Bar association foundation funds nonprofit project
The Lighthouse Foundation doesn’t have the funding to fix up its sober living home as often as is necessary, so any additional funds the organization receives could be helpful for additional renovations.
“People move out and (the rooms) need things to be fixed, we definitely do that for each person,” said Kierra Elder, communications director at the Lighthouse Foundation, based in Middlesex Township. “Renovating the kitchens and things like that don't happen as often as the bedrooms.”
It costs about $160,000 for Inspired Hearts and Hands to provide back-to-school supplies to all the children in need in Butler Area School District and Freedom Area School District, so any monetary help with that mission goes a long way.
“If a child is equipped with the basic resources they need to learn, their ability and enthusiasm grows exponentially,” said Mindy Schnitgen, founder and executive director of Inspired Hearts and Hands, based in Gibsonia. “What we set out to do was to provide these students with those resources.”
Both organizations and the Child Advocacy Center of Butler County received grant money from the Butler County Bar Association Foundation this year. The foundation gave out a total of $13,000 in grant funding.
Delia Bouwers Bianchin, managing partner with Outside Virtual Counsel and member of the bar association foundation, said for several years the foundation has awarded grants to Butler County organizations, made possible by donations from members.
“We start looking early in the year,” Bianchin said. “We get some funding from the bar, we raise money from attorneys each year.”
Bianchin said nonprofits can apply to the foundation with funding requests for anything, but many ask for money for specific projects or initiatives. She said looking through funding requests has given her an idea of what the biggest needs are in Butler County.
“One thing that really struck me is how much food insecurity there is in Butler County,” Bianchin said.
Danielle Schmidt, executive director of the Children's Advocacy Center of Butler County, said the $5,000 the agency received will be used to fund training to combat human trafficking in the county. Several people involved in county agencies will take part in the training, which will go over identifiers of human trafficking.
“We want to explain to the county what human trafficking is and what it is in Butler County,” Schmidt said. “Grooming, exploitation, coercion, and these things can be online or in person. We want to make sure community members and agencies can access resources whenever they see a client or friend is at risk for trafficking.”
Schmidt also said these trainings will be ongoing, and will include more people in leadership roles so they can pass information on throughout the community.
“It's raising awareness and providing education, that's the key,” Schmidt said. “Butler County definitely has been taking steps toward really bringing this to light with all the players involved to provide appropriate.”
Food insecurity is also addressed by Inspired Hearts and Hands, but the money it is receiving will be used to give clothing to children who receive help with food through their school.
“We will be using grant funding to fund a portion of the socks and underwear that we purchase,” Schnitgen said. “Every child in free and reduced lunch can shop for their back to school needs.”
Elder said the Lighthouse Foundation has several sober living houses in Butler, and any money the agency receives is used to spruce up the homes to make them better environments for recovery.
“The living situation in our sober living house is very important for these men to grow,” Elder said. “It's important to us that any living situation or anything we can do to make their process of getting to their goals we want to make easy for them.
“It isn't fully in our budget to do any renovations. It's just basically to make sure that the houses are clean and healthy and safe.”
Bianchin said the foundation received fewer applications for funding this year than previous years, but the bar association is always looking for nonprofit’s ideas. She also said she enjoys seeing the results of the projects once they get funding.
“It gets me more motivated to raise money so we can give more away,” Bianchin said.
