Kresge Foundation Employs New Funding Methods in its First Quarter Grant Awards of Nearly $...(the Memphis Tennessee-basedYouth Village...),Health

Youth Villages is a national organization of 1,300 counselors, teachers and support staff working in 32 cities that provides a continuum of care to children and youth in foster care or returning from state juvenile justice systems. The Nurse Family Partnership is a national, home visitation program providing support, guidance and health care services for low-income, first-time mothers and their children.

"The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation's theory of change is built on the premise that significant, long-term investments in outstanding organizations provide the best opportunity to solve some of the nation's most intractable problems," Rapson says. "We are pleased to partner on this important, large-scale effort."

Scholarships, research, kindergarten readiness

An $800,000 program-support grant was made to MDRC, a New York City-based nonprofit, nonpartisan, social-policy research organization dedicated to improving the education, employment and life circumstances of low-income Americans. The grant, which will be paid over three years, is restricted to three activities: Research on the effectiveness of community colleges to provide access to low-income students and foster their academic progress through performance-based scholarships; communications efforts to support wide dissemination of research findings; and, research on methods to develop the emotional and behavioral readiness of young children to enter kindergarten.

"Foundations have historically funded research, particularly the unconventional and the unpopular," Rapson adds. "This, however, is a new - and important - endeavor for the Kresge Foundation. It is integral to our expansion efforts to support the kind of research that has the potential to advance the state of knowledge about vital community issues." <
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