JASPER COUNTY, Mo. — The Community Foundation of the Ozarks has awarded a $20,000 grant to FosterAdopt Connect to support the Behavioral Interventionist Program in Joplin and Jasper County.
Demand has exceeded the resources of the program consistently since 2018.
“We have attempted to expand into the Jasper County area many times but continued to come up with funding shortages,” said Allison Gregory, Executive Director of FosterAdopt Connect in Southwest Missouri. “This grant will allow us to fund staff for the Behavioral Interventionist Program that already has 11 children on the waiting list.”
$209,631 was awarded to 13 agencies funded by an anonymous donor.
These grants will support programs to improve health, education and economic self-sufficiency in rural communities across the CFO’s service area.
The Rural Vitality Grants program is a companion to the CFO’s Louis L. and Julia Dorothy Coover Charitable Foundation Regional Grant-making Program to support rural initiatives in partnership with Commerce Trust Company.
“We are very fortunate to have partners and donors who understand the dual challenges of limited grant opportunities targeted for rural America and the disparities rural residents face in areas such as access to health care and educational opportunities — important factors that contribute to economic self-sufficiency,” CFO President Brian Fogle said.
The Community Foundation of the Ozarks was established in 1973.
It provides asset and resource development, grant-making, and public leadership through a network of donors, affiliate foundations and nonprofit partners across Missouri.
