HOUSTON — This year the TEGNA Foundation, the charitable foundation sponsored by TEGNA Inc. (NYSE: TGNA), in partnership with KHOU 11 awarded a total of $91,000 dollars in TEGNA Foundation grants to 11 Houston-area nonprofit organizations to address COVID-19 relief, education/literacy and provide support for at-risk children and families.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, TEGNA stations have served the greater good of their communities by helping raise more than $65 million for COVID-19 relief efforts through virtual telethons and fundraisers, awareness campaigns, food drives and other initiatives. These efforts have been further strengthened through stations’ grantmaking. In 2020, 36 percent of TEGNA Foundation’s Community Grants directly supported COVID-19 relief efforts.
In response to the racial equality movement of 2020, TEGNA stations acted to address urgent community needs through coverage of local and national demonstrations and by facilitating honest conversations about race in America. In addition to local grantmaking, the TEGNA Foundation made a grant of $100,000 to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
“During these extraordinary times, our stations’ fundraising and grantmaking efforts demonstrate our commitment to empowering local communities to build a better and more equitable future,” said Dave Lougee, president and CEO, TEGNA. “We are proud to support all of our local partners and thank them for the inspiring work they are doing to serve the greater good.”
KHOU 11 received over 150 grant applications when we opened the submission process.
An internal committee vetted all the grant applications and decided on awarding these eleven organizations.
This year’s local grant recipients are:
BE A CHAMPION, INC. was founded in 2001 (formerly as All-N-One) as a way of reaching out to under-privileged youth in the Houston area through sports, education, and nutrition programs. BE A CHAMPION, INC. was started by two former offensive linemen for the University of Houston, Jaron K. Barganier and James Hong. Barganier and Hong both felt that athletes should be positive role models for young people and wanted to provide a program to help facilitate a way for athletes to give back.
BEAR…BE A Resource for CPS Kids is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization that provides hope and help for abused and neglected children and the caseworkers who protect them within Harris County.
For nearly 80 years, Catholic Charities has provided food, clothing, shelter and a network of support services to people of all ages and from all walks of life and religious backgrounds. Catholic Charities also promotes social justice, serving as a voice for the poor and vulnerable, as well as helping families with the uncertainty and difficulties brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Christ Clinic serves low income uninsured and underinsured patients from across the Greater Houston Area. In 2019, the clinic served 6,448 individuals. Of those, 94% were Hispanic, 69% were female, and the median age was between 35 – 54 years. 98% percent live at or below 200% of the federal poverty level, equal to $51,500 for a family of four. Most Christ Clinic’s patients face complex barriers to health, including co-morbidity, and mental and behavioral health issues.
Communities In Schools’ (CIS) Integrated Student Supports Model is a school-based approach to develop academic success by tackling academic and non-academic barriers. CIS serves students of all ages from Pre-K through Community College. These supports are provided by CIS Student Support Specialists who assess a student’s needs, and then provide direct services and/or make referrals to community partners to ensure a student has everything they need to succeed in and out of the classroom.
Cy-Fair Helping Hands, (CFHH), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, was founded to help the homeless of Cy-Fair become self-sufficient. Its Emergency Shelter Program –provides shelter for qualified families with children, homeless teens, and disabled individuals over 60. During 2019, Cy-Fair Helping Hands provided the equivalent of 89 weeks of emergency shelter to 19 families (64 individuals.) 16 of those families are now independent!
There is a mental health epidemic and crisis in care in Houston and across the country that has been compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic with profound consequences to our youth. The Hope and Healing Center & Institute is partnering with Communities in Schools Houston to launch an outreach program, Gateway to Hope, in schools to create a community-based approach to mental health care for our youth.
Building a Therapeutic Garden for Santa Fe, TX community dealing with emotional and mental health aftermath from 2018 Santa Fe High School shooting, 2017 Hurricane Harvey, current COVI0-19 pandemic, and now recovery from Arctic Winter Week. The Garden opened May 2020 to benefit individuals while improvements continue to finish the remaining 5% of a mighty big project to help neighbors.
Memorial Assistance Ministries’ (MAM) COVID-19 and Winter Freeze Rent and Utility Assistance program helps families when they are struggling to make ends meet. Families have had difficulty coping with the conditions of the recent winter freeze, many after being impacted by COVID-19. Budgets will be stretched to replace lost food due to power outages and items damaged by water. After everything has been replaced, there will be limited funds to pay rent or utilities. MAM will help these families with assistance to stay safely and stably housed.
The Hospital Program serves children at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. Along with a catered lunch, this program provides themed activity kits created specifically for pediatric oncology in-patients. Each box comes individually packaged full of fun arts & craft and other goodies as well as everything needed to “deck the walls” of their hospital room (window decals, light up beads, make your own mask, etc.)
Young Women’s Preparatory Network offers a range of summer programs focused on academics, leadership skills, time management, team-building, social-emotional learning, and college readiness. The summer months are important to the efforts to enhance the academic and leadership opportunities available to students and girls agents of change for their families and communities.
