Community Leadership Grant Recipients:

New Voices at the Civic Table Grant Recipients:

• Family and Youth Counseling Agency in Lake Charles, La.
  Funds will support the Leadership Center for Youth, which will promote civic engagement and youth leadership development through a youth forum.
• Auberle in McKeesport, Pa.
  Grant funds will support a civic engagement project to help youth in residential and community programs and their primary caregivers engage in legislative activities at the state and local levels.
• Children & Families First in Wilmington, Del.
  Funds will support an advocacy and engagement program that will provide training for clients and implement program-specific advisory committees.
• Child Care Association of Illinois in Springfield, Ill.
  The grant will fund a program geared toward helping foster parents bring their voices to the civic table and increase the voice of foster parents within the state policy and budget processes.
• Methodist Youth Services in Chicago
  With the grant funds, the organization will support and empower youth who were removed by the child welfare or juvenile justice system to become community leaders.
• La Casa de Esperanza in Waukesha, Wis.
  Funds will support a civic engagement program that will increase civic participation and voter knowledge.
• Connecticut Council of Family Service Agencies in Wethersfield, Conn.
  The grant will fund the creation of a program called Citizen Advocate, which will empower clients and former clients of family service agencies.
• YWCA of Oahu in Honolulu
  Grant funds will support a Youth Leadership Network that enables young people to participate and grow in their community involvement efforts.
• Partnership for Strong Families in Gainesville, Fla.
  Funds will help create a community advisory council that will develop action plans to improve outcomes for children, families, and the community.

National Family Week Grant Recipients:

• Lutheran Child and Family Services of Illinois in River Forest, Ill.
  Grant funds will be used for a community education forum that supports families with teens who have entered the juvenile justice or criminal system.
• Newark Emergency Services for Families in Newark, N.J.
  The grant will be utilized for a community engagement forum workshop that provides parents and caregivers linkage to social services, specifically in the areas of health, nutrition, and social skills development.
• Family Service of Roanoke Valley in Roanoke, Va.
  Funds will support a community education forum. This forum will obtain input from consumers regarding what the community needs to do differently to more effectively partner with families.
• Family Services of Montgomery County in Eagleville, Pa.
  Funding for this community engagement forum will support the convening of a community-wide mini-conference for professionals and consumers about Latinos and family health care issues.
• Christian Home Association—Children's Square USA in Council Bluffs, Iowa
  Grant funds will be used for a community action forum legislative breakfast that will include an open question-and-answer session with elected officials. 

Grant selection committee members reviewed applications based on intended use of the grant and expected impact of how civic engagement and family strengthening could improve the lives and bolster the chances of success for vulnerable children and families.

The Alliance would like to thank the members of the grant selection committee, which includes Jennifer Blevins, director of the Brian Coyle Center at Alliance member Pillsbury United Communities in Minneapolis; Carlette Daniels, volunteer for Alliance member Child & Family Services in Buffalo, N.Y.; Bruce Cohen, board member for Alliance member Family Matters of Greater Washington in Washington, D.C.; and Bob Feikema, director of programs and community initiatives at Alliance member Parental Stress Center in Pittsburgh.