Jackson EMC grant recipients include Catholic church groups in Gainesville, Flowery Branch

JEFFERSON - The Jackson EMC Foundation Board of Directors awarded a total of $86,000 in grants to organizations during its November meeting, including $81,000 to organizations serving area residents.<br /> <br /> *$15,000 to Habitat for Humanity of Jackson County to help rehab a former bank-owned modular home and bring it up to code as housing for a single mother and her son, as well as construct a second home for a family of eight that includes three generations and two members with disabilities.<br /> <br /> *$12,000 to St. Vincent de Paul Society of St. Catherine Laboure in Jefferson for its financial assistance program which provides funds to families in crisis for rent, mortgage, food, transportation, gas, car repair and insurance premiums, and medical assistance.<br /> <br /> *$12,000 to St. Vincent de Paul Society at Prince of Peace Catholic Church in Flowery Branch for its Aid Hot Line program, which provides emergency aid to families in crisis for rent, mortgage and temporary housing to prevent homelessness and disrupted lives.<br /> <br /> *$12,000 to St. Vincent de Paul Society of St. Michael in Gainesville to help fund direct aid for housing assistance, including rent, mortgage and temporary housing, for families in crisis.<br /> <br /> *$8,000 to Athens Urban Ministries, a grassroots organization dedicated to assisting those who need a hand up in eight of the counties Jackson EMC serves, to help provide instruction and materials for GED training to promote self-sufficiency.<br /> <br /> *$7,000 to Multiple Choices Center for Independent Living in Athens for its "Good Roots Project," which trains developmentally disabled individuals organic vegetable growing techniques, providing local gardeners, commercial producers and community gardens with high-quality, organically grown seedlings, and providing the trainees with skills that could enable them to become independent business owners.<br /> <br /> *$5,000 to Freedom from Bondage, an Athens recovery residence for women with drug and substance abuse dependency from Clarke, Banks, Barrow, Gwinnett and Hall counties, to help pay entry fees and rent for those who have no resources, as well as providing bus passes and a desktop computer to help the women look for employment.<br /> <br /> *$5,000 to ChildKind, a non-profit supporting families that care for medically fragile children, to help provide in-home care instructions through its Home Based Services program, preparing parents in Banks, Barrow, Gwinnett, Hall and Jackson counties to adequately and successfully care for their child or foster child at home.<br /> <br /> *$5,000 to Children First, an Athens community-based non-profit that works with families and the courts to ensure the children have safe, stable, nurturing living environments, to help provide supportive supervised visitation in a neutral setting for families whose children have been placed in foster care.<br /> <br /> The Jackson EMC Foundation has put more than $9.2 million back into local communities since it was founded in 2005, funding 916 grants to organizations and 302 grants to individuals. Cooperative members participating in Operation Round Up have their monthly electric bills rounded up to the next dollar amount, with the "spare change" going to the Foundation. <br /> <br /> Any individual or charitable organization in the ten 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.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2014/12/283119