For Immediate Release
Contact:  Jason Gerwig
630/407-6022

HUMAN SERVICES GRANT FUNDS PLANTING A SEED IN COMMUNITY

WHEATON (September 25, 2007) ― An agreement between DuPage County and the DuPage Community Foundation will help ensure that $75,730 in remaining Human Services Grant Funds (HSGF) go toward helping those in need throughout the County.

"These funds are the beginning of a collaboration of funding organizations that will go far beyond just a one-time grant,” said Yolanda Campuzano, Chairman of the County’s Health and Human Services Committee.  “By working with community organizations we can see to it that this investment will help build the capacity of the network of service organizations and make a lasting difference to those in need.”

Under the approved agreement, $50,000 of the available funds will be provided to the DuPage Community Foundation (DCF) for grants relating to the “Community Works” initiative. 

Community Works is a statewide initiative of the Grand Victoria Foundation (GVF), which focuses on building community foundation capacity, leveraging assets into community foundations, enabling community foundations to become leaders and encouraging grant making in the areas of early childhood care and education.  DCF will begin making grants available by June of 2008 and will sustain grants of $50,000 per year thereafter.

“The money this agreement provides will help plant a seed that will continue to grow and blossom in the years to come,” notes Campuzano (District 1).  “I am pleased we were able to find an innovative way to see to it that these remaining funds can help make a difference.”

The remaining $25,730 would be made available for research and marketing also with the intent of building the capacity of the network of health and human service providers.  This funding will be part of a collaborative effort involving DuPage County and private funding organizations including the United Way, the Community Memorial Foundation, and the DuPage Community Foundation.  This marketing effort will help raise awareness of the growing challenges in meeting health and human services needs in DuPage County, and it will help provide assistance in responding to these growing challenges. 

This approach of partnering, collaboration, and strategic use of County resources is an implementation of the recommendations presented in the County’s Strategic Plan, which the County has been undertaking for the past year-and-a-half.

As a result of the County’s continuing budget crisis the HSGF were closed out earlier this year after making final payments that were approved in 2006.  Subsequently, no new grants were approved in 2007.