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2021 Impact Grant Recipients

The Foundation for Delaware County is honored to partner with these 49 nonprofit organizations to improve the well-being of our residents. We are grateful for the supporters whose generosity has made this funding possible. The $2,112,583 in grant awards will support the following projects to address critical issues and needs in Delaware County.

Children’s Health and Well-Being: $1,663,237

Boys and Girls Club of Chester: $40,000 for strategic planning, administrative support, and data management to better serve children in the Chester Upland School District.

CASA Youth Advocates, Inc.: $205,769 over three years for Voices for Children, a collective impact campaign using data-driven advocacy and awareness to advance child well-being in Delaware County.

CCSA Foundation: $25,000 for an eight-week academic summer program to prevent the COVID slide for students in K-4th grade.

ChesPenn Health Services: $180,000 over three years to provide comprehensive primary and preventive health care to children in Delaware County.

Chester Community Coalition: $66,148 over three years to provide psychotherapy to teens impacted by violence and to train high school students in Teen Mental Health First Aid.

Chester Eastside, Inc.: $10,000 to support the Out of School Time program that promotes the learning, development, and well-being of children ages 5-14.

Chester Education Foundation: $130,000 over three years for the Jetter Center for College and Career Services in Chester.

Chester Upland Youth Soccer: $15,000 to address negative health issues by providing elementary and middle school students with regular physical activity along with mentoring and nutrition education.

Child Guidance Resource Centers: $25,000 to purchase a vehicle for client transportation.

Children First (formerly: Public Citizens for Children and Youth (PCCY): $120,000 over three years to support lead poisoning prevention and the Justice in Education advocacy training program in Delaware County.

College Possible Philadelphia: $70,000 over two years to support high school juniors and seniors from the Penn Wood and Upper Darby School Districts with college access services.

First Up: $120,000 over three years to promote trauma awareness among early childhood educators, and to train educators and families in trauma-informed practices to improve childhood outcomes.

Drexel Neumann Academy: $75,000 over three years for reading, math and in-house counseling support.

Elwyn: $114,480 over three years to build the capacity of early childhood programs in Chester by improving social-emotional and academic kindergarten readiness skills of all learners.

Episcopal Community Services (ECS): $60,000 over three years for their Out of School Time program at Park Lane Elementary in Darby.

Family Support Line of Delaware County, Inc.: $60,000 over three years to support their mission to prevent and treat child sexual abuse.

Garrett Williamson: $25,000 for strategic planning with a racial equity lens to best serve students of Garrett Williamson from infancy through kindergarten.

Harcum College: $47,700 to support school-based youth court training and to build partnerships with juvenile justice stakeholders to divert youth from the “school to prison” pipeline.

Horizons Episcopal Academy: 15,000 to support a six-week tuition-free full day academic summer program for students in grades K-8.

J. Lewis Crozer Library: $26,140 to enhance job readiness of young people in Chester by expanding the library’s job preparation program.

Kid Smiles: $25,000 to expand outreach and improve oral health services for low-income children in Delaware County.

Legal Aid of Southeastern Pennsylvania: $30,000 to provide legal representation for low-income families with children to ensure safe and stable housing in Delaware County.

Making a Change Group: $25,000 to support the Connected Visions program to support the well-being of low-income youth in Chester.

Mitzvah Circle: $20,000 to support the distribution of diapers and other essential supplies for babies by giving directly to families in need, and partnering with social service organizations in Delaware County.

Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children: $25,000 to advocate for state investment in the WIC and home visiting programs for children and families in Pennsylvania.

The Chester Children’s Chorus: $23,000 to support an expanded vision for social justice and to provide enrichment in educational support to choral members.

The Chester Cultural Arts and Technology Center: $15,000 for a youth development program that offers trauma-informed primary prevention programming to youth ages 5-18 in Chester and throughout Delaware County.

The School of Parent Education: $20,000 to support paternal involvement programming for expecting families.

Upper Chichester Library: $5,000 to provide educational, literary, and technology resources to residents in Upper Chichester.

