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Amarillo Area FoundationGrant CycleGrantmaking

Amarillo Area Foundation Announces the First Discretionary Grants for 2025

By May 21, 2025No Comments

Amarillo Area Foundation is proud to share the recipients for the first cycle of the 2025 Discretionary Grants. This grant cycle included proposals in all three of our focus areas—Education, Health, and Economic Opportunity. These organizations are continuing the important work that is our mission: improving the quality of life for Texas Panhandle residents.  $1,342,276 was granted in this cycle. Thank you to these organizations!

Catholic Charities of the Texas Panhandle operates the InterFaith Hunger Project (IFHP), our area’s largest client-choice food pantry. The IFHP provides essential food services to individuals and families facing food insecurity. In 2024, the IFHP experienced a 39% increase in the number of people helped, and the need continues to rise. This award will support the increased costs and demand for food, staffing, and operational costs to store food safely.

The Dumas Area Crisis Pregnancy Center (aka Moore Options) was awarded $133,965 to hire one full-time Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) to offer no-cost mental health services, purchase telehealth technology, and establish a small food pantry stocked with basic groceries and baby formula. Each year, Moore Options serves over 760 unduplicated clients who are seeking support through a crisis pregnancy, grief counseling for miscarriage/abortion healing and recovery, or even domestic violence. The primary programs offered by Moore Options include pregnancy testing, ultrasounds, compassionate, confidential, and trauma-informed care, mental health support, and educational classes covering adoption, infant care, parenting, car seats, sleep safety, and nutrition. The Department of HHS and the Texas Pregnancy Care Network have approved all information provided by Moore Options. Moore Options collaborates with other local nonprofits serving their community, even as they serve their specific, predominantly Spanish-speaking clients going through crisis pregnancies. Their goal is to ensure that mental health support and essential nutrition are within reach for every community member, regardless of financial limitations.

The grant awarded to Transformation Park will help create the HUB feeding site at 601 S. Travis to offer free meals to those experiencing homelessness and food-insecure individuals living in the San Jacinto neighborhood, an identified food desert. The HUB sits directly across 6th Street from the two Transformation Park night shelters, the Safe Space, and the Cabin Community. This grant will cover operation costs for new equipment, partial utilities, and a portion of the first year of the lease to purchase the cost of the building, as well as the purchase of raw food for dinner meals for over 200 people daily for 260 days.

The Coming Home Mental Health Support Services Project of the City of Amarillo was awarded to hire a mental health case manager and a mental health peer support specialist to enhance the support provided to their clients. This one-year initiative, in conjunction with their work with Dr. Amy Stark at Texas Tech Psychiatry and with the Jo Wyatt Clinic, will allow them to gather evidence-based data for future grants, which will sustain this developing program within the Coming Home initiative in years to come. The case manager will have 10-15 clients, or around 50, annually. This case manager will work with clients with mental health challenges to navigate care coordination, resource connection, and advocacy. The mental health Peer Support Specialist would offer peer-based, trauma-informed support to clients, walking alongside them on their mental health journey. The peer specialists bring lived experience and understanding, often transformative in reducing stigma and fostering trust and engagement in mental health support.

The Brothers-Sisters of Our Military (BOOM) Adventures was awarded a grant to support their outdoor programs for one year, serving Veterans, Active-Duty Military, First Responders, and Gold Star Families. Many of those served have disabilities, both physical and mental, such as maimed or dismemberment, post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injuries, survivors’ guilt, and alienation. The services provided that most heroes are interested in are hunting and fishing adventures. These adventures are completely cost-free for service members and their immediate families. The grant funding covers program supplies, equipment maintenance and replacement, feed for attracting game to blinds, utilities, and meat processing for the Heroes who harvested game. Within the BOOM Adventure network, peer-to-peer relationships with those with similar lived experiences allow those struggling with mental health concerns to connect with empathetic peer “guides”. The peer-to-peer guides facilitate the hunting experience with pre- and post-hunt surveys, provide safety instructions and appropriate gear and supplies, and allow the constituent to lead the pace in the hunting session and in opening up about underlying mental health struggles. The hunting trips allow these service heroes to have an experience that restores their dignity, provides a sense of belonging, and allows them to normalize talking about their mental health struggles.

Golden Plains Community Hospital was awarded a grant to purchase a bus for transporting elderly clients participating in the Gero-Psychiatric Beacon program. Participants are picked up by bus on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays and brought to the GPCH for group therapy, lunch, and group lessons. The current bus has logged over 137K miles and needs constant repairs for the spark plugs. The new bus that GPCH is trying to buy will allow safer transport without fear of breaking down.

