{"id":850842,"date":"2020-02-05T13:50:13","date_gmt":"2020-02-05T19:50:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ktbb.com\/post\/?p=850842"},"modified":"2020-02-06T14:48:32","modified_gmt":"2020-02-06T20:48:32","slug":"womens-fund-of-smith-county-awards-over-300k","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/?p=850842","title":{"rendered":"Women’s Fund of Smith County Awards Over $300K"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"TYLER — The Women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Fund of Smith County awarded five high-impact grants at its 2020 Grants Reception Tuesday at Willow Brook Country Club, with over 200 people in attendance. Kristeen Seeber told KTBB on Wednesday, “we were so excited to distribute grants totaling $300,941. That was a record amount given out for one year, and 5 grants is the largest number of groups we have given out in a single year.” The president continued, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Our cumulative grants, awarded since 2009, is over $1.9 million, but more important to us than that dollar figure is the number of countless lives impacted by helping 29 different non-profit Smith County agencies.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\"\"As members of the organization, more than 300 women benefit from education on community issues and best practices in philanthropy, as well as by participating in the annual grants process. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153As members of the Women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Fund of Smith County, we are dedicated to working together. Everything we do is guided by the values we share. Our core values of collective giving, collaboration, respect, excellence and responsibility are practiced through our programs and our actions,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Kristen Seeber. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The grant-making program is the heart and primary focus of our organization,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d noted Johnna Fullen, 2020 Board Chair. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Each member of the Women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Fund has a voice in the grant process through her giving and her vote for the grants we award annually.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n

\"\"The awards began with a grant of $72,664 to Alzheimer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Alliance of Smith County for its REACH II Program (Resources for Enhancing Alzheimer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Caregiver Health). REACH II is an evidence-based caregiver support education program designed to improve the lives of dementia clients\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 caregivers by reducing their stress and burden, equipping them to be at their best for their loved one living with dementia. Grant funding will allow for the total number of support sessions for female primary caregivers to total 1,530 (255 caregivers x 6 sessions.) Stephanie Taylor, Executive Director of Alzheimer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Alliance of Smith County, accepted the grant on behalf of the organization.<\/p>\n

\"\"The second grant was presented to East Texas Veteran\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Community Council for its Camp V Women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Center. The $100,000 grant will be used to renovate an existing building on the property, recently purchased by the ETVCC Board at 3212 West Front Street in Tyler, to house a comprehensive Women Veterans Service Center for mental, physical, and spiritual wellness. The ultimate goal of the project is to create a safe place for women veterans to benefit from programs that will increase self-esteem, develop confidence, encourage entrepreneurship, and empower women veterans to assume community leadership roles. Accepting the grant was Beverly Russell, Chair of the ETVCC Women Veterans Committee.<\/p>\n

\"\"Meals on Wheels Ministry was awarded the third grant – $36,000 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c for their program Together We Can Deliver. In order to decrease the wait list and better accommodate clients, the grant funds will allow MOWM to purchase two vehicles to add to its current fleet of older vehicles, many of which need replacing due to mechanical problems and age. Through this grant, MOWM will expand its services and thereby enable more senior women to remain living independently in their own homes, ensuring nutritious meals as well as important safety checks. John Genung, MOWM Board Chair, accepted the award.<\/p>\n

\"\"Receiving the fourth grant was The First Tee of Greater Tyler. The $31,519 grant will be used for the Learning Pavilion at Woldert Park, where the City of Tyler and TFTGT have a lease agreement and where golf lessons and other activities of the organization take place. The open-air, covered structure will be used for the educational portion of the TFTGT curriculum, further extending the reach of this unique youth development program that uses golf as a platform to touch essential life skills. The nine core values reinforced through TFTGT are: Honesty, Integrity, Sportsmanship, Respect, Confidence, Responsibility, Perseverance, Courtesy, and Judgment. Stacia Aylor, Executive Director of TFTGT, accepted the grant award.<\/p>\n

\"\"The final award given was a $60,758 grant to Tyler ISD Foundation for the Caldwell Ceramics Lab. The grant will advance the visual arts programming at Caldwell Arts Academy to include an authentic ceramics lab, allowing students to explore a full ceramics curriculum including: wedging and coiling clay, wheel throwing, trimming, glazing, sculpting, slab construction, and glass-fusing. The grant will create an art-access-for-all opportunity \u00e2\u20ac\u201c not only by developing the gifts of young artists and harnessing the benefits of arts integration, but also by providing a venue for community engagement through arts experiences. Accepting the grant for Tyler ISD Foundation was Betsy Jones, Executive Director. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It is our honor to support Alzheimer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Alliance of Smith County, East Texas Veteran\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Community Council, Meals on Wheels Ministry, The First Tee of Greater Tyler, and Tyler ISD Foundation for their innovative programs,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Deborah Race, Women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Fund Vice Chair for Grants. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Each of these projects is designed to have far-reaching impact \u00e2\u20ac\u201c not results for one year, but for many years to come.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d The next Women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Fund of Smith County grant cycle will begin in May, with a seminar for area nonprofits to learn more about the funding criteria and guidelines of the organization. Information about the grants program, as well as Women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Fund membership and events, is posted on the website: http:\/\/www.womensfundsc.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TYLER — The Women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Fund of Smith County awarded five high-impact grants at its 2020 Grants Reception Tuesday at Willow Brook Country Club, with over 200 people in attendance. Kristeen Seeber told KTBB on Wednesday, “we were so excited to distribute grants totaling $300,941. That was a record amount given out for one year, and … Continue reading Women’s Fund of Smith County Awards Over $300K<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":850843,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[177],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-850842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news-archive-archives"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-04 13:30:07","action":"change-status","newStatus":"trash","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=850842"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850842\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":850863,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850842\/revisions\/850863"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/850843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=850842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=850842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=850842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}