OASIS, Habitat receive grants each will get $128,000 from Impact 100

10/24/2008

 

By Beth Wilberding
Messenger-Inquirer

 

Because of the women of Impact 100, Habitat for Humanity of Owensboro-Daviess County will be able to purchase a home of its own.

 

Habitat for Humanity received one of two $128,000 grants awarded by Impact 100. Owensboro Area Shelter Information & Services Inc. (OASIS) received the other grant.

 

The recipients were announced at Impact 100's third annual meeting Thursday evening at Owensboro Country Club.

 

This was the third year that Habitat applied for an Impact 100 grant. It applied for different projects each year, and this time, the organization asked for money to purchase a new warehouse and office at Moseley and 17th streets.

 

Besides the Impact 100 grant, two homeowners paying off their homes early will allow Habitat to purchase the new space.

 

"This is perfect," said Virginia Braswell, executive director of Owensboro's chapter of Habitat for Humanity. "This is what we wanted for quite a while."

 

The other finalists were Theatre Workshop of Owensboro, the Owensboro Museum of Science and History and the Western Kentucky Botanical Garden.

 

This is the second consecutive year that the science and history museum and botanical garden have been finalists.

 

Each organization had 10 minutes to make a presentation about its group and what it intended to use the grant money for before the members of Impact 100 voted for the two recipients.

 

OASIS plans to use its grant to purchase items for the shelter, including linens, mattresses and appliances.

 

There were more than 70 people staying at OASIS Thursday night, Executive Director Brenda Jones said during her presentation.

 

She said people often ask her how successful the shelter is. Besides being a domestic abuse shelter, women are able to get substance abuse counseling and participate in other programs.

 

"I can promise you that tonight there are 76 people in that building ... (who are) not afraid to go to sleep tonight," Jones said.

 

After learning that OASIS would receive one of the two grants, Jones told the group she was almost speechless.

 

"You just feel everything at once," she said after the announcement. "Excited, overwhelmed and grateful."

 

Impact 100 has continually increased its donations.

 

In 2006, its first year, the group raised $150,000 and awarded a grant for that amount to Grandma's Corner. Last year, Impact 100 raised $208,000 and awarded grants of $104,000 each to the Boulware Center Mission and Girls Incorporated.

 

The organization has raised more than $600,000 in its first three years, and one of its goals is to raise $1 million by its fifth year, said Martha Clark, the organization's president.

 

Impact 100 showed a video featuring all three organizations, then gave representatives from Girls Incorporated and the Boulware Center the opportunity to give brief speeches.

 

Savannah Estes, 13, has been a member of Girls Incorporated for eight years and spoke on behalf of the organization. Girls Incorporated requested grant money to purchase various items as part of a capital campaign, and the members have done everything from selecting what they wanted to purchase to learning how to read contracts.

 

"(We) appreciate everything you have done for us," Savannah told the crowd. She added that someday, members of Girls Incorporated might be able to join Impact 100, and she received a standing ovation.

 

"I would like to send you a great, big hug" from all 800 members of Girls Incorporated, Savannah said.

 

To be a member of Impact 100, area women donate $1,000 to be used in the grant or grants. After announcing how much money was raised and the number of grants to be awarded, Impact 100 invites nonprofit organizations to submit grant applications.

 

Focus groups in the areas of culture, education, environment, family and health and wellness narrow down the list to five finalists.

 

"Our purpose is to inspire, to educate and to encourage women to effect change in the greater Owensboro area through philanthropy," Clark said.

 

Girls Inc., Boulware win grants

10/26/2007

Impact 100 gives out awards of $104,000 each

By Beth Wilberding

 

Messenger-Inquirer

 

Tish Correa-Osborne wiped tears from her eyes as she walked to the podium Thursday evening at Owensboro Country Club.

 

"For all the girls we serve, thank you so much," the chief executive officer of Girls Incorporated of Owensboro-Daviess County told the members of Impact 100.

 

Girls Incorporated and the Boulware Center Mission Inc. were awarded grants for $104,000 each at Impact 100's second annual meeting.

 

The organizations were chosen from five finalists to receive Impact 100's second and third grants.

 

Impact 100 awarded $150,000 to Grandma's Corner last year.

 

After finding out the Boulware Center was the other recipient of an Impact 100 grant, Becky Hagan, the center's executive director, told the crowd that the center's residents were listening to the announcement on her cell phone.

Boulware is in the process of renovating the former passionist nun monastery on Wing Avenue at an estimated cost of $3.2 million, and the Impact 100 grant will go to renovate the kitchen.

 

"This is just a good step forward to $3.2 million," Hagan said.

Girls Incorporated will be using the grant for a capital improvement project that will establish a Web site and replace and/or upgrade computers, furnishings, appliances, security systems and program supplies at the Rolling Heights Campus.

 

The other finalists were the Owensboro Area Museum of Science and History, the Owensboro Symphony Orchestra and the Western Kentucky Botanical Garden.

 

The women of Impact 100 voted for two finalists at Thursday's meeting after each organization made a 10-minute presentation. Members who couldn't attend were able to vote via absentee ballots.

 

Correa-Osborne told the group that the grant money wasn't being given to her but to the girls involved with Girls Incorporated.

 

During her 10-minute presentation at the beginning of the meeting, Correa-Osborne said the girls would be going to the stores and checking warranties.

 

"They will make those items theirs," she said.

 

Hagan told the group during her presentation that, with the expanded kitchen, Boulware would be able to go from serving 60,000 meals a year to 150,000 a year.

 

"I hope you can all feel the electricity in this room," she said, adding that the room was electric because it was filled with extraordinary women.

 

One of the aims of Impact 100 is to effect change through philanthropy, President Martha Clark said during the meeting.

 

Impact 100 organizers also announced their new slogan at the meeting: "Impact women keep Owensboro alive, $1 million in five," signifying a goal or raising a cumulative $1 million in five years.

 

Two years into the program, Impact 100 has raised $358,000.

 

"I think next year will be a major turning point," Debbie Nunley, Impact 100 membership chairwoman, told the members.

 

Impact 100 members donate $1,000 to be put toward the grants. Twenty-eight organizations applied for this year's grants.

 

The applicants were narrowed down to five finalists in the focus group areas of culture, education, environment, family and health and wellness.