Category "Community"

Filling the Gap awards $93,000 in grants

October 9, 2019

Filling the Gap, Inc., has announced its 2019 grants, awarding $93,065 to support people with disabilities and other socioeconomic challenges.

Filling the Gap is a Jamestown-based not-for-profit that works with The Resource Center and other organizations to support Chautauqua County residents who are poor, distressed and underprivileged, especially people with disabilities. Each year, Filling the Gap solicits grant requests from TRC and other organizations within the Filling the Gap network.

This year’s funding requests totaled $134,297.   Members of Filling the Gap’s grants committee reviewed the requests and recommended which ones to fund, and FTG’s board of directors agreed with the committee’s recommendations.

The amount awarded this year brings to $1,262,058 the total awarded by Filling the Gap since 1995. This year’s grant awards were as follows:

  • $20,000 for the development of an art studio at The Resource Center’s building on Eighth Street in Jamestown
  • $20,000 for the Chautauqua Connections Children’s Coalition
  • $11,000 for transportation vouchers
  • $10,000 for marketing initiatives for TEAM Services’ Medicaid transportation program
  • $5,000 for a wheelchair-accessible exam table at The Resource Center’s primary care clinic
  • $5,000 to assist in starting the “Help Me Grow” program in Chautauqua County
  • $3,500 for the Sprout film festival
  • $3,000 for The Resource Center’s annual Educational Symposium
  • $3,000 for a wheelchair-accessible work table at TRC’s Occupational Therapy Department in Jamestown
  • $2,665 for self-advocacy and outreach initiatives
  • $2,500 for TRC staff training initiatives
  • $2,000 for supplies and testing materials for TRC’s Speech Therapy Department in Dunkirk
  • $1,900 for evaluation and treatment materials for TRC’s Occupational Therapy Department in Dunkirk
  • $1,500 for supplies for TRC’s Creations Art Program
  • $1,000 for behavioral support items for The Resource Center
  • $1,000 for materials for TRC’s Respite Program

“Filling the Gap is happy to once again award grants to The Resource Center and the FTG network,” said Cindy Phillips, vice president of business and finance.  “It is always heart-warming to be able to fund the unmet needs for the various programs.”

Money for the grants comes from six fund-raising events that Filling the Gap facilitates each year in partnership with The Resource Center: the TRC Golf Classic; Laurel Memorial Run and Walk; Step Up for Autism walk ; Mark Pacheco WOW Fund Lip Sync Battle; Shake, Rumble and Roll motorcycle poker run; and Sassy Baggs and Beyond Blingo. Proceeds from these events are transferred to the various TRC endowment funds at the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation.  The income from these endowment funds is used to fulfill the grant requests.

Filling the Gap officials are proud they could provide money to support a variety of initiatives.

For more information about Filling the Gap, phone 661-1519.

Filling The Gap
Awards Community News

TRC and Community Foundation announce partnership

January 5, 2018

Since being established in 1994, TRC Foundation has supported thousands of people with disabilities and their families by awarding more than $1 million in grants. A new partnership with the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation will only improve on that positive track record.

After more than a year of planning, officials from The Resource Center, TRC Foundation and the Community Foundation recently announced a collaboration that will see the dissolution of TRC Foundation and the transfer of its $2.2 million in assets to the Community Foundation. That money will be spread among several new endowment funds that will be managed by the Community Foundation:

  • The Resource Center TRC Foundation Fund – This fund provides support to The Resource Center and the Filling the Gap, Inc., network in supporting people with disabilities and other socio-economic challenges and their families including but not limited to autism services, educational services, community activities, guardianship, transportation, and otherwise unfunded programmatic and capital expenditures.
  • The Resource Center Laurel Run Fund – This fund supports community awareness, prevention services, and employment and training opportunities for people with disabilities.
  • The Resource Center Look Good Fund – This fund supports the needs of people with disabilities in the areas of personal care, personal appearance, clothing, protective gear, transportation, and other unfunded needs.
  • The Resource Center Mark Pacheco WOW (Working on Wonders) Fund – This fund supports persons with disabling conditions in fulfilling their wishes and dreams to enjoy recreational and travel experiences based on financial need.
  • The Resource Center Kathy Seastedt “Dream On” Fund – This this fund provides financial resources to assist people with disabling conditions who live in the community and who have unfunded needs.
  • The Resource Center TRC Excellence Awards Fund – This fund provides financial resources to assist with the recognition of the achievements of people with disabilities and the staff, community members, volunteers, and businesses who support them. This includes, but is not limited to, the Disability Awareness Awards, achievement awards for people with disabilities, TRC Educator Award, TRC Employee of the Year and TRC Direct Support Professional of the Year.

Click here to learn more about these funds.

Despite the tremendously positive impact TRC Foundation has made, TRC and TRCF officials realized they could do even more by partnering with the Community Foundation. Established in 1978 to assist donors in making a positive impact on the local community, CRCF currently manages $94 million held in some 750 funds.

“The Community Foundation has a 40-year history of serving the greater Chautauqua region,” said Randy Ordines, the Chair of TRC Foundation’s Board of Directors. “(They) bring a vast amount of experience in fund and investment management, planned giving and fund development.”

“Because of CRCF’s experience, and the funds already entrusted to their management, we are able to reduce our overall administrative costs while at the same time ensuring the assets of TRC Foundation will be utilized for their intended purposes into perpetuity,” said Denise Jones, The Resource Center’s Executive Director.

The Community Foundation has been a longtime supporter of people with disabilities in Chautauqua County, having donated more than $50,000 over the years to The Resource Center to support a number of programs and initiatives. The new partnership strengthens the bond between the organizations.

“The Resource Center and TRC Foundation have profoundly impacted thousands of area residents with disabilities, as well as their families and fellow community members,” said Randy Sweeney, the Community Foundation executive director. “This new partnership with CRCF ensures that these relationships will continue today and into the future.”

Tax-deductible donations to any of the six named funds above benefitting The Resource Center can be made directly to the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation, 418 Spring Street, Jamestown, NY, 14701, or by visiting www.crcfonline.org. The Resource Center will also accept donations mailed to 200 Dunham Avenue, Jamestown, NY, 14701, or made online at www.resourcecenter.org.

From left, TRC Executive Director Denise Jones; Randy Ordines, the Chair of TRC Foundation’s Board of Directors; and Randy Sweeney, the Executive Director of the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation, go over some final details regarding the partnership among The Resource Center, TRC Foundation and CRCF.

Filling The Gap
Community Funds News The Resource Center