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| Title: | A Better Life: Helping Families Find Their Way - Pilot | Amount: | $554,313 |
| Recipient: | The Worcester Housing Authority |
| Grant Type: | Synergy Initiative - A Better Life: Helping Families Find Their Way |
The pilot project for A Better Life will provide 30 families with intensive case management and support services from a variety of partner agencies. The program will be voluntary and will address a broad range of needs, including educational, personal, financial and occupational, in order to provide participants with the tools they need to be able to exit public housing. The anticipated time line for the pilot project is 15 months which will enable the evaluators to track the participants for a full 12 months.
The Worcester Housing Authority (WHA) will begin in Great Brook Valley (GBV) -- Great Brook Valley Gardens and Curtis Apartments -- an area that houses about 3,000 residents. Most of the area's residents (75%) are Latino, and 89 percent of GBV households are headed by single females and include nearly 1,400 children.
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| Title: | Hunger-Free & Healthy - Implementation, Year 4 | Amount: | $109,465 |
| Recipient: | Worcester County Food Bank |
| Grant Type: | Synergy Initiative - Hunger-Free & Healthy |
Hunger-Free & Healthy (HFH) will continue its efforts to sustain various elements of the project as Foundation funding concludes in 2012. The Worcester County Food Bank (WCFB) anticipates supporting the SNAP Outreach Worker with help from Project Bread which will receive federal reimbursement from the USDA for this outreach effort.
The Regional Environment Council (REC) has secured funding for an Americorps VISTA position to run the school gardens program and work has been done to incorporate the gardens into the curriculum at various grade levels. REC is working to develop a sustainable business model for the Farmer's Markets in Main South and Great Brook Valley and is also partnering with Cooking Matters to continue to offer classes on nutrition and health eating.
The HFH advocacy efforts are continuing ont he federal Farm Bill reauthorization, the implementation of the state's school nutrition guidelines, the Act Fresh Campaign sponsored by the Massachusetts Public Health Association and the local school wellness policy.
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| Title: | Improve Access to Care - Pilot | Amount: | $442,695 |
| Recipient: | Milford Regional Medical Center |
| Grant Type: | Synergy Initiative - Improve Access to Care |
Milford Regional Medical Center (MRMC) has created the Greater Milford Health Access Coalition which met several times during the planning grant year and determined that the solution for improving access to health care among the underserved in the region was to work with the Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center (EMKCHC) to open a satellite location in Milford. The plan is to open the satellite health center in the fall of 2012. The first part of the year will be spent identifying a location, determining the scope of services and completing whatever construction will be necessary. EMKCHC plans to offer primary care services on site and is working with local specialty and behavioral health providers to arrange for the provision of those services at this satellite location.
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| Title: | The Compass Project - Pilot | Amount: | $397,595 |
| Recipient: | LUK, Inc. |
| Grant Type: | Synergy Initiative - The Compass Project |
The pilot project for The Compass Project will work toward prevention of transition age homelessness through the use of intensive case management and the development of a coordinated system of care. The project plans to address the issue of transition age homelessness at the level of youth and families by providing supportive services; at the level of the community by developing a coordinated system of care to meet the needs of the youth and their families; and ensuring that successful changes are sustained through policy advocacy. The project will be based on the principles of positive youth development (PYD).
The goals of the project are: to identify ways to successfully stabilize the living situation of vulnerable youth and prevent them from becoming homeless; to develop a coordinated system of care to address the needs of these youth and their families; and to develop a policy agenda with the goal of decreasing the likelihood of transition age homelessness. The project will also work to provide employment training, work readiness skills and other life skills to the participants.
| Project Co-Directors: |
Dr. Gordon Benson
Dr. Laurie Ross |
| Fiscal Agent: |
LUK, Inc. |
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| Title: | The Winchendon Project - Phase V | Amount: | $75,049 |
| Recipient: | Winchendon Public Schools |
| Grant Type: | Synergy Initiative - The Winchendon Project |
The Winchendon Project has successfully transitioned to the Winchendon Public Schools (from the Montachusett Opportunity Council) thus allowing parts of this project to be sustained by school personnel. Notably, students are able to access behavioral health treatment services on site through the school-based health center and the All Stars curriculum continues to be offered in grades 7 and 8. In addition, two teachers have been trained in a social norming model and can continue the social norming campaign at Murdock Middle High School (MMHS). Staff and parents know that students can access behavioral health services at MMHS and 58 students accessed these services in the spring of 2011. Efforts are underway to ensure that the schoool-based health center continues to operate and include behavioral health services for students at MMHS.
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| Title: | Worcester Initiative for Supported Reentry - Pilot | Amount: | $373,641 |
| Recipient: | Henry Lee Willis Community Center |
| Grant Type: | Synergy Initiative - Worcester Initiative for Supported Reentry |
The Worcester Initiative for Supported Reentry (WISR) is a coordinated reentry program for men involved with Superior Court Probation. The goal is to reduce the rate of recidivism by providing clinical and case management services by increasing employment and housing stability and reducing alcohol and drug use. Participants will be assessed prior to release and will each have an individual strengths-based service plan (ISP) that will be revised as appropriate throughout the project. They will receive intensive supportive case management and be linked to medical, mental health, housing, vocational and educational resources designed to bolster their ability to address those factors and life-circumstances that will contribute to their ability to remain crime free.
Eligible program participants for the pilot project will: be adult men between the ages of 20 and 50; have either a high school or GED diploma; have three or fewer convictions and episodes of incarceration; have some demonstrated employment and housing history; have no previous convictions for sex offenses, arson or murder; and have positive or at least neutral views on engaging in treatment. Twenty-five men will be recruited for the pilot project.
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