FOR RELEASE: Jan. 17, 2012
Contact: Brent Ortolani, 918-295-6612 or 918-695-7078
Tulsa Area United Way Awards Venture Grants
Sharpening the social skills of autistic children by engaging them in volunteerism, providing culinary training as an alternative for women facing incarceration and tackling homelessness in an unexpected region outside of the city are among the innovative new programs to receive venture grants this year from the Tulsa Area United Way.
The local United Way announced recipients of the annual venture grants on Tuesday, Jan. 17, following approval by its Board of Directors. Seven venture grants were awarded, totaling $214,354.
“The Tulsa Area United Way is committed to finding innovative solutions to stubborn social problems in our community,” said Mark R. Graham, President and CEO. “We view the venture grants as an opportunity to pursue new and unique approaches toovercoming difficult challenges in the Tulsa area.”
The Tulsa Area United Way (TAUW) awarded $25,000 to A New Leaf of Broken Arrow for its Autism Works program; $18,354 to Domestic Violence Intervention Services (DVIS/Call Rape) for its Family Safety Center; $75,000 to Family and Children’s Services for the Women in Recovery Center for Employment; $25,000 to the Okmulgee County Homeless Shelter’s Rapid Re-Housing Education Foundation Program; $8,000 to Palmer’s Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention for Substance Use Disorders; $50,000 to the Tristesse Grief Center’s Children’s Education and Intervention Programs; and $13,000 to the YWCA’s Girls on the Run programs.
“These ‘state-of-the-art’ initiatives represent best practices in social services,” Graham said. “In some cases, they are methods that have proven successful in other communities, and in others, they are completely original approaches to old problems. We are proud to help these innovative programs get off the ground.”
In most cases, the venture grants will fund 25 to 50 percent of the cost of the program. Each organization will seek additional support from individuals, businesses and foundations in the Tulsa area to launch and sustain the programs.
The venture grants will help fund the following initiatives:
The Autism Works projectat A New Leaf will help young people between the ages of 13 to 18 gain social and communication skills in order to attend college or enter the workforce by participating in volunteer programs at area non-profit agencies. Approximately 40 children will participate during the first 18 months of the program.
DVIS/Call Rape will be able to retain the master teacher position in the child care program at its Ann Patterson Dooley Family Safety Center, which offers shelter, counseling, child care and legal services to victims of domestic violence and rape and their children. The program lost much of its federal funding this year.
The Women in Recovery Center for Employment at Family and Children’s Services, which provides housing, treatment and employment training as an alternative to women facing incarceration, will purchasekitchen supplies for its new culinary training program, operated in partnership with the School of Culinary Arts at the Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology. The program, which features a trained chef and state-of-the-art kitchen onsite, prepares women for careers in the hotel and hospitality industry.
The Okmulgee County Homeless Shelter’s Rapid Re-Housing Educational Foundation will locate housing and provide education for 12 homeless families.The educational portion of the program will follow the same guidelines as the Bridges out of Poverty program, which has been successful at other homeless shelters across the nation. The agency will work closely with the Deep Fork Community Action Agency, OSU Extension office and Oklahoma Credit Counseling to administer the program.
Palmer, a Tulsa substance abuse program for women and their children, will launch its innovative new Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention for Substance Use Disorders, providing meditative practices, guided imagery exercises and group discussions to help lower relapse rate among 132 substance abusers.
The Tristesse Grief Center will help children grieving the death of a loved one to remain and thrive in school. The center’s Children’s Grief Education and Intervention Programs will serve 750 students and their parents in public schools in Tulsa, Broken Arrow, Jenks, Sand Springs and Glenpool. The program also has received support from several Tulsa area foundations.
The YWCA – Tulsa’s Girls on the Run programs will focus on running as a way to help 75 girls in the third through eighth grades who meet lower income guidelineslearn more about developing skills, working together and succeeding in school.
For more about the TAUW Venture Grant program, visit
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