The Jefferson Foundation provided 100 agencies and organizations with a reason to be thankful during the holiday season.
The foundation awarded 108 grants totaling $3,281,579.54 in its second round of grants this year. In June, the foundation awarded 129 grants to 124 organizations and agencies for $3,748,484.85.
In this year’s second round of grant funding, six agencies or organizations received grants for $100,000 or more, with Chestnut Health Systems receiving the largest amount of funding, $345,488.
Saint Louis Counseling received the second largest amount of funding, $200,000, and the Ozark Food Pantry received the third largest amount, $115,000.
“I think this was another great round,” said Missy Endres, Jefferson Foundation executive vice president. “I think you saw a lot of grants to help with basic needs and mental health, as well as for capacity building and expansion of services. I think this round of grants will make a big impact.”
The foundation has been awarding grants in two rounds each year since 2018, with organizations notified that they received funding in May and November. The foundation starts sending the funds to groups at the start of June and December.
The foundation was created from the $154 million the Mercy health system paid in 2013 when it acquired Jefferson Regional Medical Center (now Mercy Hospital Jefferson) in Crystal City. It began awarding grants in 2014.
Endres said the foundation will accept applications for the first round of grant funding in 2025 from Jan. 3 through Feb. 6.
Chestnut
This round’s largest recipient, Chestnut Health Systems, which provides mental health and substance abuse services for children and adults, received two grants for a total of $345,488. One grant, for $250,000, will be used to continue providing services throughout the county and the other grant, for $95,488, will be used to renovate its Hillsboro location, 102 Fourth St., which will allow the organization to better serve student clients when school’s not in session.
“They provide great services both at schools and their office in Hillsboro,” Endres said. “We are happy they are maintaining and expanding their services.”
Chestnut began operating in Jefferson County in 2019, and it moved to its current location last year after operating at offices off Business Hwy. 21, also in Hillsboro.
Jim Wallis, Missouri director of business development, said Chestnut’s building on Fourth Street is a converted house that has 3,233 square feet of open space in its basement.
He said Chestnut will use the foundation’s $95,488 grant to help fund the creation of 15 offices and a group meeting room in the basement. It also will add a handicap-accessible restroom.
Wallis said the agency hopes to begin the renovation project in December and see it completed by spring 2025.
“We want to have an open house after the renovations are completed,” he said.
Wallis said the additional office space and meeting room will be a game changer for Chestnut because it will allow clinicians who work in county schools to operate when schools are not in session.
“The schools that we serve in Jefferson County have been very accommodating during the school year to provide us with office space,” he said. “The issue is when school is over or not in session, that is when our at-risk families need us more.”
Wallis said over the past five years, Chestnut has served more than 3,000 county residents, and the organization estimates it will serve at least 800 clients in 2025.
“They have made a huge impact,” Endres said of Chestnut. “They communicate and collaborate so well with other providers that they are able to meet some unmet needs. That has been huge for the county.
“The grant for the expansion is really going to help them when schools are not in session to maintain services. That is huge. You don’t want to drop off services for kids just because school is out. We are really excited about that grant.”
Saint Louis Counseling
Saint Louis Counseling, formerly called Catholic Family Services, received a $200,000 grant, the second largest amount of funding in this round of grants.
The agency has operated in Jefferson County since 1988 and has a location at 1349 McNutt St. in Herculaneum. It provides services for the Fox C-6 School District and Catholic schools.
“This (grant) is essential for us to be able to continue to provide services to individuals in Jefferson County,” Saint Louis Counseling CEO Sharon Spruell said. “Whether it is school-based or office-based, this helps to provide sliding-scale fee services to individuals who may not otherwise be able to afford mental health care.”
Spruell said the grant allows the agency to serve approximately 300 people per year in Jefferson County.
Saint Louis Counseling has received a total of $2,478,807.16 in grant funding from the Jefferson Foundation, including this round’s $200,000 grant.
“We continue to see their programs be very successful in the reports that they provide us,” Endres said. “We are glad we can help keep them in Jefferson County.”
Ozark Food Pantry
The Ozark Food Pantry, the third largest recipient in this round of grants, received two grants for a total of $115,000. One of the grants is for $15,000 to help fund basic needs and the other is for $100,000 to go toward moving into a larger location.