Upper Darby Arts & Education Foundation: $15,000 for projects that will enrich the educational experience of each child in the Upper Darby School District.

Widener University: $30,000 to support a leadership training and peer sexual health education program that focuses on developing advocates for racial and gender justice.

Community and Economic Development: $153,706

Chester Community Improvement Project (CCIP): $30,000 to expand its homebuyers’ counseling services in Delaware County, to help low and moderate income first-time buyers address the impediments preventing them from achieving their goal of homeownership and provide counseling services with an emphasis on credit/budget counseling for existing homeowners experiencing financial hardships.

Clarifi: $20,000 to provide housing counseling for residents in Delaware County to help them achieve financial resilience and positively impact their communities.

Delaware County Community College Educational Foundation: $23,706 to support their Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) certificate program to advance community and economic development.

Lansdowne Economic Development Corp. (LEDC): $30,000 for their Utility Works Maker Space to foster economic development in Lansdowne.

Riverfront Alliance of Delaware County: $20,000 to support the Chester Waterfront & Neighborhood Revitalization program.

Upper Darby Community Outreach Corporation: $30,000 to support The English Language Institute, providing a series of 10-week courses that improve skills in speaking, reading, writing, and understanding the English language for members of the Upper Darby adult immigrant population, enabling them to secure employment and advocate for themselves.

Hospice & Home Healthcare: $55,000

Main Line Health HomeCare & Hospice: $25,000 to support and improve access to hospice and homecare services for low-income residents in Delaware County. (Funding with thanks to the Philadelphia Foundation.)

Surrey Services: $30,000 to provide a comprehensive and collaborative continuum of care to help older adults age well in place, regardless of income in Delaware County. (Funding with thanks to the Philadelphia Foundation.)

Food Security: $214,362

Chester Arts and Cultural Center Corporation: $40,000 for the Ruth Bennett Community Farm to support access to nutrient-dense produce for children and families in Chester. (Partial funding from COVID-19 Response Fund)

Family and Community Service of Delaware County: $15,000 for a strategic plan that reaffirms their food mission.

Pettaway Pursuit Foundation: $25,000 for food boxes for families in Delaware County.

The Salvation Army: $15,000 to support their Chester food program.

Senior Community Services: $50,000 to provide home-delivered meals, helping to address food insecurity among elderly people in Delaware County.

Upper Darby Corporation for Community and Economic Development: $34,362 to support a collaboration with Centro De Apoyo for a free farmers market and healthy eating project in Upper Darby.

Wayne Senior Center: $35,000 to provide nutritional safety net services for older adults in the Highland Park neighborhood. (Partial funding thanks to the Philadelphia Foundation)

Services for Cancer Survivors: $26,278

Bringing Hope Home: $15,000 to support Delaware County families impacted by cancer with financial and emotional support.

Philadelphia Freedom Valley YMCA: $11,278 to support the LiveStrong cancer survivor program at the YMCA Rocky Run and Haverford sites

COVID-19 Response Fund Recipients

The foundation established the Delaware County COVID-19 Response Fund to provide immediate and longer-term resources for nonprofits serving vulnerable residents across our county. Twenty-six rounds of grants, totaling $1,000,871 were distributed to 98 frontline organizations.

Behavioral Health

Philadelphia Medical Society: $30,800 for support groups designed to provide unity, solidarity and emotional support to assist in promoting the overall well-being of frontline providers.

COVID-19 Testing

Latino Connection: $30,000 to provide outreach and three COVID-19 testing events in Hispanic communities in Delaware County.

The Urban League of Philadelphia: $20,000 to support a partnership with the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium to respond to the immediate pandemic-related needs of Black communities in Delaware County. This partnership will provide COVID-19 Emergency Hygiene Kits and fact-based public health information. This initiative is providing support for two testing events in Black neighborhoods in Delaware County.

Food and Essential Supplies

Anna’s Place: $7,000 for gift cards to grocery stores for seniors with housing insecurities and those suffering from mental illness.

