WomenSpace, Inc. ($2,500) – is a program that provides direct client aid for Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) survivors in Creswell. The city funds are used for a program providing basic needs to survivors of domestic violence and their children. Last year they served ninety-two Creswell residents with their crisis line, support groups, walk-in, shelter, and rural advocates. With the city funds they were able to provide financial support for seven of those residents. They helped pay for rent, bus passes, utilities, and phone services. In addition, they matched the city funds with other funds to provide direct client assistance totaling $5,920. With the city’s help WomenSpace will be able to assist victims in reclaiming their personal power and begin living lives free from violence, fear, and abuse.

Creswell Clubhouse ($500) – the clubhouse has a mission of providing an after-school program where young people practice reading skills, receive help with homework, utilize computers, and participate in educationally enriching activities. Many families cannot afford the fees necessary to support the program and these children need scholarships to cover part of the cost. School counselors and the school principal help identify children that are in special need of the program and in need of scholarship support. The city funds will be used to support the scholarship fund.

Creswell Family Relief Nursery ($2,500) – Family Relief Nursery’s Creswell Therapeutic Early Childhood Classroom opened September of 2016. The class is able to serve 17 children at risk for child abuse and neglect from the Creswell area. Funds from Creswell First! will be used to purchase a safe outside play structure for children aged 1 year to 4 years old. No outside play structure for this age group is currently available at the Creslane elementary school. Many of these children do not have outside play opportunities where they live. The FRN therapeutic model requires outside play every day and is required under the Oregon Association of Relief Nursery Certification.

Creswell Elementary – Sanctuary Space ($1,250) – Many children come to elementary school with experiences of loss, grief, trauma, and feelings that make it difficult to learn. Counseling is vital to the success of these children learning. This project will enhance and convert a classroom into a safe, warm, and relaxing space with therapeutic toys and games that promote psychological and emotional safety. Currently the space available for counseling is a dual-purpose, open, and tiled space. It is both a counseling office and a clothing closet for families who need clothing. The separation of space between clothing and counseling is a white curtain. Funds from the city community service fund will be used for furnishing, therapeutic toys, books, and specialized activities.

Intergenerational Reading Collaboration (IRC) ($2,500) –The IRC will work to help stem the loss of reading skills during the summer months and increase both reading skills and vocabulary acquisition in children from low income households in Creswell. The IRC volunteers will both read with children and distribute books, free of charge at Harry Holt Park this coming summer. They also will make books, of the children’s choice, available to take home as their own. In order to approach out goal we need approximately 800 books that are popular with children. The funds requested will be used solely for the purpose of purchasing books. The overarching goal is to help enable as many children as possible in Creswell to pass the State Benchmark Reading Tests by the end of third grade

Creswell Library ADA Compliant Door Openers ($2,500) – The goal for this project is to purchase and install ADA-compliant door openers for the existing doors. This will provide easier access to the building for the handicapped and those with limited mobility. Every day library staff encounter people struggling to get through the two sets of entrance doors. Having ADA-compliant door openers is a way the library can level the playing field to make the library available for all Creswell residents. The library will be applying for additional matching grant money to complete this project.

Survival Kits Creslane ($500) –This summer project will provide resources and activities for children during the summer; specifically, to pre-identified Creslane students who will be home alone and often without activities to occupy their Summer vacation. Creslane hopes to give about 40 “Summer Survival Kits.” These kits will help fill student’s time and engaged in healthy activities, as well as provide an opportunity to share local resources for the students and their families. With a scarcity of local affordable day care, summer camps, or other organized options for students, some parents and guardians are forced to leave their children at home alone while they go to work; the Summer Survival Kit is an opportunity to meet the need of vulnerable children and families who have no or limited options for Summer activity. Bags will be filled with age-appropriate items, such as a jump rope, activity book, sidewalk chalk, bubbles, and games.

These seven projects total $11,250 of the funds made available for distribution. The Creswell First! Board has remaining $3,750 to meet needs that were not identified when applications were written. The remaining funds are available for unforeseen or emergency situations.

Note: In 2018 the city asked for $2,500 for the projected Cobalt Activity Center’s Community commercial kitchen. Creswell First! strongly supports the development of the kitchen for the purpose of feeding low income families, teaching them how to cook nutritious meals, and how to preserve foods. We know the total cost of creating the kitchen will far exceed our contribution, but we went on record as Creswell’s local foundation supporting the project Our maximum award of $2,500, is committed to the commercial kitchen project and is being held for that use when the project becomes a