The pantry has operated rent-free out of a building the city of Festus owns at Sunset Park for years. Those who run the pantry started looking to relocate to a larger building last year.
“Everyone has their eyes open looking for a new building,” Ozark Food Pantry president Carmelita Davidson said. “If we can’t find a building that we can renovate, we will probably have to buy a property where we would start from scratch and build from the ground up.”
Davidson said the current pantry building offers about 2,500 square feet of space and is too small to store all the food the organization distributes.
She said those who operate the pantry hope to find an approximately 2-acre property in the Festus or Crystal City area with a building that has about 5,000 square feet of space.
Davidson said the pantry received a $250,000 grant from the Jefferson County Economic Development Corporation in 2022, and it has collected money through various fundraising efforts to go toward a future location.
She also said she was not sure how much money would be needed to move to a new location.
“They have raised a fair amount on their own, which is very impressive,” Endres said. “We are pleased to be a small part of it.”
Other large recipients
Endres said LIV received a $100,000 grant to convert a building behind its women’s sober living home in Hillsboro into a community center. The organization opened Jenni’s house, 428 Vreeland Road, in July.
“It will be a great resource for their residents and community members,” Endres said. “We are very excited to bring this new service to Jefferson County.”
Promise Community Homes, an organization formed in 1973 as Rainbow Village to provide housing for those with disabilities, operates four homes in Jefferson County, with three in Imperial and one in Barnhart.
“There is a waiting list for their services,” Endres said. “They have continually invested and opened a new home in Jefferson County to help with that waiting list. To be part of another new home that will open is something we are grateful to be part of.”
Endres said she also is excited that the foundation is providing a $98,567.05 grant to Upward Smiles, which offers subsidized dental services at its locations in Festus, 660 N. Creek Drive, and Farmington, 2820 Anchor Drive.
The grant funding will allow the organization to buy equipment needed to make crowns at the facility for children.
“They said what they were seeing is when kids needed to come back after getting a temporary crown, they wouldn’t see the kids until something happened to that temporary crown,” Endres said. “They can eliminate multiple visits for a crown, and that will be huge for kids.”
Jefferson Foundation 2024 Round 2 Grants
- Aging Ahead: $5,000, to purchase disaster kits for homebound clients and to increase emergency preparedness at the senior centers in Jefferson County.
- ALIVE: $65,000, to support counseling services, transportation services and the Nights of Safety program for Jefferson County victims of domestic violence.
- All For Family: $30,000, to support the supervised family visit program.
- Angels’ Arms: $20,000, to support the foster homes in Jefferson County.
- Anthropedia Foundation: $30,000, to support the wellness center in the Northwest R-1 School District and to provide workshops and seminars throughout the community.
- Antonia Fire Protection District: $29,000, to purchase emergency medical equipment.
- Atlas Youth Outreach: $9,400, to provide therapeutic support groups for teens in Jefferson County.
- Back to Play: $10,000, to purchase inclusive play equipment and increase services to children with disabilities.
- Boy Scouts of America, Greater St. Louis Area Council: $35,000, to provide program support and camp scholarships for Jefferson County Scouts.
- Brain Injury Association of Missouri: $15,000, to provide services to survivors of brain injury and to their families in Jefferson County.
- Brenden’s Friday Backpack Program Inc.: $40,000, to purchase program supplies, including food for more than 1,700 children in local schools.
- Buren-Douglass Neighborhood Center: $10,000, to provide healthy living workshops and classes.
- Buren-Douglass Neighborhood Center: $10,000, to provide training to the board and staff and for strategic planning.
- C-6 Educational Foundation Inc.: $10,000, to purchase gift cards to provide students with necessary clothing, shoes and coats. to support prevention programs, Special Olympics and the Special Needs Prom.
- Casa de Salud: $10,000, to support health services for Jefferson County residents.
- Center for Hearing & Speech: $55,000, to provide hearing and screening services at Jefferson County schools and to provide the full-service audiology program for Jefferson County residents.
- CHADS Coalition For Mental Health: $10,000, to expand school-based services through summer months.
- Chestnut Health Systems: $95,488, to construct additional offices and expand service capacity.
- Chestnut Health Systems: $250,000, to support mental health and substance abuse services in Jefferson County.
- Child Center-Marygrove: $26,000, to support residential treatment services for Jefferson County children and youth.
