PoWeR! Book Bags
Final Grant Report for
Fiscal agent if applicant is not tax exempt:
Tax ID Number:
81-2406342
Contact First Name:
Contact Last Name:
Kara
Gregory
P.O. Box 533, Suttons Bay, MI 49682
Address:
Email:
231-343-0255
Phone Number:
Website:
Project Name:
PoWeR! Book Bags and MIHP in Charlevoix and Emmet Counties
Project start and end dates:
Thursday, June 1, 2023
Wednesday, May 1, 2024
Amount Granted From Hestia:
$
3000
Project results and Impact
How many girls/women have been served by the project during this project year?
374 Women and their children were served through the Maternal Infant Health Program in Charlevoix and Emmet County Health Departments as a result of this grant. We delivered 1227 books and 126 bags to Charlevoix County MIHP and 1030 books and 88 bags to the Emmet County MIHP programs during the duration of this grant. In all, 2,257 books and 214 PoWeR! Literacy Bags were distributed directly into the mother's homes!
Goal of the Project
Did you meet your program goals for the grant period?
If yes, how do you know? Please describe any program evaluation you use:
If no, please describe current barriers and how you are working to overcome them:
We communicate each month with the health departments. From our conversations, they have enthusiastically reported that the moms and their children are interacting more, reading more often, establishing bed time routines, and playing with the language building materials in the PoWeR! Literacy Bags!
We expected to give away more books and bags but there has been staff turn over and when that happened, less deliveries happened until staff was rehired. We have had conversations with the health department that in the future when/if this should happen again, they could deliver 'extra' supplies so to as ensure that every child receives 12-13 books plus a PoWeR! Literacy Bag each year.
We had also expected more siblings to benefit from the project. According to the staff, there have been less siblings in the MIHP homes as older children have 'aged out' and more 'new' families are being added.
Do you have a story of how your program positively changed participant's situation, behavior, or knowledge?
If so, please share it:
Over and over again we were told of the moms' enthusiastic appreciation for the new books and language materials. We received an overwhelming appreciation for the program materials with reactions like, "I only had one book and it was so boring to read it over and over again, we just stopped reading. NOW -- with all of these books from YOU, we read every day!"
Sustainability
Will this project continue?
If so, how will it be funded?
If not, why not?
We will continue to pursue grants and private donations. We have added a CRM into our work which is helping us with greater fundraising abilities. This is a very crucial program for the future of our children and we are determined to continue it.
Public Relations
How did you publicize this grant?
Please list any examples.
We publicly thanked the Hestia Women's Giving Circle on our website, at our fundraising/birthday event in 2023, on the Welcome Cards that are in the PoWeR! Literacy Bags going out to the homes, and in our newspaper thank you in February which appeared in the Weekly Shopper in print.
Summary Comments
We are very grateful for this, our third year of support for our work with women and their children in Emmet and Charlevoix counties. We are thrilled to be your partner for good in these communities! THANK YOU!!
Grant Final Budget Form
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