Advocates for Health in Action (AHA) and Wake County Asthma Coalition have partnered up to launch a county-wide Air Quality Flag Initiative. Participating organizations and businesses will display an appropriate flag based on a daily e-mail notification of the air quality. Free flags and instructions will be provided. Sign up as a participating agency today by contacting Laura Aiken, director of AHA.
Cynthia Seale-Rivera, program director of Teen Parent Connection, and a teen mother talk with Angela Hampton on ABC 11 Heart of Carolina Perspectives. Teen Parent Connection, a collaborative program with community-based support services for pregnant and parenting teens, is offered by the YWCA of the Greater Triangle with grant support from the John Rex Endowment. The program provides comprehensive resources with a focus on enhancing parent-child interactions and relationships, reducing disparities in birth outcomes, and improving educational outcomes for teen parents.
The John Rex Endowment continues a long-term commitment to a Healthy Weight Initiative with more than $1.8 million awarded for new grant projects which will focus on encouraging healthy eating, physical activity, and community-wide solutions to combat childhood obesity. Since 2006, the John Rex Endowment has supported Healthy Weight Initiative investments in various Wake County settings which include elementary schools, childcare settings and communities.
Turn a park walk into an outdoor adventure for children with A Closer Look, a new series of 12 etched, metal plates featuring images of native plants and animals along 1.25 miles of trails at the North Carolina Museum of Art. Families can search for each unique plate and make their own plate rubbings along the way. A helpful guide, LOOK FOR ME, is available at the museum. Just remember to bring along paper and crayons!
Eight grants, totaling $186,568, will be funded by the John Rex Endowment through a Capacity Building Initiative. Funding supports projects that aim to enhance an organization’s ability to sustain programs and improve performance. The grants include organizational assessment planning projects as well as capacity building implementation.
The North Carolina Health and Wellness Trust Fund has awarded the Town of Cary and City of Raleigh with Fit Community designation which recognizes success in promoting healthier lifestyles among residents. The Town of Cary, which has previously received an Active Communities and Neighborhoods grant from the John Rex Endowment, is one of the first two communities in the state to receive Gold Level Fit Community designation.
The John Rex Endowment is pleased to announce the Mental Health Request for Proposals. Through this funding, we seek to support efforts toward creating a more comprehensive and better integrated mental health system that ensures Wake County children and youth receive the necessary supports and services. Letters of intent must be e-mailed by noon on Tuesday, July 13, 2010 to: Kate@rexendowment.org
The Hands-On Health team at the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle is helping build a community garden at Alliance Medical Ministry. Will Allen, founder and CEO of Growing Power Inc., helped the Food Shuttle kick off the new garden in early April 2010. The John Rex Endowment supports the community gardens through the Hands-On Health project which is funded by the Healthy Weight Initiative.
When it comes to the well-being of youth in Wake County, it’s very easy to talk in terms of what we don’t want them to do. Yet, simply focusing on eradicating problems isn’t enough. Last year, the John Rex Endowment began wrestling with a different and, perhaps, a more important question: what is it that we do want for the young people of Wake County?
To guide our investments for youth, the John Rex Endowment reviewed the body of work in positive youth development and enlisted the help of Judith Kahn, a national expert who works with communities, cities, and states to apply a positive youth development framework. The success and effectiveness of the positive youth development approach is centered on the ideal that eliminating problem behaviors does not equal ensuring positive outcomes for youth.
Our 2010 Capacity Building Initiative Request for Proposals has been updated with application deadlines for the next grant cycle. We’ve also added a guide to working with consultants and a new example work and evaluation plan. Grants funded through this initiative allow organizations to assess their current capacities and implement strategies to increase effectiveness and sustainability. We offer this type of funding to help build the strength and resilience of our local nonprofit sector so that children and youth of our community have the quality services and support they need to thrive.