Community
Fund for Children & Families
Children are the most vulnerable members of the community, and are its
future. As an investment in that future, the Foundation last year established
the Community Fund for Children and Families with a charitable pledge
of $500,000. The Fund supports programs that enrich and nurture children
and teens and, in its two years, has awarded 10 grants totaling more
than $100,000.
The fund was created with an initial pledge from Arlington-based developer
and philanthropist Robert H. Smith and the Charles E. Smith Family Foundation.
2000 Grants Awarded
A $15,000 grant was awarded to the Greenbrier Learning Center, Inc.
to support the Kenmore Middle School Program, which focuses on academics
and independent learning for students in grades six to eight.
The AHC, Inc. Teen Excellence Encouragement Network (T.E.E.N.) received
$10,000 to fund clubs, tutoring, computer learning centers, and parent
training for children and teens.
The Arlington Community Action Program, Inc. (ACAP) Project Discovery
received $10,000 to assist students academically through after-school
workshops, tutorial programs, and field trips, and to help them prepare
for college. Begun as a pilot program at Gunston Middle School, Project
Discovery is now also offered in Kenmore and Swanson Middle Schools.
A $10,000 grant was awarded to the Arlington 4-H Character Club, a collaborative
after-school program for middle school students between the Virginia
Cooperative Extension and the Arlington United Methodist Church.
Two projects of the Columbia Heights West Teen Photography program received
a total of $8,400 in funding. The Arlington Portraits project is a traveling
exhibit of approximately 16 black and white portraits taken by 12 workshop
students. This project is in collaboration with the Arlington Arts Center,
Arlington Mill Community Center Gallery, the Urban Alternative, Greenbrier
Learning Center, and the Arlington County Department of Parks, Recreation,
and Cultural Resources. Youth photography workshops will also be scheduled,
teaching other youth groups basic photography and design.
A $7,000 grant was awarded to the Youth Project enabling it to continue
a specialized bilingual program of weekly education, counseling, and
therapy for Hispanic youth and their families attending Thomas Jefferson
Middle School.
The K.W. Barrett Elementary School received $3,936 to support Family
Computer Nights, enhancing the instructional programs and giving Barrett
students and their families greater access to computers and the Internet
after school and in the evenings.
1999 Grants Awarded
The Greenbrier Learning Center received $10,000 to expand its after
school-tutoring program into the Kenmore Middle School.
The Youth Project, Inc. received $10,000 to support Latino youth and
parents at Thomas Jefferson Middle School.
The T.E.E.N. program, which supports teenagers and their parents living
in Arlington Housing Corporation (AHC, Inc.) properties and the Wesley
Housing Corporation, received $15,000 for an after-school project in
the Buckingham neighborhood.
