2020 Passion Grants

Passion grants convert The Community Foundation’s donors’ passions into impact through supporting programming in a broad range of focus areas including human services, the environment, restoring historical structures, clean water, human rights/inclusion, the arts, preschool child development, and projects in Eastern Lancaster County. Learn more about these funds here

Please find a complete list of the 2020 Summer Grant Recipients below. Congratulations to our latest grantee partners!

THE JOHN. J. SNYDER FUND

This fund supports efforts around Lancaster and Cumberland County to assure the historical preservation and restoration of important landmarks. Grant funds may be used for the “unglamorous things” necessary to upholding the legacy of historical structures such as painting, roof repair and replacement, electrical repair and replacement, and other efforts of preservation.

• Craighead House – $50,000 will be used to help to finish the home’s interior so we can provide indoor presentations and tours year-round and offer space to other non-profits. Work will include preserving unique artwork on the kitchen walls (created by family and visitors 1929-2012), drywalling, trim/molding repair, lighting fixtures, flooring, and wallpapering. Historic Craighead House (CH) offers programs on nature, the environment, literature, and local history at our outdoor education area or offsite.

“The Passion Grant from the Snyder Fund allows Craighead House to realize the dream we have been working for since 2012; it enables us to finish the renovation of the house so we can finally provide presentations, classes, and events year-round. As a small, all-volunteer organization, we are extremely grateful that the foundation and the Snyder family recognize the challenge in finding funds for the “unglamorous things” necessary to preserve a historical structure  for future generations.” – Lu Cosner; Craighead House

• The Factory Ministries – $40,900 will be used to restore the Together Community Center, built in 1927, that casts an impressive shadow on Paradise’s Rte. 30. Over the years, the old school building has fallen into disrepair, but it has stood the test of time and has served as a testament of Pequea Valley’s commitment to serve the community. Through restoration, we will preserve its history for years to come as we continue the work begun here long ago of bringing together residents with different backgrounds and abilities to strengthen our community. 

ADA F. HERR FUND 

This fund provides home health or custodial care to people living in their homes who are affected by illness or disability in Lancaster County.

• United Disability Services (UDS) – $30,300 will be used to implement a telemedicine pilot program in partnership with Angels on Call & Healogics, utilizing best practices to provide wound care management to our homebound clients to ensure successful recovery and the unlikelihood of hospital admittance. It bridges the gap between people. physicians, and healthcare systems through the diagnosis and treatment right from an individual’s living room.

KATHERINE K. GAETH FUND 

This fund provides funding for human service support that offers a direct benefit to clients, such as housing needs and home modifications, utilities, home care assistance, and food access.

• Bethany Christian Services of Lancaster PA – $15,000 will be used for ReNew, a signature prevention program that utilizes evidence-based models to strengthen the lives of incarcerated women with substance use disorders and their children by ensuring equitable access to treatment and support, across social welfare and substance abuse systems, through the first year of the child’s life. This project will meet critical needs of these women and children by providing essentials upon reentry to the community (e.g. security deposit; rent; utilities; workforce gear). 

“The generosity and support of the Lancaster County Community Foundation and benefactors of the 2020 Passion Grants allows us to further our mission of demonstrating the love and compassion of Jesus by protecting children, empowering youth, and strengthening families through quality social services.” – Carol Hess; Bethany Christian Services

• Elizabethtown Community Housing & Outreach Services – $11,000 will provide essential Client Advocacy services within four of ECHOS housing programs (Prevention/Diversion, Emergency Winter Shelter, Permanent Supportive Housing, & Crisis Housing), ensuring the continuation of housing services in the Northwest Region of Lancaster County. The programs utilize Client Advocacy services to provide clients the necessary resources and skills (e.g., financial support, housing navigation, budgeting, soft skills, goal planning) to obtain and maintain stability.

“Through the support of the Passion Grants, ECHOS is able to provide intensive case management services and client assistance to prevent evictions and stabilize families. By assisting our clients to stay housed and strengthen their relationships with landlords, they have the designated time and supports needed to build skills necessary for maintaining independent housing, preventing clients from returning to the cycle of homelessness.” -Kristin Kurjiaka, ECHOS 

THE ANNE C. & W. FRANKLIN RESSLER FUND

This fund supports programs working with residents in Eastern Lancaster County, exclusively in the geographic regions of Conestoga Valley School District, Eastern Lancaster County School District, and Pequea Valley School District.

