Past Blessings Project Foundation Grant Recipients

Arts for Life

Arts for Life is dedicated to improving lives of adolescents facing serious illness and disabilities by providing hands-on experiences in visual art, creative writing and music. Blessings Project Foundation provided funding in 2009 to support the music programs for children and teens who are hematology/oncology patients at Brenner Children’s Hospital to help them communicate their experiences, fears, ideas and dreams. www.aflnc.org
Image credit: “Boo” Watercolor Painting by Macena, Age 5

ECHO Council

Wake Forest University’s ECHO Council’s mission is to provide opportunities to build enriching, trusting, and long-lasting relationships among diverse people in our community. Blessings Project Foundation provided funding to help ECHO provide facilitators, supplies and spaces for programs to bring diverse cultures together for discussion in an effort to build social capitol. www.wsfoundation.org/leadership-initiatives/social-capital-and-echo/echo-council

Healing Seekers

Healing Seekers is an organization dedicated to exploring and preserving healing modalities in diverse cultural traditions throughout the world. Blessings Project Foundation funding supported the filming and production of a documentary created by the Healing Seekers and additional funding, through a matching grant, will assist the organization as it continues their exploration to New Guinea in the near future. www.healingseekers.com

Amy’s recent article in Art Of Wellbeing

The NC Conservation Network

The NC Conservation Network was formed in 1998 to strengthen the environmental community’s ability to impact environmental policy and address environmental justice issues. A Blessings Project Foundation grant is being utilized locally, in the Winston-Salem community, to engage activists and provide them with the information, tools, and training they need to understand and influence key environmental decisions. www.ncconservationnetwork.org

Piedmont Environmental Alliance (PEA)

Piedmont Environmental Alliance (PEA) is dedicated to facilitating environmental sustainability in the Piedmont Triad. The Piedmont Earth Day Fair has become the largest single event in the Triad dedicated to providing education and information about sustainable solutions available in our community. Blessings Project Foundation was a Platinum sponsor of the 2009 Earth Day Fair and continues to support PEA’s efforts locally. The Blessings Project Foundation was lead sponsor in 2008 of the Earth Day Fair as well.www.peanc.org

Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays

The Youth Abandonment and Homelessness Association (YAHA), a committee of Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) Winston-Salem was a recipient of a Blessings Project Foundation grant to develop training materials on tolerance, acceptance and compassion to educate public officials and others who teens turn to when they are struggling with issues such as homeless and suicide. www.pflagwinstonsalem.org

Prodigals

Prodigals is the only long-term residential treatment program in the area specifically designed for the indigent, uninsured and often homeless substance abusers who have a history of chronic relapse and multiple, unsuccessful attempts at recovery. A Blessings Project Foundation grant is providing funding for very basic but much needed repair to facilities they have up fitted to provide safe and livable housing for clients who are moving from transient living to responsible drug-free living. http://www.prodigals.org/

Project Greenhouse

Project Greenhouse – Building healthy bodies and strong minds -is working with youth to repair three greenhouses, to get them operable and to teach 4-H youth about growing, germination, proper care of soil. Blessings Project Foundation assistance is making the project possible and helping youth learn about the value of working the greenhouse, replanting in a garden spot and other sustainable gardening methods.

Student Action with Farmworkers

Student Action with Farmworkers works for healthier communities through their efforts to improve farmers’ access to health care, decent housing, and safer workplaces. Blessings Project Funding is supporting an awareness campaign that will affect migrant and seasonal farmworkers by supporting them in their activism, by educating the public about their work and their lives, and by bringing more people into the movement for farmworker justice. www.saf-unite.org

The Yadkin Riverkeeper

The Yadkin Riverkeeper’s mission is to respect, protect and improve the Yadkin Pee Dee River Basin through education, advocacy and action. www.yadkinriverkeeper.org

Little Pearls

Linda McLean, Executive Director, www.littlepearls.org. Little Pearls are “tiny films” that open hearts and minds, inspiring authentic connection and compassionate action on behalf of all living beings. Created by the media non-profit Little Pearls, these beautiful films are gifts of the heart – for you and for the world.

Coalition to UnChain Dogs

Amanda Arrington, www.unchaindogs.net. The Coalition to Unchain Dogs is a non-profit, volunteer effort dedicated to improving the welfare of dogs living outdoors on chains in and around Durham, North Carolina. In just over a year, they have freed over 130 dogs from their chains, but many more are still waiting.

The Nyanya Project

Mary Martin Niepold, Founder, www.nyanyaproject.org. The Nyanya Project “creates sustainable, grandmother cooperatives [water, crafts, sheep and shelters] in villages and cities throughout Africa” for women raising their grandchildren who have been orphaned by AIDS. The foundation grant supports the 2008 project that brings together students from Wake Forest and NCSA to build shelters in Tanzania.

Here’s what some local press have to say about the Nyanya Project.
Article on CSTV.com

Well Of Mercy

Brigid McCarthy, RSM, and Donna Marie, RSM, www.wellofmercy.org. The Well of Mercy is a non-denominational retreat center for individuals seeking solitude and spiritual nourishment. The Foundation grant supports their 2008, first annual “Jammin’ at the Well” fundraiser, as well as the recycling efforts necessary to make it a Green Day.

Lloyd Presbyterian Church, Preservation Fund

Rev. Laura Spangler. Lloyd Presbyterian Church is the second oldest African American church in Forsyth County, NC. The foundation grant makes us part of a larger community working to preserve this significant landmark. Beyond its historic importance, however, Lloyd Presbyterian Church is a multicultural church in the inner city of Winston-Salem, NC that continues to offer worship and important outreach services to a diverse population.