Boys and Girls Club of Chester: $11,905 through two grants to provide gift cards to grocery stores for food-insecure families served by the club and affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Breathing Room Foundation$6,000 to provide Delaware County cancer patients transportation to treatment, care packets (food or gift cards) and nutritional supplements.

Bringing Hope Home: $4,000 to provide Delaware County cancer patients with grocery store gift cards.

Bywood Community Association: $5,000 to provide food and emergency supplies for the immigrant community in the Upper Darby area.

CASA Youth Advocates: $10,000 to purchase gift cards for groceries and emergency transportation, diapers, baby wipes and formula as well as cleaning supplies for CASA children.

Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired: $5,000 to provide transportation services for the blind and visually impaired that need help with grocery shopping, banking, prescriptions, and necessary medical appointments.

Centro de Apoyo Comunitario: $4,750 through two grants to purchase and distribute food familiar to the immigrant population as well as provide grocery store gift cards for the immigrant population in Upper Darby/ Darby/ Lansdowne Area.

Chester Arts and Cultural Center Corporation: $30,800 to provide boxes of produce for distribution to Chester Housing Authority (CHA) residents in need.

The Chester Children’s Chorus: $12,500 to provide food and grocery card cards in care packages for 100 children during their five-week virtual summer program.

Chester Eastside: $7,000 to purchase food and essential items to maintain service delivery for their pantry.

Circle of Giving: $15,000 to provide weekly meals & gift cards to support families in need within the Rose Tree Media School District.

Cityteam$10,000 to distribute emergency food boxes, diapers and formula to guests in need.

Community Options, Inc: $ 2,500 for food, cleaning supplies and PPE to support individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Cradles to Crayons: $5,000 for essential supplies to support families in Delaware County.

Drexel Neumann Academy: $20,000 through two grants to provide gift cards to grocery stores for food-insecure families in Chester affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Family and Community Service of Delaware County: $20,820 for fourteen food pantries to provide home delivery of food boxes to low-income households in the county that are quarantined due to COVID-19 symptoms and residents with underlying health conditions.

Grace Court, Inc., a community of HumanGood East (f/k/a Presby’s Inspired Life)$1,000 for gift cards to grocery stores for low-income seniors and people who are disabled in Yeadon.

Greener Partners$5,000 to provide produce to students and families of Chester Charter Scholars Academy.

Andrew L. Hick Foundation: $10,000 to provide boxes of produce and dairy products to Chester, Chester Township and Upland area residents.

Irish Immigration Center: $5,820 to provide food and cleaning supplies for immigrants who are not eligible for government assistance.

Jewish Relief Agency: $5,000 for boxes of food and hygiene products to be delivered to food-insecure families living in Delaware County.

Keystone Human Services: $1,500 to purchase essential supplies to care for individuals with intellectual disabilities in one of eight dedicated homes in Delaware County.

Kisses for Kyle Foundation: $5,000 for gift cards to grocery stores and essential supplies for families in Delaware County battling pediatric cancer.

Making a Change Group$10,000 to deliver food and essential supplies to food-insecure families in Chester.

Media Food Bank: $15,000 to purchase food and acquire the equipment necessary to serve food to clients outside in the cold weather.

Mercy Catholic$10,000 for grocery store gift cards for families using church-related food pantries to supplement those food baskets with ethnic food not available.

Metropolitan Area Neighborhood Nutrition Alliance (MANNA): $3,000 to provide nutritious, shelf-stable meals, in addition to regular deliveries, for individuals who face life-threatening illness and have complex diets in Delaware County.

Mitzvah Circle: $24,500 through two grants to support their Diaper Bank in purchasing diapers, wipes, and soap for families living in Delaware County.

Multicultural Community Family Services: $10,161 to purchase culturally ethnic food and essentials items for seniors in need and to purchase supplemental formula and wipes for families with children younger than one.

Neighbor to Neighbor Comm. Dev. Corp.: $5,000 for essential supplies to deliver food to low-income residents in the Sharon Hill and Darby Township area.

Nutritional Development Services: $12,924 to supply shelf-stable food to six food cupboards and one outreach center in Delaware County.

