July 23, 2020
(HOUMA) The Bayou Community Foundation (BCF) has awarded grants totaling $207,335 for 28 non-profit organizations working in Lafourche, Terrebonne and Grand Isle as part of the foundation’s eighth annual competitive grants program. A virtual grants ceremony was held on July 21.
“It’s another amazing day for Bayou Community Foundation and our entire Bayou Region. Bayou Community Foundation is honored to present over $200,000 in grants to local organizations from our annual competitive grants program, thanks to the generous support of our donors. These grants bolster nonprofit services that provide hope to the neediest among us and strengthen this precious, compassionate community that we all call home,” said BCF President Henry Lafont.
Since 2013, BCF has funded 152 annual nonprofit grants for more than $1.4 million to fill critical needs in our Bayou Region. In addition, BCF has awarded more than $440,000 in grants from its Bayou Recovery Fund this year, specifically for local COVID relief efforts.
“Throughout our community, local nonprofits are working hard each and every day to address critical needs that often go unnoticed by many of us,” explained Executive Director Jennifer Armand. “With gifts to BCF, donors here and outside of our area have opened their hearts and their pocketbooks to help sustain these critical nonprofit services. We thank our grantees for their important work and our donors for making these tremendous grants possible.”
The 2020 grant awards fund addiction treatment programs, food and medicine for the poor, showering facilities for the homeless, violence prevention efforts, adult education and after-school programs, books for preschool children, and parenting support programs, just to name a few.
“We thank the Bayou Community Foundation so much for this grant that will fund technology access and educational resources for local residents in need,” said Mary Billiot, Executive Director of the Dulac Community Center in lower Terrebonne, which received a $10,000 grant. “Many of the children and elderly in our community have no computer or internet service at home. With this grant, the Dulac Community Center will open up a computer lab for students to complete online lessons and will offer programs for literacy, GED, and basic computer skills to our adults. We are also excited to have retired teachers in our area provide tutoring for students and help with the adult education programs.”
Watch Recording of Virtual Grant Ceremony Here
The following 28 nonprofits received grants from BCF totaling $207,335:
Assisi Bridge House – $10,000 – renovations to facility bathrooms and counseling areas
Bayou Civic Club – $5,000 – replacement of air-conditioning system in Larose Civic Center gym
Bayou Council Behavioral Health Services, Inc. – $5,000 – Parent Education Program Terrebonne
Barataria Terrebonne Estuary Foundation – $9,845 – “Trash-Free Bayou Lafourche” outreach campaign
CASA of Terrebonne – $6,000– Recruitment of and training for volunteer child advocates
Catholic Community Center – $12,700 – conversion of facility restroom for ADA compliance
Dulac Community Center– $10,000 – technology and supplies for adult education & after-school tutoring
Fletcher Foundation – $4,000 – software for online Work Ready U workforce development program
Friends of Lafourche Drug Court – $10,000 – Drug Court Treatment and Family Preservation Programs
Friends of the PACT Place – $3,500 – Support program for custodial parents who are victims of domestic violence
Good Samaritan Food Bank, Thibodaux – $6,500 – “Hospital to Home” food boxes for patients in need
The Haven – $10,000 – Violence Prevention Program for students in Terrebonne and Lafourche
Hope Extreme – $12,750 – showering facility in east Houma for the homeless
Hope Center – $11,100– facility renovations and equipment for food bank in south Lafourche
Jacob’s Ladder- $5,000 – addiction recovery programs for youth, adults and incarcerated individuals
Lafourche ARC – $5,000 – wheelchair scales, automated external defibrillators and first aid kits
Lafourche Education Foundation – $10,000 – Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library
LUMCON – $6,440 – “Education Underway” coastal awareness program for bayou communities
Moms of Hope– $3,000 – “Hope Boxes” for mothers who experience stillbirth or early infant death
Nicholls Foundation – $8,000 – support for campus food pantry and Tillou’s Table to address food insecurity among students
A Place of Restoration – $10,000 – Purchase of lawn mower for work program that supports addiction treatment
Restore or Retreat – $7,500 – purchase of plants for coastal restoration project on Queen Bess Island
Rev. Lloyd Wallace Community Center – $5,000– Beyond the Bell after school program and community garden supplies
St. Francis Vegetable Garden – $2,500 –supplies for community gardens in Lafourche and Terrebonne
St. Lucy Child Development Center – $7,500 – outdoor physical education and playground equipment
St. Vincent de Paul Tri-Parish Pharmacy – $7,500 – medication distributed to the poor and elderly
Terrebonne ARC – $5,000 – staff training for Pathways to Employment Program
Terrebonne Foundation for Academic Excellence – $8,500– Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library