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We just completed our 2019 Community Grant Awards. As background, each year the Clemmons Community Foundation invites grant applications from nonprofit organizations who are seeking funding to provide programs or services in the Clemmons and Lewisville communities or to its residents. Applications are reviewed and considered by teams of community representatives with final recommendations for funding to our board of directors. Endorsed applications that the foundation cannot fund from its discretionary dollars are shared with our donor advisors for grant consideration. Within the grants just awarded, there are some exciting new opportunities as well as support to existing programs and services that have been impactful.   

Some of the existing programs funded include the Humane Society of Davie County to medically prepare fur babies for adoption; Arts for Life, which provides art, music, and other creative experiences for children in treatment at Brenner Children’s Hospital; and Cancer Services for its patient advocate program that helps to secure medication assistance and other resources for those who have been diagnosed with cancer. These are all exceptional programs serving Clemmons and Lewisville residents and we are delighted to help support them through our donor-created funds.

A little bit about what’s new this year — HandsOn Northwest NC will be offering a local workshop for volunteers who are serving on boards and want to learn more about board member expectations and how to serve most effectively. We’ve all seen the results when boards function well; namely, an organization that is effectively fulfilling its mission and flourishing. But when the board is floundering, the organization can seem to have lost a rudder! With training available, volunteers can enhance their board knowledge and service — and help organizations they serve to flourish.

Crisis Control Ministries will be offering a poverty simulation workshop called Bridges Out of Poverty in Clemmons-Lewisville for area leaders. The program will raise awareness of the experience and many challenges faced when living in poverty and how to best serve those in need to help move people out of impoverished circumstances. For those who have never walked in the shoes of poverty, it’s hard to imagine the complexity of the impact and difficult to develop and implement solutions that lead to lasting change. This workshop may help.     

Forsyth Futures is working in partnership with Age-Friendly Forsyth and identifying the needs of Forsyth County’s aging population.  Through a foundation grant, its work will include focus on Clemmons and Lewisville to learn more about aging in our footprint so that our local planners and organizations can better support and serve residents as they (we) age in our communities. Having aging parents has given me new insight about the challenges of growing older — challenges my parents and us kids had not considered and were not prepared to tackle. As we get older and even as we welcome new retirees to the area, good to know how life needs change and ensure that our communities are prepared for those who are aging-in-place longer.

Another grant will be awarded to the Clemmons Food Pantry to purchase equipment and furniture for the training room of the new facility (when built). We’re excited about their plans to offer various workshops to clients in topics that may help in food preparation of nourishing ingredients, tips to stretch a food budget, and other life skills that may help and even transform the circumstances that result in food insecurity.

Finally, we’ve awarded a grant to Parenting Path to provide local, in-home family counseling and guidance to families of teens that will enhance family relationships, school motivation, problem-solving and parenting skills. It’s been a long, long time since I’ve looked through teenage eyes. Some parents seem gifted in knowing the right things to say and do, at the right time to encourage and guide children through the teenage years to make wise decisions and develop into responsible young adults. Today, with all of the external influences on young minds, navigating the role of parenting is even more challenging. Wonderful to know that there are organizations with skillfully trained guidance to help.

We’re excited to help bring more programs and resources to the Clemmons-Lewisville area and increase accessibility of these services for our residents. We live in a beautiful part of the county — a special place that is quickly growing. It’s important that accessible resources grow with the population and its needs. The Clemmons Community Foundation through its volunteers and generous donors is grateful for the opportunity to assist.   

If you want to know more about any of these grants or want to participate in funding, give us a call at 336-663-6794.

Sandi Scannelli is CEO and president of the Clemmons Community Foundation