- Circle of Concern Food Pantry: $10,000, to provide program support for the food pantry and financial assistance programs.
- Connect Church: $25,000, to increase dental services for adults in Jefferson County.
- Court Appointed Special Advocates of Jefferson County: $33,500, to support the agency’s marketing efforts to recruit potential CASA volunteers to advocate for children in foster care.
- Covenant House Missouri: $10,000, to provide services for Jefferson County youth who are experiencing or at-risk of homelessness.
- CrossRoads Counseling Centers: $10,000, to increase counseling services in Jefferson County.
- Crystal City School District: $3,000, to purchase food and hygiene items for the backpack program.
- De Soto School District: $10,000, to provide program support for the basic needs program.
- Deaconess Faith Community Nurse Ministries: $16,396.64, to provide health services at local food pantries.
- De Soto Community Church of God: $5,500, to purchase emergency medical equipment.
- Developmental Disability Advocates: $10,000, to upgrade the lighting at four of the agency’s locations.
- Disability Resource Association Inc.: $23,477.96, to upgrade the agency’s technology and to support the home modifications and support group programs.
- Disability Resource Association Inc.: $65,000, to support the transportation and home modification programs and to purchase equipment for the office.
- E3Twenty Ministries: $50,000, to purchase a truck for the summer meal program.
- FamilyForward: $60,000, to support the Family Engagement program in Jefferson County.
- Feed My People: $10,000, to replace flooring in the food pantry.
- Food Outreach Inc.: $15,000, to purchase a sealing machine for the medically tailored meal program.
- Foster Together: $25,000, to provide support for the basic needs program that serves foster parents and children.
- Fox C-6 School District: $12,786.29, to purchase furniture and sensory items for the special needs classrooms.
- G.S.B.T.T.C. (Giving Something Back to The Community): $12,500, to provide direct financial assistance to individuals and families in need.
- Get Healthy DeSoto: $25,000, to support current and new programs.
- Help 4 Transplant Kids Foundation: $5,000, to support pre- and post-organ transplant children and their families.
- Helping Hands and Horses: $10,000, to support the agency’s equine therapy program for people with disabilities.
- Hillsboro Fire Protection District: $27,995.60, to purchase fitness equipment.
- Hillsboro School District: $10,000, to support the basic needs program for students.
- Hillsboro School District: $20,000, to purchase accessible playground equipment.
- Hillsboro United Methodist Church: $10,000, to purchase food and other basic needs items.
- Hope Lutheran Church: $8,000, to provide direct financial assistance to individuals and families in need.
- Jeffco Shop With A Cop: $40,000, to purchase a van for the basic needs program.
- Jefferson College Foundation Inc.: $110,000, to provide academic and housing scholarships and to support the food pantry program.
- Jefferson County Community Partnership: $95,000, to provide program support for the Children & Families Safe program.
- Jefferson County Government: $20,000, to provide Jefferson County law enforcement officers the opportunity to attend the Law Enforcement Survival training.
- Jefferson County Pregnancy Care Center (MyLife Medical Center): $10,000, to purchase furniture for the expanded client area.
- Kids In The Middle: $20,000, to provide group and individual counseling to Jefferson County children.
- KidSmart: Tools for Learning: $5,000, to provide school supplies to Jefferson County children.
- KMA Foundation Inc.: $25,000, to provide a safe driving awareness program to schools in Jefferson County.
- KVC Missouri: $38,500, to support the Incredible Years Parent Education program for families in Jefferson County.
- Lafayette Industries: $95,000, to implement the STEPUP Supported Employment program in Jefferson County.
- Let Me Run St. Louis: $5,000, to support the Let Me Run program in Jefferson County schools.
- Little House of Neurodiversity: $10,000, to provide program support and to help expand services.
- LIV Recovery Sober Living: $100,000, to develop a recovery community center.
- Living Life on 2 Wheels Inc.: $10,000, to complete a traffic study and develop a master plan for walking and hiking trails.
- Living Life on 2 Wheels Inc.: $16,000, to support the All Kids Bike program at local schools and to hold a camp for children and adults with special needs.
- Make-A-Wish Missouri and Kansas: $20,000, to grant wishes for Jefferson County children who have a critical illness.