• Girls on the Run Lancaster – $15,950 will be used for scholarships so that all girls, no matter their financial background, in Eastern Lancaster County can participate in our program. Since 2009, Girls on the Run of Lancaster has been making a big impact in the lives of girls in Lancaster and Lebanon County. Over 16,000 girls have participated in our unique after school program that has provided them with physical and emotional support while training for a 5K.

“At GOTR we are grateful to be a beneficiary of a 2020 Passion grant because our girls need the social-emotional learning (SEL), emotional connections, and support from our GOTR programming more than ever.  Whatever learning might look like this fall and spring, GOTR will have the ability to provide flexible program delivery, regardless of limitations.  The importance of our curriculum is unmatched and our role in helping girls and families maintain positive mental health and foster healthy relationships is more critical than ever.” -Carrie Johnson, GOTR Lancaster Lebanon 

• The Factory Ministries – $10,950 will be used for the program Building Braves, which helps elementary school-aged children strengthen developmental resources. Through collaboration with Pequea Valley School District (PVSD), we provide year-round out-of-school time (OST) learning opportunities that meet academic standards. Ultimately, we aspire for children to improve academically, build social capital, engage in healthy relationships, and attain skills that will transfer to their classrooms and other areas of their lives.

“Building Braves provides high quality out of school time programming to children in Pequea Valley. Through your generous gift and cross-sector collaboration, we are ensuring that we support students academically, help them engage in healthy relationships, and equip them to develop resources. Building Braves is a win-win for us and those we serve” – Aimee Franqui; The Factory Ministries 

LANCASTER ENVIRONMENTAL FUND & SHUMAN FAMILY DOWNSTREAM SOLUTIONS FUND

This fund encourages environmental protection, conservation, and environmental education efforts through investigating, exploring, studying, and evaluating new, useful, and efficient methods, procedures, and technologies relating to resource conservation, waste management, and protection of the environment. 

• Lancaster Science Factory – $31,140 will be used to develop 3,360 sq. ft. of outdoor space adjacent to the Science Factory’s exhibit hall into an outdoor courtyard designed around a theme of environmental sustainability. Two primary, hands-on, educational exhibits will explore solar power and stormwater management. Landscape features and signage will deepen learning through the inclusion of native plants, rain gardens, rain chains, rain barrels, a weather station, dry creeks, and a mural about our watershed.

“The Lancaster Science Factory is incredibly excited to construct a 4,000 square foot Outdoor Courtyard with an Environmental Sustainability Theme.  The project will feature an interactive Stormwater Exhibit that allows visitors to recycle rainwater collected from the roof or water native plans in a rain garden.  An interactive Solar Power Flower Exhibit will let visitors collect solar energy by directing the petals of a giant flower toward the sun.  This space will also include a 100-foot mural depicting the Lancaster County watershed and ecosystems, interpretive signage panels that highlight science and sustainability topics, outdoor classroom features, and a winding ADA pathway to ensure the area is fully accessible.  We can’t wait to unveil the courtyard in Summer 2021!” – Emily Landis; Lancaster Science Factory 

PATRICK KENNEY, JR. MEMORIAL EDUCATION FUND & K.L. SHIRK MEMORIAL FUND

This fund supports programs that fight hate and bigotry while seeking social justice for the most vulnerable members of Lancaster County, through internships, scholarships, workshops, and education.

• Bethany Christian Services of Pa – $10,000 will be used in partnership with community organizations, to provide interpretation and navigation through the various systems of service providers, as well as providing Case Management to 50 newcomers over a 90-day period each, in order to remove barriers to the provision of needs, ensuring all resources are successfully and fully accessed to meet critical needs. 

• CASA of Lancaster – $5,000 will be used to continue our model that community organizing with direct services to deepen our impact in the lives of our members. This includes organizing to promote civic engagement and to engage residents on issues that matter the most to them such as climate justice, welcoming communities for immigrants, education equity, worker and economic justice, voting and election reform, and justice for Puerto Rico. Services include financial capacity building and workforce development.

