The Juneau Community Foundation announced $1.8 million in funding for local social service providers today.
Senior care, disability law, substance abuse and homelessness are several areas JCF is hoping to make a difference with the money. Twenty-seven grants were awarded to 26 organizations, including Catholic Community Services, the Disability Law Center and St. Vincent de Paul.
“This is our biggest annual award by far and it’s our largest grant process that we do,” Executive Director Amy Skilbred told the Empire in a Friday phone interview.
Months of community input helped JCF decide where its dollars were needed most, according to a release provided to the Empire. Social service providers identified serveral “clear priorities, especially substance abuse and homelessness,” Skilbred said.
The three largest grants were to Gastineau Human Services ($335,000), for their inpatient and outpatient substance abuse treatment; the Juneau Coalition on Housing and Homelessness ($285,000), to be dispersed to various agencies addressing homelessness; and St. Vincent de Paul Society, which will receive $168,000 to create a “navigators” program to assist their clients in getting access to social services.
Gaining access to government benefits will be easier for Juneauites with a JCF grant awarded to the Disability Law Center (DLC), the state’s authorized protection and advocacy center for those living with disabilities. DLC Executive Director Dave Fleurant said via phone Friday that Alaska has one of the highest rates of rejecting Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) requests in the nation. The JCF grant will fund a new SSDI specialist, who will help applicants fill out applications.
DLC provides legal services for those appealing a denied SSDI application, Fleurant said, which can be costly. He’s hoping the SSDI specialist will help cut down on the amount of applications that are declined, saving DLC legal resources.
“This is an effort to try and rebalance that a little bit and help people on the front end, as opposed to having them struggle on the back end,” Fleurant said.
Other grant recipients this year include: the Zach Gordon Youth Center, which will receive funds for a navigator position to assist youth; the Juneau School District, which is getting help with their elementary universal breakfast and money to reduce fees for high school meals; and the Juneau Police Department, which will receive funds for crisis intervention and domestic violence expert training.
The largest chunk of the money, $1,059,651, came from JCF’s Hope Endowment Fund, which was established in 2014 to disperse social service funds annually. The City and Borough of Juneau’s Social Service Fund contributed $781,400.
“With the Community Foundation’s leadership and our combined funding resources, these leaders come together to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their work through collaborative efforts. We appreciate the important work they do for our community and the work they are doing with CBJ staff on Housing and Homelessness,” Mayor Ken Koelsch said in a prepared statement.
JCF sourced $11,149 from other foundation funds, $47,500 from the CBJ Utility Waiver Program, $10,000 from Avista Corporation and $5,000 from the United Way of Southeast Alaska.
• Contact reporter Kevin Gullufsen at 523-2228 or kgullufsen@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @KevinGullufsen.
In this file photo, Juneau Police Department officers pose for a picture during the September 11th Memorial ceremony at Rotary Park. JPD will receive funds for domestic violence expert training through a Juneau Community Foundation grant, announced today. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
In this file photo, REACH client Chevelle Hogan, left, works with job coach Setsu Nomura stocking shelves in JO-ANN Fabric and Craft Store in the Nugget Mall on Friday, Sept. 29, 2017. REACH was one of 26 social service organizations which received grants from the Juneau Community Foundation. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
