The purpose of Club Tech Digital Arts Suite is to instill in youth a true enjoyment of digital arts that will stay with them throughout their lives and broaden their opportunities for future career options. To expand the Club Tech technology programming, the Boys & Girls Club will implement the Digital Arts Suite, which includes lessons in web and graphic design, digital photography, and music and movie making.

Since 2006, Feed My People has been providing food to an ever-increasing number of children in the Eau Claire Area School District. Fresh fruit has become an important component of this program. Fresh fruit, however, is costly, accounting for almost a third of the cost of the food. Feed My People, therefore, has made the decision to seek sponsorships from area businesses in the Eau Claire community to sponsor the purchase of fruit as well as other food items. This grant is to help fund the cost of the fruit while these sponsorships are being obtained.

Joshua’s Camp provides a four day retreat style program for families that have a child that is being treated for cancer or has been out of treatment for less than 3 years. Money from this grant will be used to help single mothers and their children attend the camp.

Boots for Special Souls is an expansion of an existing program, Soles for Special Souls, run by Trinity Lutheran Church’s food pantry, in which disadvantaged children receive a voucher for winter boots. The children submit the vouchers as payment for pairs of winter boots of their choice at Kmart in Eau Claire. Trinity then pays the purchase price, less a generous discount provided by Kmart, to cover the cost of the winter boots.

The grant will fund ECCT’s “Rising Star Productions,” bringing the two-component program to Longfellow and Lakeshore Elementary Schools. The after-school enrichment component allows 50 students to be part of a full-scale theatre performance produced in one week. The School Day Residency component places an ECCT staff member at the school for one week and includes 10 hour-long theatre workshops that involve students in theatre games and creative drama activities in the classroom.

The 2012 AIM Court grant will be used for financial literacy training, forging relationships with supportive area landlords, and incremental financial stipends for AIM participants who successfully complete budgeting counseling. This program aids in the success of current AIM participants by teaching financial responsibility and linking participants with safe, suitable, and affordable environments for themselves and their families.

The “Worthy Work for Mothers” program will teach English instruction, computer skills, intermediate-level employment skills, and career development skills to women of diverse low-income families so that they may obtain employment to support themselves and their families. This program will equip women with the skills and certification to pursue careers in food handling, health care, light manufacturing, and early childhood day care.

The grant will assist women in the Chippewa Valley to access licensed AODA (Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse) treatment in a gender-specific, trauma-informed manner at Lutheran Social Services Touchstones Center. The program consists of 36 sessions of primary outpatient treatment, followed by 16 weeks of continuing care. Program goals include increasing sobriety, securing safe housing, becoming employed, and decreasing correctional system involvement, as well as improvement in overall well-being and family relationships.

The grant will help fund the “MusicMakers” program to be offered to the members of the Club. It is a new program that will offer private and small group music lessons to participants, enhancing their skills in expressing themselves in musical, creative ways. In addition to the lessons, Club members will have opportunities for field trips for experiences in the performing arts.

AIM (Alternatives to Incarcerating Mothers) Court is an evidence-based program of support, education, direction, and encouragement to mothers who have committed a felony or misdemeanor, and offers ways of serving their sentences other than incarceration. The 2011 grant will be used for enhancements to this program: parenting education, educational materials that will help mothers communicate with their children in more developmentally appropriate ways, a family program for the adult supports in the lives of the participant mothers, and access to child-friendly performances and activities in the community.

The grant will expand the existing Kids’ Weekend Meal Program to include children attending Eau Claire’s Lakeshore Elementary School. Bags of food sufficient for two breakfasts and two lunches are provided on Fridays to the children who are at risk of going hungry when school meals are not available on weekends. Approximately 150 students will participate.

The “First Teachers” program, funded by this grant, will help mothers enrolled in the Eau Claire Family Literacy program help their children succeed in a culture that is vastly different from the culture in which they themselves were raised. Participants in “First Teachers” will actively engage with their child’s early childhood teacher and participate directly in the classroom. With the skills learned, the mothers will be able to reinforce their child’s learning at home, continually reinforcing their skills and abilities.

AIM Court is a program that provides alternatives to offenders who are mothers. Such individuals participating in this program can remain in the community to serve their sentences, thereby avoiding foster care placement for their children and other disruptions of family life. The grant will fund the purchase of materials that will be used in parenting education and incentives for pro-social behaviors. The AIM Court program has a capacity to serve 20 mothers and their children.

This grant will help LV-CV expand the program which was funded in 2009, Empowering Women Through Savings, by adding a leadership training component. The participants will learn and practice organizational skills, such as leading a meeting, creating by-laws for a group, and taking part in a discussion. Money from the grant will purchase materials and help with translating written and oral materials.

In this program, “From the Garden, to the Community Table, to the Family Table,” children will learn about gardening, preserving produce, and using produce for meals. They will have opportunities to prepare meals for their families using the produce they have raised. The goal of the program is to reach out to families who may not be using the Community Table by helping them become familiar with the facility and learn with their children.

In collaboration with K-Mart, The Food Pantry program will use this grant to purchase vouchers for families in need to help them purchase new shoes for their children. Parents can use the vouchers at K-Mart and allow their children to obtain new shoes.

The Teen Parent Education Program will provide parent education, support, and assistance to teen mothers and their children in the local high schools. The participants will be better equipped for the challenge of raising a child and be more likely to raise healthy children in the future. At least 30 teen mothers will be served by this program.

The Weekend Kids' Meals program will expand a program started in 2006, which provides nutritious food for two breakfasts and two lunches that school age children can take home over the weekend when school-based meals are not available. The expanded program will provide the same service for all students enrolled the Eau Claire Area School District's Head Start sites. Research has shown that food security for children enhances their health, attendance in school, and academic success.

Empowering Women through Savings will use grant money to provide women who are living in poverty with knowledge and skills about financial literacy and basic financial functions, such as budgeting, borrowing, comparison shopping, and saving. Participants will work one-on-one with a financial planner.

A Family Table: The goal of this program is to make the Community Table a family friendly space where participants can connect with existing services and local resources. Additional components of the program include family nutrition classes in addition to healthy meals, and a Children's Corner where children can play and learn in a safe, supervised place at the site during mealtimes.

This recovery enhancement program will help woman recovering from addiction issues develop new interests, skills and hobbies that they can incorporate into their lives upon completion of the program. It is estimated that 60 women will be served.

The Community Table will deliver healthy lunch bags and afternoon snacks to an estimated 50 children each day during the summer.

This program will serve parents and their children who have mental health needs. It will establish one family advocate in EC County to assist families through parent to parent peer support. The goal is to help 25 parents become advocates for their children.

This program will provide opportunities for low income families to be self-sufficient. It will help youth learn about starting a business in a 5 day program. 20-40 economically and socially at risk young people will be served.