2020 Bayou Community Foundation Impact Report

 

2020 – A Year Like No Other

Our precious Lafourche, Terrebonne and Grand Isle communities were incredibly challenged in 2020 by the pandemic, economic downturn, and an extremely active hurricane season that impacted the neediest in our community.  But the pain and hardship also sparked an outpouring of help from compassionate donors like YOU! Continue Reading

Grants Program for Hurricane Zeta Relief Now Open

Bayou Community Foundation has opened an emergency nonprofit grants program through its Bayou Recovery Fund for Hurricane Zeta Relief.  Federally approved 501c3 nonprofit organizations serving impacted residents in Grand Isle, south Lafourche and lower Terrebonne are invited to apply for grants supporting hurricane relief and recovery programs. Continue Reading

COVID Needs Assessment RESCHEDULED Sept. 17

Bayou Community invites nonprofit and governmental organizations serving Lafourche and Terrebonne Parishes and Grand Isle, and Bayou Recovery Fund donors, to participate in a virtual community needs assessment meeting with us on THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17 at 2:00 pm on Zoom.

We know that you are seeing and addressing unmet needs in our community due to the pandemic and related economic downturn, and we want to hear from you so that BCF can best help you and our community.  Meeting registration is required.

REGISTER FOR THE VIRTUAL NEEDS ASSESSMENT MEETING HERE

We also invite you to submit your observations about current community needs to us ONLINE HERE.  All responses received are valuable and appreciated!

LINK TO ONLINE NEEDS ASSESSMENT SURVEY

 

BCF Grants $207,335 to 28 Local Nonprofits

 

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

2020 List of grantees

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