prevent the long-term effects of chronic hunger in children. One hundred fifteen dollars provides one child with a backpack of food for each week for an entire school year.

To learn more, visit the Regional Food Bank at www.regionalfoodbank.com .

Special CARE

Wed, 26 Jun 2024 20:44:07 GMT

2005 | $106,000 | Health and Wellness

Special CARE was funded for new therapy equipment and operating support to help improve their ability to provide specialized education and therapy services to children with special needs and their families living in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. $30,000 purchased new therapy equipment to replace worn and outdated equipment, some of which had been in use since opening in 1985. A $70,000 contribution toward operating costs covered one year’s organizational expenses for 70 children with special needs – program expenses such as teacher salaries, groceries, educational toys, books and craft materials

To learn more, visit Special CARE, Inc., at www.specialcareinc.org .