Maverick Boys and Girls Club of Amarillo has existed for 90 years. They provide high-quality after-school and summer care with a robust curriculum at a very low cost to families. Unlike many other childcare providers, Maverick can serve youth up to age 18. Following the Pandemic, they noticed an increased need for deeper support for middle and high school students and a drop-off of participation in Maverick programming from this age group. In response, Maverick staff took it upon themselves to have an intense recruitment drive with the goal of more than doubling the teens they had been serving. They have since met and surpassed this goal. Future Ready focuses on soft skill development and college and career exploration. There is an internship and mentorship component, health and nutrition instruction, and youth will have access to a trauma-informed social worker.
This grant will provide a dedicated staff person trained to work with teenagers to coordinate and supervise this program and provide scholarships for teens to attend the program.
The combination of college and career readiness programming with the deeply relational work Maverick is already doing will result in critical intervention and prevention of disconnection for some of our area’s most at-risk young people.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hereford provides one on one mentoring to youth aged 6-18. Impact data shows that BBBS Littles are 20% more likely to attend college and earn 15% more over their lifetimes, and that being a Little reduces socioeconomic gaps by two-thirds. They currently conduct required training for mentors and families one-on-one in their offices, where they must find somewhere for them to sit down. It is uncomfortable, inefficient, and does not allow mentors and families to build community and support one another.
The owner of their building has graciously offered them the space adjacent to their current offices at no additional charge. The grant will allow them to upgrade this space and purchase furnishings so that it is ready to host trainings. This funding will allow them to provide their services more efficiently and effectively.
Eveline’s Sunshine Cottage can provide housing for up to ten families comprised of single mothers and their children for the duration of the mother’s college attendance up to the completion of a bachelor’s degree. Mothers are expected to work during their stay and are asked to pay a nominal rental fee for their home, with utilities being covered. With the barriers of homelessness taken care of, these single mothers can focus on parenting, healing, and pursuing their education, thus changing the trajectory of their family for future generations. Due to the strong support given to these women, Eveline’s Sunshine Cottage will see 70% of their current families graduating and moving on this year. This phenomenal success leaves them needing to refurbish the homes of these families for the last several years. While the women take great care of their homes, the normal wear and tear that comes from having a home inhabited by children takes its toll, and Eveline’s staff are committed to providing safe, clean homes that their clients can feel proud to live in. This grant funding will go towards refurbishing the homes and preparing them for the next round of families to live in while they pursue their education.
High Plains Helping Hands works in Hutchinson County, primarily in Borger, to provide individuals trying to connect to education and the workforce with the support they need. Their specific work shifts depending on the client and their needs, but they can provide college enrollment assistance, help with completing the FAFSA, procurement of personal identification documents, work attire, necessary equipment for classes, limited tuition assistance, GED services, job applications, and resume help. HPHH receives many referrals from the Drug Court program in Borger. High Plains Helping Hand’s aid to individuals seeking to improve their lives through education can be life-changing, potentially impacting families and the Borger community for generations to come.
Martha’s Home serves 47 clients through the “Present Needs Future Success” program. These women, who are experiencing homelessness for a variety of reasons, are either single or have children and have committed to either completing their GEDs, attending classes at Amarillo College (a signed contractual partner), or certificate trainings at Goodwill to secure higher-paying employment and pull themselves out of poverty. Martha’s Home receives calls from around 340 applicants each year seeking its program resources and support models. Martha’s Home is five separate homes off 18th Street between Washington and Georgia. Three homes are for single women with no children, and two are for single women with children. The single women with no children live in dormitory-style rooms. All participants share in the cooking and chores and attend regularly scheduled classes provided through Martha’s Home and their collaborating partners. After 3-6 months in the Martha’s Home program, women can continue classes and enter city-run HUD housing or rent at DWC’s Meridian apartments. Meanwhile, Martha’s Home “Present Needs Future Success” assistance allows these women to persevere in their education while financial barriers are removed. For the AAF request of $50K, this would ensure that each of the 47 clients could receive approximately $1,000 in assistance to cover tuition fees, licensing fees, new tires for transportation, etc., for financial barriers that hinder their progress towards completing educational goals.
Leaders Readers Network’s Student Ambassadors Project provides leadership development and service opportunities for high school and college students while engaging elementary school students in literacy.
This grant will support the development of a place-based writing curriculum designed by Drs. Shanna Peeples and Monica Hart, both of West Texas A&M University. This innovative project addresses many educational challenges facing rural Texans, including brain drain, teacher development, literacy, sense of place and connection, and cultural preservation. By building deep connections to the places they call home, students will develop their sense of belonging and purpose alongside boosted literacy skills.
The Amarillo Wesley Community Center is addressing critical needs in the Amarillo area by expanding access to high-quality childcare. With bilingual teachers and school-readiness strategies, the center helps children successfully transition from early childcare to the classroom. It also aims to expand services that align with family work schedules and lay a strong foundation for long-term academic success.
The Range is committed to facilitating broadband connectivity research that supports business development and economic growth in the Texas Panhandle. In partnership with others, The Range works to identify environmental gaps that develop strategies that promote growth in rural communities through digital opportunities. By leveraging data, The Range emphasizes the importance of digital accessibility and affordable broadband to attract investment and expand resources in underserved rural areas.

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