- Missouri Child Care Resource and Referral Network dba Child Care Aware of Missouri: $10,000, to increase access to telemed and telemental health services to child care educators.
- Missouri Kids Unplugged: $5,000, to support healthy outdoor events for Jefferson County families.
- Mothers Against Drunk Driving: $10,000, to support the Victim Services and Underage Drinking programs in Jefferson County.
- New Directions Ministry: $20,000, to fund security upgrades and staff training.
- New Hope Outreach Center: $20,000, to provide basic needs services for persons who are homeless.
- Office of Job Training Programs: $70,000, to support employment services for Jefferson County residents.
- Ozark Food Pantry: $15,000, to provide program support for the basic needs program.
- Ozark Food Pantry: $100,000, to purchase a new building.
- Peace Pantry: $50,000, to purchase and install a back-up generator.
- Pony Bird Inc.: $16,968, to support the medical and therapeutic supports program.
- Presbyterian Children’s Homes and Services: $60,000, to support the Family Solutions for Kids program in Jefferson County.
- Promise Community Homes: $100,000, to expand residential services for persons with disabilities in Jefferson County.
- rEcess: $2,000, to purchase program supplies for the respite program.
- Recreation Council of Greater St. Louis: $11,000, to provide services for people with developmental disabilities.
- Redemption Church: $13,000, to purchase freezers for the food pantry.
- Rural Parish Clinic of Archdiocese of St. Louis: $20,000, to create a development plan and to provide staff training.
- Sacred Heart Catholic Church: $10,000, to support the senior exercise class program.
- Saint Louis Counseling: $200,000, to provide mental health counseling and presentations in Jefferson County parochial schools and at the agency’s office in Herculaneum.
- Sherwood Forest Inc: $10,000, to provide program support for Jefferson County youth participating in the Quest program.
- Society for the Blind & Visually Impaired: $35,000, to provide mobile low vision services in Jefferson County.
- Society of St Vincent de Paul, St Rose of Lima Conference: $7,500, to provide direct financial assistance to people and families in need.
- Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Sacred Heart - Crystal City Conference: $7,500, to provide direct financial assistance to individuals and families in need.
- Springhills Presbyterian Church: $5,000, to provide direct financial assistance to people and families in need.
- St. Elizabeth Adult Day Care Center of Arnold: $5,000, to provide staff training.
- St. Louis Area Diaper Bank: $10,000, to make electrical upgrades to the agency’s warehouse.
- St. Louis Area Diaper Bank: $25,000, to provide program support for the diaper and period supply programs in Jefferson County.
- St. Louis Health Equipment Lending Program: $50,000, to support the health equipment lending program in Jefferson County.
- St. Louis Learning Disabilities Association Inc.: $5,000, to provide early intervention screenings at early childhood centers in Jefferson County.
- St. Martha’s Hall: $10,000, to support domestic violence services for Jefferson County residents.
- Sunnyhill Inc.: $20,000, to increase accessibility to outdoor activities.
- Teen Challenge of St. Louis: $25,000, to support residential substance abuse services.
- The Arya Foundation: $5,000, to support the Disability Awareness Convention.
- The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, St. Louis Chapter: $15,000, to ensure that Jefferson County children have access to life-saving asthma equipment and medication.
- The Covering House: $40,000, to assist with general operating expenses at the long-term therapeutic home.
- The Curators of the University of Missouri: $25,000, to purchase simulation equipment for the nursing program.
- The December 5th Fund: $7,500, to provide services to Jefferson County families who are impacted by cancer.
- The James II Project: $20,000, to provide program support for the basic needs program.
- The Oasis Institute: $25,000, to provide health and wellness classes in Jefferson County.
- The Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis: $90,000, to support the Student Advisor program and to provide scholarships for Jefferson County students.
- Transformation Church: $5,000, to provide program support for the basic needs program.
- Tree of Life Foundation: $30,000, to support the medical equipment program.
- Upward Smiles Inc.: $98,567.05, to purchase equipment to scan and produce crowns.
- Variety the Children’s Charity of St. Louis: $30,000, to provide medical equipment to children with special needs.
- VOYCE: $10,000, to support the Ombudsman program.
- Western Governors University: $25,000, to provide scholarships for Jefferson County students who are pursuing a degree in nursing.
Total: $3,281,579.54