FLORENCE STARR TAYLOR FUND FOR THE VISUAL ARTS, LANCASTER ARTS AND CULTURE FUND, & ELOISE AWARD FUND

This fund provides support to visual arts programs in Lancaster County, with a preference given for those that serve underrepresented or underserved groups in our community.

• Pennsylvania College of Art and Design – $15,000 will be used for an artist-in-residency program that offers opportunities for visiting artists to engage with the College and the greater Lancaster community to stimulate creative inquiry and encourage new modes of exploration within visual arts. The artist provides seminars, workshops, and learning opportunities accessible to both students and community members. Outcomes will include engaging with diverse communities and exploring creative ideas within the context of the visual arts.

SAM AND VERDA TAYLOR FUND FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

This fund supports performing arts programs in the Lancaster County community, with a preference given for those that serve underrepresented or underserved groups in our community.

• Millersville University Office of Visual & Performing Arts – $15,900 will be used to continue this multi-faceted program that provides exceptional diversified arts & arts-learning experiences to young people from all walks of life, with a particular emphasis on the underserved and marginalized, including those who are disadvantaged, from refugee/immigrant families, and living with disabilities. The program strives to enhance their aesthetic, cognitive, social, and emotional growth while providing them the opportunity to become full participants in the cultural life of our community. 

“There’s an old Japanese proverb: “Now that my house has burned down, I have a better view of the moon.”  The current crisis offers not only challenges but also opportunities to re-imagine ways of reaching out to young people… Thanks to the Lancaster County Community Foundation, we aren’t just looking to see the moon; we are reaching for it!” –Barry Kornhauser; Millersville University

• Lancaster Symphony Orchestra – $10,900 will be used for The Sound Discovery Community Engagement Programs, a suite of seven initiatives that provides access, supports school music programs, and champions the development of the whole student: academically, individually, and socially.  The Lancaster Symphony Orchestra (LSO) envisions a community where every child, regardless of socioeconomic background, has access to hear and create music.

“With our new focus of virtual engagement and commitment to providing effective programs to the School District of Lancaster and surrounding public and private students in imaginative new ways, this award arrives at a perfect time. Amidst the many changes in how a performing arts organization functions during a global pandemic, we are energized by vast new possibilities. Because of the Passion Grant, the impact of our programs will be broadcast further than ever before.” – Melinda Myers; Lancaster Symphony Orchestra

BETTER LANCASTER FUND

• Vision Corps – $15,000 will be used for KidSight, a preventative screen program for children age 2-6 years to identify undiagnosed vision loss. This work is critical in preparing children for their education, which is why VisionCorps is implementing the Kindergarten is in Sight! program for Lancaster County children. VisionCorps (VC) serves Lancaster County children who are blind with early intervention programming through a holistic process individualized for the child. KidSight is a preventative screening program for children 
• Community Action Partnership of Lancaster County – $8,700 will be used to support CAP teachers and children ages 0-5 years, by providing additional classroom materials to encourage early social-emotional development and competency, such as books, games, Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (PBIS) resources, and trauma-related classroom materials. We anticipate higher incidents of students acting out in class, possible internalized negative behaviors, possible abuse/neglect, and attachment issues from prolonged quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The Community Action Partnership Thrive to Five program recognizes that many of our children enter our program at a level of development that makes it difficult for them to meet the social-emotional and cognitive demands of school, resulting in stress for the child and family.   For a high number of our children, adversity, trauma, and toxic stress is of high concern, as we know that trauma can negatively impact overall developmental progress as brain development.  The COVID-19 pandemic has brought forth concern from mental health experts, educators, and the American Academy of Pediatrics around the negative traumatic impact and outcomes from children being isolated and exposed to the stresses related to this worldwide matter over the last several months.  We are honored and want to express our deepest gratitude to the Lancaster County Community Foundation for partnering with us through this Passion Grant to do this important and impactful work. This financial support and collaboration will allow us to provide materials and resources that will support the social and emotional wellness and competence of the children and families we serve in our Thrive to Five programming.” – Kristy Aurand; CAP