Grants announced at Holiday Huddle
Two new initiatives were awarded mini-grants Thursday afternoon at the Butler Collaborative for Families (BCF) second annual Holiday Huddle.
The Rise Up Riders program, a partnership between the Alliance for Non Profit Resources, Butler Health Systems and the Lighthouse Foundation, received a $5,000 grant from BCF. Rise Up Riders is an idea to assist people to obtain nonmedical transportation where transportation would improve their lives.
A second $5,000 grant, provided by Trinity Lutheran Church, will go to fund the Year of Family Fun partnership between the Institute for Nonprofit Leadership, Butler County Human Services, Butler YMCA and Butler Succeed.
The Year of Family Fun will provide low-cost or no-cost monthly activities to eight or nine families in the Broad Street School neighborhood in the hopes the activities will forge natural social connections.
Josh Strelbicki, a co-chair of BCF, as well as assistant director at Butler County Alliance for Children, said both proposals seemed so worthwhile to the BCF’s membership of organizations, churches, schools and individuals that provide services and supports to families, Trinity Lutheran stepped up to fund the one the collaborative didn’t.
Strelbicki said the Holiday Huddle at the Monarch Institute at 100 Brugh Ave. attended by 30 of the organizations, such as Catholic Charities, Family Pathways and Highmark Caring Place, was a chance for members of the various organizations to mix and mingle, as well as recognize people leaving and joining the BCF executive committee.
Strelbicki said the collaborative works as an integrated network of services geared toward children and families.
“It’s understanding what each other is doing and helping each other fulfill their missions, and providing gap analysis, what are the service gaps in the community?” said Strelbicki.
Jim Smith, the coordinator of the BCF, said one gap the collaborative is trying to fill is a lack of transportation in Butler County.
“For many, public transportation leaves them a mile from work. People are discharged from the hospital with no way to get home,” said Smith.
One person hoping to find help from BCF for her project Thursday was Lynn McKinnis of Concordia Visiting Nurses.
McKinnis said she got the idea for a weekend pop-up health clinic featuring dental, medical and vision procedures.
McKinnis said she contacted the Remote Area Volunteer Corps, which agreed to supply the medical equipment for the clinic, slated for Nov. 11 and 12, 2023, at the Butler Intermediate High School, but she is responsible for getting the medical volunteers to run it. She’s turning to BCF.
“I didn’t even know it existed,” said McKinnis.
Strelbicki said the BCF was formed along with collaboratives in all the state’s counties during grants given them during the governorship of Tom Ridge from 1995 to 2001.
“All the counties got money to create a collaborative, but the Butler Collaborative for Families is the only one still functional,” he said. He thanked the volunteers in the organizations that make up the BCF for keeping the collaborative alive.