Philabundance: $5,000 to prepare pre-assembled meal boxes, that can each provide up to four meals for a family of four, distributed with minimal contact to more than a dozen member agencies in Delaware County.

Ridley School District: $10,000 to provide “Grab and Go” breakfast and lunch items for students.

Salvation Army: $25,000 to distribute food boxes and essential supplies such as sanitizers, utensils, masks, and more to community members.

Saint Katherine Drexel Food Pantry: $10,000 to provide food for Chester City residents living in a designated region.

Senior Community Services: $10,000 for their Home Delivered Meal program.

The Peggie & Paul Shevlin Family Foundation: $4,000 to provide food, groceries and other essential supplies to recovery houses in Delaware County.

Tyler Arboretum: $21,500 through two grants to grow produce to support and supplement several Delaware County food pantries.

Upper Darby Corporation for Community and Economic Development: $34,362 to support a collaboration with Centro De Apoyo for a free farmers market and healthy eating project in Upper Darby.

Valley Youth House: $4,000 to purchase essential items for necessities including food, clothing, cleaning supplies, and other household items for youth in the juvenile justice and foster care systems, and youth experiencing homelessness.

Wayne Senior Center: $5,000 to purchase food and supplies for supplemental nutrition packs for at risk seniors.

Women’s Resource Center of the Delaware Valley: $5,000 to sustain WRC’s Resource Coordination Counseling Services and support an Emergency Assistance Fund to address immediate needs such as food and household supplies not available through local pantries and health-related needs.

Legal and Financial Counseling

Chester Community Improvement Project (CCIP): $30,000 to expand its homebuyers’ counseling services in Delaware County, to help low and moderate income first-time buyers address the impediments preventing them from achieving their goal of homeownership and provide counseling services with an emphasis on credit/budget counseling for existing homeowners experiencing financial hardships.

Chester Community Improvement Project$10,000 to provide emergency financial counseling to families experiencing financial hardship as a result of COVID-19.

Clarifi$10,000 to provide emergency financial counseling to families experiencing financial hardship as a result of COVID-19.

Media Fellowship House$10,000 to provide emergency financial counseling to families experiencing financial hardship as a result of COVID-19.

Nationalities Service Center: $5,000 to provide financial assistance for immigrants who have lost their homes, income, and/or employment due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

SeniorLAW Center: $5,000 for free legal advice to seniors to prevent illegal evictions, foreclosures, abuse, fraud, exploitation, and scams.

Service Corps of Retired Executives Association$5,000 to develop and communicate critical training on Resilience and Recovery Plans for nonprofit clients (e.g., navigating long-term uncertainty and aftermath of disruption, technical strategies for success, communication skills and essential PR tools).

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)/Cleaning Supplies

Boys and Girls Club of Chester: $10,024 for COVID-19 summer camp preparation to provide childcare as parents transition back to work.

CareLink Community Support Services: $10,000 for personal protective equipment (PPE) for staff who work with individuals with persistent mental illness and/or developmental disabilities in Delaware County.

Chester Community Coalition: $5,360 to purchase personal protective equipment (PPE) and essential supplies for an in-person counseling program.

Children and Adults Disability and Educational Services (CADES): $10,000 for personal protective equipment (PPE) for staff who work with individuals with intellectual and physical disabilities in Delaware County.

Child Guidance Resource Centers: $18,000 through two grants to purchase personal protective equipment (PPE) and cleaning supplies for their community rehabilitation residential programs.

Community Action Agency of Delaware County, Inc. (CAADC): $4,713 for sanitation equipment and disinfectant to provide front-line services to vulnerable, low-income, and at-risk residents of Delaware County, many of whom are experiencing or facing homelessness due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Community Arts Center$8,000 for installation of an air cleaner and virtual class technology.

The Communities of Don Guanella and Divine Providence: $10,000 to purchase Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to continue to serve individuals with intellectual disabilities.

Community YMCA of Eastern Delaware County: $46,210 through two grants to purchase and install Ionization Air Purification systems, cleaning supplies, a decontamination unit and staff training around best practices in childcare and CDC and DOH guidance for social distancing and cleaning.

