The Great Grants finalists were as follows:

The Rocky Mountain Youth Corps and Eco Arts Center received a $1,500 grant from the Taos Community Foundation (Taos, New Mexico) to allow people of all ages from the community to express themselves legally and artistically on a Graffiti Wall.  This wall allows people to feel safe doing what they love or enjoy.  It's legal.  In addition, it served as a catalyst for community dialogue and involved citizens in civic engagement such as town council meetings, newspaper editorials, etc.  For more information on this project, contact Elizabeth Crittenden at the Taos Community Foundation: 505-737-9300.

Reading Buddies, a program of the Interact Club (Rotary Youth Organization), was given a $1,000 grant by the Pope County YAC of the Arkansas Community Foundation to allow the elementary schools in their district to purchase books that were used to tutor elementary children.  The project targeted the high-risk, highly-challenged segment of the elementary population, while also reaching a low literacy part of the community.  For more information on this grant, contact Cecilia Patterson at the Arkansas Community Foundation: 501-372-1116.

The Ann Arbor Teen Center/Neutral Zone has received over $25,000 from the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation YAC.  It was established as a place for area teens to study/interact with others and participate in a multitude of programs.  Neutral Zone is a huge success with hundreds of area teens visiting for events such as the national poetry slam.  There is a teen advisory committee, and youth are involved at many levels of the program.  The Neutral Zone also holds many classes free (or nearly free) of cost, including: drumming, yoga, dance, Youth Owned Records, volume poetry, women's studies, African American men's groups, tutoring during exam week, Art Gallery, gay and lesbian groups and more.  For more information on their programs, contact Lisa Dengiz at the Neutral Zone: 734-214-9995. 

Angela Hospice, a project funded by a $7,500 grant from the Community Foundation for Southeastern Michigan YAC serves families with terminally ill patients.  Their services include: Tweety's closet, Angel dolls, memory books and quilts.  It provides hope and support dealing with present and future emotions, as well as maintaining cherished memories.  For more details, contact the Community Foundation for Southeastern Michigan at: 313-961-6675.

Nine schools in the Jackson County School District were recently awarded a $7,500 grant through the Jackson County Community Foundation in order to bring the California-based Challenge Day program to Jackson County.  This was actually done as a follow up to MCFYP’s Youth Leadership Conference of 2001.  It impacted 200 youth and 70 administrators, counselors and teachers from our county and involving nine school districts.  All nine districts have since indicated that they plan to continue Challenge Day yearly, funding it themselves.   This was the first opportunity for the YAC to collaborate with the newly formed YAC of United Way, as well as the Jackson's Promise to Youth Alliance.  For more details contact Christine Taylor at the Jackson County Community Foundation at: 517-787-1321.

The Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area YAC has granted $11,500 to the Girls on the Run and Girls on Track Programs, helping to expand their prevention programs (targeted to girls in grades 3-7), and assist in preparing for a lifetime of self-respect and healthy living.  Participating in teams of fifteen, over one thousand young women were involved as volunteer leaders from the community.  The YAC members and other youth volunteered at the run by giving our water and t-shirts.  The girls all learned about healthy lives and high self-esteem.  They also learned about teen pregnancy and teen suicide.  It was such a big hit that the boys now want one too!  For more information, contact the Holland/Zeeland Community Foundation at: 616-396-6590.

The Grand Rapids Ballet Company has a program called "STEPS in a New Direction" that received a $5,000 grant from the Youth Grant Committee of the Grand Rapids Community Foundation.  The purpose of that grant was to provide scholarships and equipment to low-income children, thus giving them an education in dance.  The idea was original, different from what the committee had seen before and was seen as being very beneficial in the community.  For more information on this program, contact Punky Edison of the Grand Rapids Ballet Company at: 616-454-4771.  

The OASIS Smiles Program, funded in part by a $3,500 grant from the Arkansas Community Foundation YAC, was the result of a grant to the homeless shelter to teach resident children to care for animals at the animal shelter.  The idea of pairing homeless children with homeless pets was unique and impacted a wide range of people, all of whom desperately need to feel wanted.  Animals that the children found and thought would be suitable were then taken to visit people in nursing homes.  While creating friendships between children/teens and the elderly, it taught useful skills to the children and rescued animals by giving them a much better chance at adoption.  For more information on this program, contact the OASIS Animal Shelter Information Society at: 870-837-2424.   

The Cinco de Mayo Dancers, sponsored in part by a $500 grant from the Sturgis Area Community Foundation YAC, helped citizens to work through their issues of racism, while educating them about other (specifically Hispanic) cultures.  The money that was granted provided low-income children the means to purchase costumes that they would not have been able to afford otherwise.  For more information contact the Sturgis Area Community Foundation at: 616-659-8508. 

The Mt. Pleasant Area Community Foundation YAC sponsored a program called Court in the Classroom, with a $5,000 grant.  As a part of this program, district court judge came into high schools and held actual sentencings of drunk drivers.  The youth were also shown videos of the impact that drunk driving has on people's lives.  It had a huge impact on the lives of youth in those high schools, who were involved with this program right before prom night.  For more details, contact the Mt. Pleasant Area Community Foundation at: 989-773-7322. 

Visions of Peace Drum and Dance Co. received a $1,877 grant from the Petoskey/Harbor Springs YAC to purchase 20-50 new drums for educational activities in the schools.  They are a new organization that performs African, Latin American and Native American music and dance shows in the schools and community.  They perform African and Latin American and Native American music and dance.  This organization was because they promote diversity within this county.  The Petoskey/Harbor Springs Area Community Foundation can be reached at: 231-348-5820. 

The Capital Region Community Foundation gave $2,527 to fund a project organized by the Wexford Community Council/PTA.  This project focuses on low income neighborhoods, with the following goal: kids will read three books over the summer and participate in activities where they will learn about costumes, make-up, set design and other theatre arts.  The program gets kids off the streets and teaches them about drama and using their imagination.  The kids and teens, ranging in age from 10-18, read stories and learn about theatre, then perform a scene from their books for their families and friends.  For more details, please contact the Capital Region Community Foundation at: 517-272-2870.  

The Borgess and Bronson Hospital program Read About Illnesses was given a $1,500 grant by the Kalamazoo Community Foundation Youth United Way to inform and aid children and older youth with diseases, while helping them to cope.  It reached out to youth, aided children, informed families about the illnesses they were facing, gave hope in lives, and was overall a much more beneficial and understandable way to learn.  The Kalamazoo Community Foundation can be reached at: 616-381-4416.

More Great Grants from other years available:  2005   2006   2007