GroundFloor Media's Get Grounded Foundation Awards Grants to Seven Programs Serving Denver's At-Risk Youth

DENVER, Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- GroundFloor Media (GFM) and its sister agency, CenterTable, announced today that their Get Grounded Foundation has awarded its latest round of grants to seven outstanding local community programs supporting youth services. More than $20,000 was granted to Child Advocates - Denver CASA, Denver Indian Family Resource Center, Denver Urban Scholars, ECDC - African Community Center of Denver, PlatteForum, Rocky Mountain Children's Law Center and Share Our Strength Colorado's Cooking Matters. The programs were selected for their efforts to get a new or innovative program off the "ground floor" in the area of child abuse and neglect, youth behavioral health or childhood hunger relief.

A volunteer committee made up of individuals from the sister agencies reviewed this round of grant applications. The deadline for applications for the spring 2017 grant cycle is Friday, April 21.

The Fall 2016 Get Grounded Foundation Grant Recipients

The mission of Child Advocates - Denver CASA (court-appointed special advocates) is to advocate for the best interests of abused and neglected children in Denver Juvenile Court through the services of specially selected and trained community volunteers. The Foundation's grant funds will support the nonprofit's new Youth Empowerment Program (YEP), which is designed to make sure that youth in the judicial system, despite their adverse circumstances, become independent and productive adults. Denver CASA will utilize the funding to provide youth in foster care with skill-building activities and opportunities for typical growing-up experiences.

Denver Indian Family Resource Center (DIFRC) works to strengthen vulnerable American Indian and Alaska Native children and families through collaborative and culturally responsive services. The Get Grounded Foundation grant will support monthly cultural nights for families served by the organization. DIFRC was also a fall 2015 Get Grounded Foundation grant recipient.

Denver Urban Scholars is dedicated to helping metro Denver students, with the greatest need, graduate high school and enter higher education with a meaningful life plan for success. Funds from the Get Grounded Foundation grant will support the organization's new group mentoring project within its Stepping Stones program, which addresses the unique needs of middle schoolers through a coordinated, integrated approach that combines academic and social support, mentoring relationships and a focus on the future to help every student chart his/her pathway to career and college.

The ECDC - African Community Center of Denver (ACC) serves more than 600 newly arrived refugees and asylees each year from countries as diverse as Bhutan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Iran, Iraq, Burma, Congo and others. The organization helps refugees rebuild safe, sustainable lives in Denver through supportive networks of people, services and community activities. The funding from this grant will support the ACC's Youth 4 Youth (Y4Y) program, a mentor/mentee program that directly impacts youth ages 11-13 who are entering middle school. These young adolescent refugees are vulnerable to bullying, suicide, gang activity, homelessness, malnutrition and substance abuse, and Y4Y offers emotional, social and mental health support.

PlatteForum supports contemporary artists and underserved youth in metro Denver through innovative, long-term arts programs that allow the youth to work side-by-side with artists-in-residence. Funds from the Foundation will be used to support a series of intensive workshops that build upon the work of artist-in-residence Kate Speer, an artistic choreographer working at the intersection of social activism and creation by merging theatrical storytelling with athletic, momentum-based movement to engage the audience. Speer will be paired with a group of 25 first through third graders at Strive Prep Ruby Hill in conjunction with the I Have a Dream Foundation. PlatteForum was also a fall 2015 Get Grounded Foundation grant recipient.

The Rocky Mountain Children's Law Center (RMCLC) works to transform the lives of abused, neglected and at-risk children through compassionate legal advocacy, clinical services, education and public policy reform. This grant funding will help enable RMCLC to start a new trauma-informed yoga program for children ages 5-18 who are being served within the organization's four legal service areas. RMCLC was a fall 2015 Get Grounded Foundation grant recipient as well.

For more than two decades, Share Our Strength's Cooking Matters Colorado has empowered families with the skills to stretch their food budgets and cook healthy meals so their children get nutritious food at home. With its grant, the Foundation will be supporting the organization's "Young Caregivers Pilot" Cooking Matters program. This program, offered in partnership with programs serving teen families, such as those from DPS' Florence Crittenton High School for struggling teen families, will serve low-income, teen parents of young children with an additional two-hour nutrition and food skills lesson during which they'll focus on the unique needs of this population, including introducing solid foods, preparing homemade baby food, and feeding best practices for optimal emotional and nutritional development of children in their early stages of life.

About The Get Grounded Foundation

The Get Grounded Foundation is based on two pillars of thought already firmly established at GFM and CenterTable. The first is that nonprofits, similar to many startup organizations, are entrepreneurial in their approach, yet often can't find seed funding to get a new or innovative program off the "ground floor." Second, it elevates the agencies' long giving history of focusing on causes that our team members are proud to support, including child abuse and neglect prevention, youth behavioral health and childhood hunger relief. As such, The Foundation provides one-year grants, funded by GFM and CenterTable's profits, for new or expanded, innovative or entrepreneurial programs or projects within an existing, qualified nonprofit that directly supports the healthy development of at-risk youth between the ages of three and 13 in the Denver Metro area.

About GroundFloor Media & CenterTable

Founded in 2001, GroundFloor Media (GFM) is an award-winning communications firm, focused on public relations and crisis & issues management. Its sister agency, CenterTable, helps clients create direct and measurable connections with their target audiences through social media, digital advertising, website design and development, SEO, video production, creative campaigns and content development.

Headquartered in Denver, the agencies have more than 30 team members throughout the U.S., with global reach across 50 countries through membership in PROI, the industry's largest partnership of independent market-leading agencies.

GFM has been recognized four times by OUTSIDE magazine as one of the top five Best Places to Work in America. In addition, GFM was named a Certified B Corporation® in 2016 by the global nonprofit B Lab®. The certification recognizes companies meeting the highest global standards for corporate transparency, accountability and social and environmental performance. In 2015, GFM established the Get Grounded Foundation, a private 501(c)(3) that provides community grants for innovative or entrepreneurial programs within an existing, qualified nonprofit that directly supports the healthy development of at-risk or neglected youth in the Denver Metro area.

For more information about GFM and CenterTable, visit www.groundfloormedia.com or www.MeetAtCT.com and get to know the agencies via their blog, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Media Contact:
Amanda Brannum
GroundFloor Media
303.865.8143
[email protected]

SOURCE GroundFloor Media

Related Links

http://www.groundfloormedia.com