Four local nonprofit organizations have received Mayor’s Healthy Hometown mini grants totaling $33,000.

The recipients are the Academy of Music Production Education and Development (AMPED); Girls on the Run of Louisville; the Metropolitan Housing Corp.; and 2NOT1 Fatherhood and Families Inc.

“Each of these grass-roots organizations are providing compassionate care and services to improve the health and quality of life of the people they serve,” said Mayor Greg Fischer.

Dr. Joann Schulte, director of Louisville Metro Public Health and Wellness, said 19 applications were received.

“A panel of representatives from the community reviewed the grants and based awards on the organizations’ abilities to impact the city’s Healthy Louisville 2020 focus areas of Healthy Homes and Healthy Neighborhoods, Healthy Mothers and Healthy Babies, Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods, Mental and Behavioral Health, Obesity Prevention, Social Determinants of Health and Substance Abuse Prevention,” she said.

Since 2005, the Mayor’s Healthy Hometown Movement has awarded more than a half million dollars in grants to more than 100 community groups. To learn more about Healthy Louisville 2020, our shared community plan for improving health in Louisville, go to www.healthylouisvillemetro.org.

Organizations receiving the grants are:

Academy of Music Production Education and Development (AMPED)  

$10,000

AMPED is a free youth program that provides a safe and productive environment for youth to explore their creativity through music.  AMPED will use its grant for “MENAISSANCE,” a program that reintroduces high school males to reading and the power that it holds for their future success. They are assigned challenging novels to read, and then taught to break it down, analyze it, and draw themes that relate to their lives. After completing the novel, they began the creative process of writing spoken word, poetry, song, or rap. They parallel and contrast the novel characters’ lives with their own and develop creative pieces. Next they document their work using audio, video and photography. In AMPED’s on-site recording studio, the students learn about audio engineering, photography and video documenting.

Girls on the Run Louisville

$6,650

Girls on the Run inspires girls to be joyful, healthy and confident using a fun, experience-based curriculum that creatively integrates running. It is a 10-week program for 50 girls from Title 1 elementary and middle schools during the 2016-2017 school year.  The girls engage in twice-weekly lessons, for a total of 30 hours of programming, following the professionally developed Girls on the Run curriculum.  They will discuss topics such as peer pressure, bullying, positive body image, nutrition/hydration, and stress management. The girls will also engage in running and other physical activities, and by the end of the program they will be physically and emotionally prepared to complete the Girls on the Run Louisville 5K run. This provides the girls with a framework for goal setting and achievement in the future.  Additionally, the girls will learn the importance of regular physical activity and healthy lifestyle choices, which are crucial to their future health and wellness.

Metropolitan Housing Coalition

$6,350

For many families living in older homes, lead is an invisible danger. Children who are exposed to chronic low-level lead poisoning may show no single sign or symptom, but lead poisoning in children is often linked to poor school performance, lower IQ, greater incidence of ADHD and other behavioral issues. Yet, children living in these older homes could be protected if these hazards were identified or eliminated. The Metropolitan Housing Coalition’s “Get the Lead Out” program enlists community groups in low-income neighborhoods to teach parents how to detect lead hazards in their homes.  By helping fund this project, we can help provide parents the tools and information they need to identify lead hazards in their home and correct them.

2NOT1 Fatherhood and Families, Inc.

$10,000

2NOT1 Parent advocates are those who have successfully worked through the child protection system and have taken on the task of providing support to birth families currently working with Child Protective Services. The goal is to assist the families in meeting CPS determined goals to either prevent removal of their children or successfully return them to the home from foster care. Advocates provide extended support and resources to birth parents in courts, schools, and various institutions and systems of care. By bridging the gap between CPS case worker, birth parents and foster families, Advocates help achieve case closure in less time. These mentors, formerly engaged in the child welfare system themselves, assist and encourage birth parents in maintaining a connection with their children. Advocates participate in team decision making processes, assist with development of family action plans, and encourage parent participation. Advocates become engaged within the first 90 days of an active CPS case and work with the family until case closure or at the request of the parents. Mentors help parents reduce stress by helping them to understand their rights and the CPS system in terms parents can understand. Advocates help case workers in identifying the family’s strengths and needs and support the family in times of crisis.