Commitment - Boosting Organizational Capacity

Joan Pittman, Counselor, Family and Children's Services of Central Maryland

One of the most important ways The Horizon Foundation helps to build a resilient community is by providing capacity-building grants. These grants are initiated by the Foundation and seek to expand an existing organization's ability to address critical organizational and operational needs which are important to its ability to effectively address community health concerns.

Among the grants awarded this year was $377,250 for Family and Children's Services to open a much-needed additional office in the Route 1 Corridor, as well as to upgrade the computer systems in its central Wilde Lake office.

Family and Children's Services Executive Director Stanley A. Levi says the need for a Route 1 Corridor office is critical. "This is the area of greatest need in Howard County," he says. "Most people in that area don't use social services because they'd have to go to Columbia to access them. Without a local office, the situation would just continue to get worse until it reached crisis proportions."

The grant will be awarded over three years and funds a variety of needs, including a portion of the salaries for part-time clinical and support staff, home health aides, and a registered nurse. The office will provide counseling and in-home services for elderly people.

Like other capacity-building grants, this one is structured to support sustainability.

Following considerable preliminary planning leading up to the award, the goal is for the office to eventually pay for itself through fees and other sources of income. Horizon's capacity- building grants make it possible for vital community institutions to thrive and grow. Over the years, grants have helped the Health Alliance expand its free clinic, which provides care for people with chronic illnesses and limited access to medical care. Capacity-building grants also helped the Coalition of Geriatric Services (COGS) stabilize operations and increase services, and made it possible for the Foreign-born Information and Referral Network (FIRN) to address the need for access to health care for the county's immigrant population.

"Over and over again Horizon has demonstrated great foresight and commitment to this county," Levi says.

"Opening an office in the Route 1 Corridor is something Family and Children's Services has wanted to do for years. It's a wonderful thing when a foundation makes this kind of investment to support all the citizens of Howard County and especially those with the kinds of needs of the people in the Route 1 Corridor."

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