The latest round of grants from the Jackson EMC Foundation includes $15,000 for Gainesville's Rape Response.
Rape Response provides services to adolescent and adult victims of sexual violence in Hall and Lumpkin Counties, to help fund aftercare and Emergency Room clothing and comfort items for victims, as well as recruitment and training for volunteer advocates.
Also on the lastest list of recipients:
$7,500 to Family Promise of Gwinnett County for homeless parents staying at the agency’s Salt Light Center emergency shelter under its 30-90 day Homeless Recovery/Sustainability Program, to help provide child care while they look for work or are working.
$7,500 to Georgia Options in Bogart to help purchase a van that will provide flexible wheelchair-accessible transportation for people with significant disabilities in Barrow, Clarke, Jackson and Madison counties, allowing them to work, attend school and be involved in community functions.
$6,000 to the Place of Seven Springs, a Snellville nonprofit which provides assistance to Gwinnett County residents in need, to provide funds for emergency housing and food.
$5,000 to H.O.P.E, Inc., a Duluth non-profit serving low-income single parents in Gwinnett and Hall county who are working to achieve their college degree, to help with childcare and housing when either situation threatens the parent’s ability to continue their classes.
$5,000 to the Samaritan Center for Counseling and Wellness, an Athens agency that provides counseling, psychotherapy, education and consultation to residents of surrounding counties without regard for ability to pay, to help lower fees for the uninsured in its Jefferson satellite office.
$2,500 to the Spirit of Joy Church Food Bank in Flowery Branch, which distributes food to those in need in Barrow, Hall and Jackson counties, to purchase food.
Jackson EMC Foundation grants are made possible by the nearly 184,300 participating cooperative members who have their monthly electric bills rounded to the next dollar amount through the Operation Round Up program. Their “spare change” has funded 1,139 grants to organizations and 339 grants to individuals, putting more than $11.5 million back into local communities since the program began in 2005.
Any individual or charitable organization in the 10 counties served by Jackson EMC (Clarke, Banks, Barrow, Franklin, Gwinnett, Hall, Jackson, Lumpkin, Madison and Oglethorpe) may apply for a Foundation grant by completing an application, available online at http://www.jacksonemc.com/foundation-guidelines or at local Jackson EMC offices. Applicants do not need to be a member of Jackson EMC.
