Placer Community Foundation recently handed out $250,000 in grants for mental health prevention and early intervention in Placer County, as well as awarding $19,000 in scholarships at Sierra College to benefit local workforce development.

Grants of $50,000 each were awarded to five local nonprofits that provide services to youth and families. This funding will allow the organizations to provide varied mental health services, including court advocates for foster children, mentors for fathers of at-risk children, counseling for birth families recently reunited with their children, support and services for mental illness within the Placer Native community, and intervention for teens exposed to, and at risk for, drug abuse.

This funding was made available through a partnership with the County of Placer Department of Health and Human Services and the Mental Health Services Act. The grantees are: Child Advocates of Placer County—CASA Expansion Project, Lilliput Children’s Services—Home to Stay, KidsFirst—Supporting Fathers, Community Recovery Resource—Full Circle Student and Family Support Program, and Sierra Native Alliance—Women’s Group/ Counseling Program.

“A big thank you to Placer Community Foundation for funding our ‎Home to Stay program in Placer County,” said Lilliput Children’s Services CEO Karen Alvord. “We are starting the second year of the program and are thrilled with the results thus far. We couldn’t have done it without the foundation’s ongoing support.” Lilliput’s Home to Stay program is focused on providing intensive, in-home parenting education, coaching, and therapy with a focus on creating stability for both birth families and kin whose children are at risk for disruption/out of home placement due to emotional, behavioral, or mental health issues.

Additionally, eleven students were awarded a total of $19,000 in scholarships to pursue degrees in engineering, welding, and drafting at Sierra College. The John G. and Lillian M. Walsh Family Scholarship Fund awards scholarships to graduates from the Auburn area, where the Walsh Family lived for four generations. Through this memorial scholarship entrusted to Placer Community Foundation, the legacy of the Walsh Family continues by investing in the future through our community’s youth. One of the scholarship recipients, Drake Whitton, said, “I am honored to get this scholarship. It means a lot to me, and I look forward to seeing where my welding career takes me.”

About Placer Community Foundation: Placer Community Foundation grows local giving to strengthen our community by connecting donors who care with causes that matter. Known for sound financial management and knowledge of the nonprofit sector, the Community Foundation continually monitors the region to better understand the nature of local needs, so that it can invest in areas such as arts and culture, education, health and human services, and the environment. The Community Foundation provides regular trainings and technical assistance for the many local nonprofits that are experiencing growing public demand for programs and services. To learn more about establishing charitable funds, visit placercf.org, contact Veronica Blake at [email protected], or call (530) 885-4920.

Source for story and photos: Placer Community Foundation