CFO grants $165K for projects addressing community needs

Seven Springfield organizations seeking to address Community Focus Report issues were recipients this week of a new round of grants from the Community Foundation of the Ozarks Inc.

The nonprofit issued a combined $165,000 to the agencies at a presentation held Feb. 12 at Centerstone’s administrative campus, 2885 W. Battlefield Road, according to a news release. The funds were distributed through the Jewell Schweitzer Quality of Life Grant Program. Named in memory of the late Springfield philanthropist, the grant program funds innovative solutions to community challenges, identified as red flags in the Community Focus Report, most recently released in 2024, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting.

The CFO engaged representatives of donor-advised funds for the second consecutive year to expand funding for the Schweitzer grant program, which had an initial $120,000 budget, according to the release. That resulted in donors recommending a total of $45,000 from their funds to support three additional grants.

“We are so grateful to both the nonprofits addressing community needs and the donors who have chosen to help fund additional projects from a group of many worthy applicants,” said Winter Kinne, CFO’s president and CEO, in the release. “The philanthropic legacies of Jewell Schweitzer and our donor-advisors will continue through the lives transformed by these grant-funded projects.”

The grant recipients are as follows:

• Boys & Girls Clubs of Springfield Inc., $30,000 to close achievement gaps for underserved students through the Academic Achievement Bridge Program

• CASA of Southwest Missouri, $30,000 to enhance the child advocacy program by strengthening family support through an early childhood specialist

• Centerstone Foundation, $30,000 to partner with Preferred Family Healthcare Inc. to provide scheduled drop-in child care services for families in need, allowing increased access to behavioral health crisis services, individual/family therapy and weekly parenting skills groups

• Drew Lewis Foundation Inc., $30,000, with support from John and Beth Raidel, to renovate a recently purchased home for a family in its Reaching Independence through Support and Education program

• Foundation for Springfield Public Schools, $5,000, with support from Laurie Edmondson, to support the annual Back-to-School Grant Program, an initiative that provides SPS educators with direct funding to dismantle learning barriers for all students

• Ozarks Regional YMCA, $10,000, with support from Rob and Sally Baird and Michael and Katie Meek, to provide need-based Y Academy scholarships and snacks to low-income families

• Springfield Community Gardens, $30,000 to support unanticipated costs related to the build-out of Osage Prairie Farm, which provides produce for food-insecure individuals and annually serves as an intern training site

The grant selection committee for the Jewell Schweitzer Quality of Life Program comprised Austin Elliot, Tony Lewis, Travis Liles, Parker Reid, Karen Shannon, Chase Snider and Margo Spilde, according to the release.