CFAAC’s Fund for Anne Arundel (FFAA) recently awarded a total of $182,315 to seven local nonprofits. In just three years, CFAAC has distributed 18 grants to 15 unique nonprofits totaling $536,565 through the Fund for Anne Arundel. 

This year, grants made through the FFAA were directed to nonprofits that prioritize the physical, mental, and behavioral health of children and families. The funding focus was decided by the FFAA Committee, which includes community leaders and the CFAAC Board and Staff, to align with the needs identified in CFAAC’s community needs assessment report, Poverty Amidst Plenty VI: On the Road to Progress for All.

“We all want our children to thrive and we know that barriers to provide proper physical, mental, and behavioral healthcare, exist in our county,” said CFAAC President and CEO Mary Spencer. “Our focus with the grants from the Fund for Anne Arundel is to remove those barriers and support the wonderful nonprofits who are aligned with this effort to prioritize the health of children and families.”

The most recent Fund for Anne Arundel grant recipients are CASA of Anne Arundel County, Seeds 4 Success, Start the Adventure in Reading (STAIR) – Annapolis, Inc., Girls on the Run of the Greater Chesapeake, Severna Park Community Center, Superior Future, Inc., and The Complete Player Charity.

Read more about each nonprofit and the programs funded through the FFAA below:

• Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Anne Arundel County’s goal for abused and neglected children in foster care is to fulfill society’s most fundamental obligation by ensuring a qualified, compassionate adult will fight for a child’s safety, dignity, and opportunity to grow in the security of a loving family. Its vision is to provide a CASA to every child in need of assistance in the court system; CASA currently serves 79% of this population. The funding received will be applied toward the salaries of the case supervisors who supervise the CASA volunteers.
• Seeds 4 Success (S4S) wants to ensure social-emotional learning opportunities for healthier children and families. The funding from FFAA will support the S4S Program Manager (grades 6 to 12) so they can design, implement, track, and evaluate a comprehensive integration of Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) into its tutoring, mentoring, and family engagement programs. SEL would then be incorporated into elementary school programming and eventually into an Early Childhood Program.
• Start the Adventure in Reading (STAIR) – Annapolis, Inc. fills a need that school reading specialists and teachers do not have the time to address: one-on-one reading time with at-risk students. Children learn to read through second grade; after second grade, children read to learn. If they miss that critical building block, they will continue to fall further behind as the rest of their class moves forward. This achievement gap is even more pronounced post-pandemic. Funding for this program will help more children recover, thrive, and learn to read.
• Girls on the Run of the Greater Chesapeake (GOTRGC) is funding its “Expanding Access for All Girls” program to support access to social/emotional/physical well-being opportunities for disadvantaged children and youth in our county through its research-based curriculum offered to girls in 3rd to 8th grades. GOTRGC has many requests from Title 1 schools and community centers that want to host the program. This funding will help offset registration fees for nine teams (up to 160 girls).
• Severna Park Community Center is funding its newly developed, and free-of-charge, SEALS program: (Social | Educational | ALL Welcome | Limitless |Swimming). This adaptive swimming program will serve approximately 700 youth with disabilities, ages 5 to 21, and is designed to promote water safety, foster physical fitness, and improve emotional health.
• Superior Future Inc. is funding the expansion of its architectural engineering, building trades, business job skill training, environmental science, STEM, and art programs. The nonprofit’s organizational programming is configured with hands-on, unorthodox, and unconventional methods designed uniquely to meet each individual’s learning needs. The program hopes to enhance job skills, foster a deeper connection and understanding of cultures, and develop a sense of responsibility in the community.
• The Complete Player (TCP) Charity is funding the expansion of its TCP Youth Empowerment programs, specifically to expand its pilot program at Glen Burnie High School to a full 30-week program, start a pilot program at Park Elementary School, and increase the number of TCP leaders in STEAM summer camps and camp weeks by 100%.

Since its inception in 2017, CFAAC has received 111 donations to support the FFAA and has raised $1,349,771 in gifts, half of which was placed into the fund’s endowment to ensure its grantmaking power will continue. The FFAA is growing in its impact as interested community members continue to pool together their resources to support it.

Those wishing to contribute can:

Make a secure, tax-deductible online donation through www.cfaac.org.

Mail a check payable to “CFAAC” with “Fund for Anne Arundel” in the memo line to: 900 Bestgate Road, Ste. 400, Annapolis, MD, 21401.