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Must Charities invests $100,000 into community 

grand funds stock imgTwelve local non-profits selected for grant funds

– Local nonprofit Must Charities’ $100K Out of the Box Investment Project’s intent was to invest a total of $100,000 into organizations on the Central Coast, serving the needs of our community’s greatest resource: people. Sixty-six local organizations applied with ambitions to expand services to meet the needs facing the region.

Of those sixty-six, the project resulted in the selection of twelve diverse non-profits representing organizations in the community that “feed, heal, shelter, educate, inspire, enlighten, and nurture SLO County’s most vulnerable populations.” Their stories illustrated a broad range of needs: board development, strategic planning, infrastructure expansion, additional staffing, leadership training, marketing, and web design, according to Must Charities.

“The project reaffirmed what we already know about our region – that great people are doing great things in our community,” says Randy Gray, community projects manager at Must Charities. “So many organizations in our region share the same passion. What is exciting to us is the opportunity to pursue collaborations with them, with each other, and ultimately increase those served in SLO County.”

Staff and committee members reviewed applications and projects and determined the following organizations:

AIM Youth Mental Health SLO County – Parent office hours with a mental health professional that ensure quality evidence-based support for parents

City Farm SLO – An outdoor kitchen makeover to enhance their hands-on educational farm that focuses on programs for underserved SLO County youth.

Family Care Network Inc. – Their housing support services provide safe housing and necessary support to the community’s most vulnerable youth and families. Funding purchased necessary essentials–furniture, beds, linens, cribs, closet organizers, utensils, cleaning supplies, and more.

Habitat for Humanity SLO County – Habitat’s Aging in Place initiative focuses on senior homeowners and services that can help ensure applicants continue to live safely and comfortably in their own homes.

Infinite Music – Funded three music programs for underserved youth in SLO North County, grades K-12 (Makin’ Music Club, Rising Stars, and Special Needs for Arts).

One Cool Earth – Twelve cooking kits + specialty items for the 29 school gardens across SLO County.

Paso Robles Youth Arts Center – Expand equipment, software, and staff for the video production program and prepare young filmmakers for the 2024 Estreno Film Festival.

Restorative Partners’ Bridge Cafe – Launch the Bridge Cafe’s Catering program with new equipment and training/certifications necessary to properly prepare, serve and execute catering operations.

SLO Botanical Garden – Remodel the children’s garden outdoor teaching kitchen with a pizza oven, Santa Maria barbeque, sinks, storage, and shaded demonstration platform.

SLO Noor Foundation – Expand the Whole Community Care project–Must! funds utilized to hire a bilingual outreach coordinator to facilitate an awareness campaign to increase access to health and support services to hard-to-reach populations in under-resourced geographical areas in SLO North County.

Smart Share Housing Solutions – Grow its North County HomeShareSLO home-sharing program, essential homeless prevention, which serves lower-income seniors with housing and support to age in place.

Tolosa Children’s Dental Center – Purchased a Statim G4 Cassette Autoclave to enable faster sterilization to more efficiently address the dental needs of their underserved and underinsured children.

To find out more or invest in this project, visit mustcharities.org or call (805) 226-5788.

 

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The news staff of the Paso Robles Daily News wrote or edited this story from local contributors and press releases. The news staff can be reached at info@pasoroblesdailynews.com.