Elwyn: $10,000 for personal protective equipment (PPE) for staff that supports individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Community Residential Services (CRS) homes in Delaware County.

Individuals Aiding in Emergency Foundation: $5,000 to partner with Delaware County Emergency Services and collect essential products needed such as face masks (N95), gloves, disinfectant cleaning supplies, CARE Kits that include basic hygiene supplies.

Mental Health Partnerships: $10,000 to purchase personal protective equipment (PPE) for staff at their Upper Darby emergency shelter which supports people who have mental illness, are homeless or at risk for homelessness.

MusicWorks: $5,600 for PPE, cleaning supplies, and Zoom virtual software.

Nile Swim Club of Yeadon$7,000 for COVID-19 preparation to provide in-person daily programming for summer camps in Delaware County.

Pettaway Pursuit Foundation: $31,000 through two grants to provide baby formula to help offset the needs of the families in the community and to purchase PPE for staff and clients.

Phila. Freedom Valley YMCA: $10,000 for cleaning and sanitizing their childcare facility in Delaware County.

The Salvation Army: $10,000 for equipment to comply with public health requirements for their shelter in Chester.

Supportive Services

ALS Association Greater Philadelphia Chapter: $5,000 for families living with ALS in their in-home care program, in Delaware County.

Chester Upland School District (CUSD): $18,240 to fund Parent Technology Support Centers to educate, train and assist parents with aiding their children with virtual learning. Services will also meet language needs of Spanish, Arabic and French speaking families.

Chester Upland Youth Soccer: $1,228 to provide Chester, Upland and Eddystone families an Active Summer Fun Kit to help keep children active.

Community Action Agency of Delaware County, Inc.$10,000 for homelessness services that include providing emergency hotel placements for homeless residents, food and essential supplies in homeless shelters.

Domestic Abuse Project of Delaware County: $10,000 to support the continuation of services, including telephone crisis counseling, to survivors of domestic violence.

Philadelphia Freedom Valley YMCA: $5,000 to aid the Rocky Run and Haverford YMCA Early Learning Centers in providing childcare and school age programming to healthcare professionals’ children while they are at work.

HEADStrong Foundation: $2,010 to provide virtual stress management subscriptions for cancer survivors.

Partners for Sacred Places: $50,000 to provide onsite socially distant support for remote learning to students in Chester Upland and William Penn School Districts.

Teachers’ Teammates: $10,000 for grab and go bags for elementary school students in the William Penn School District (WPSD). Each bag will provide supplies students need at home so they can fully participate in virtual learning. The bags will be distributed to 3,000 K-6 grade students and include pencils, pens, a white board, crayons, markers, glue sticks, composition book and more.

Widener University: $600 for optimal rehabilitative services in the Chester community and surrounding areas. Funds will provide clients with low tech adaptive equipment in their homes so that they can participate in telehealth therapy sessions.

Technology

Chester Community Coalition: $1,300 to purchase telehealth software to continue to provide therapy and manage secure communications.

College Possible$7,500 to support technology needed to recruit, engage and work with Delaware County high school students planning to attend college.

Family Support Line of Delaware County, Inc.$7,500 to supplement technology needs so that forensic and clinical staff can continue to provide support to child victims of sexual abuse and their families.

Peaceful Living: $3,840 to provide virtual services to connect vulnerable adults with disabilities to services needed.

Vaccine Outreach and Education

Delaware County Immigrant Coalition: $52,715 to provide vaccine outreach and education for the immigrant community through 10 service agencies.

Making a Change Group: $27,551.26 for a coalition to increase COVID-19 education, rebuild trust in healthcare structures, and ultimately protect communities from further devastation due to the pandemic. The four organizations in this coalition include Making a Change Group, Chester Housing Authority, Chester Community Improvement Project, and Healthcare Solution, will participate in a partnership to establish unified messaging and education and to address safety concerns consistent with CDC guidelines to Black/African Americans in Chester and surrounding communities.