The following are the grants awarded in the first Discretionary Grant cycle of 2023. You will see how they fit in our strategic focus areas. We want to thank each of these organizations for their important and meaningful work in our community and for their time in applying for these grants. A lot of work is happening in our region, and much of it fits within our mission to improve quality of life for Texas Panhandle residents. Take time to read through this blog post and click on all of the recipients’ names to visit their websites for further information. We don’t take funding opportunities lightly. Our staff vets each project and an internal committee of board members reviews each application to ensure that these dollars are being utilized and maximized for the benefit of our mission. These grants are also not transactional alone, but are forged in relationships. We continue to work with organizations after funding to explore future opportunities and measure impact. This grant cycle, $1,117,276 was granted.
Panhandle Community Partnership
The Summer Teacher Externship Program is a joint effort of The Panhandle Community Partnership, Region 16 Education Service Center, Workforce Solutions Panhandle, and Panhandle Regional Planning Commission. The externships aim to provide secondary educators in the top 26 counties of Texas the opportunity to spend 24-32 hours embedded in an area business. Educators will use the knowledge of industry trends, skills requirements, and opportunities gained from the experience to increase the relevance of student learning by implementing an understanding of workplace practices and policies into their lesson-planning processes and connecting classroom learning to career opportunities for students.
Frank Phillips College
Expanding the Workforce Education programs will mutually benefit the College and community and other areas of industry. Overall, this proposed project will position FPC to increase the number of individuals trained for certificates and degrees and improve skills to become more marketable for the local industries, providing local job growth opportunities.
City of Friona
The City of Friona aims to solve its community’s “daycare desert” issue. A Child Care Desert is defined in the Texas Labor Code as an area where the number of children younger than six years of age who have working parents is at least three times greater than the capacity of licensed childcare providers. There are currently no public/private childcare facilities in Friona.
Square Mile Community Development
The Food Asset and Insecurity Map will be developed over a 12–18-month period. Food asset and insecurity mapping is an emerging tool to promote food security and food resiliency in specific geographic regions. It provides a baseline of an area’s food assets and identifies local infrastructure supporting community food security and economic stability. Food asset mapping is a tool used in social planning to provide an essential baseline for a city or community’s “food assets.”
Faith City Mission
Faith City Mission is responding to a need for more emergency beds for women and children experiencing homelessness in Amarillo. Faith City Mission is building a 3,000+ square foot addition onto their existing 25,000 square foot downtown facility to provide emergency shelter beds and services to single women and women with children. The goal is to protect homeless women and children by providing a safe environment, so they do not have to live on the streets or stay in abusive living situations.
Kids Inc. of Amarillo
Kids, Inc. is embarking on the largest project in the organization’s history. The goal is to bring a state-of-the-art multi-sport athletic facility to the Amarillo community and provide playing space for both youth and adults.
