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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 2, 2001
CONTACT: corprel@freddiemac.com
or phone (703) 903-3933
$2 MILLION IN GRANTS EMPOWER CHILDREN AND FAMILIES LOCALLY AND NATIONALLY
Women’s Center and Big Blue House Among Recipients
McLEAN, VA – The Freddie Mac Foundation awarded grants totaling
nearly $2 million, supporting innovative programs that strengthen
communities by strengthening families. During the second quarter,
Freddie Mac Foundation continued to target most of its efforts in
the Washington D.C. metropolitan area; however, non-profits in New
York City and Chicago also benefited.
“It is paramount that we help children succeed. We’ve
been making children our business for 10 years, investing in programs
that make children, families and communities stronger. Our grants
this quarter continue our tradition of being a friend and partner
to our community and children everywhere, ” explained Maxine
B. Baker, president and CEO, Freddie Mac Foundation.
The Foundation, which is dedicated to opening the doors to hope
and opportunity for children and their families, approved 50 grants
in this round of grantmaking. In 2001, the Foundation plans to grant
approximately $20 million to organizations working to strengthen
families by preventing child abuse and neglect, finding homes for
foster children and supporting transitional housing for homeless
children and families.
A number of grants made in the Washington, DC region focused on
strengthening families. The Bethesda, MD-based National Center
for Children and Families received a $100,000 grant to provide
tailored parenting education, support and advocacy services, neighborhood-based
kinship care, and permanency services to children who are at-risk
for removal from their homes due to neglect or abuse. International
Medical Services for Health in Sterling, VA received a $100,000
grant to support its Healthy Families America, a program that empowers
first-time mothers to care for their children by teaching them parenting
skills through regular home visits.
The following four Washington-DC region agencies received $50,000
grants in this round: Calvary Bilingual Multicultural Learning
Center to provide arts and technology enrichment activities;
D.C. CASA Unit to recruit additional volunteers to work with
minority special needs children who benefit from permanency placement
through adoption or legal custody; Little Blue House to help
provide immediate, safe shelter and medical nutritional developmental
services to infants and young children in crisis; and Transitioning
Housing Corporation to support the training and job placement
of chronically unemployed inner-city men, women and youth.
The Women’s Center of Vienna, VA also received $90,000
to provide low and no cost individuals group counseling, and a crisis
and referral system that puts callers in the immediate contact with
professional help. Lastly, a $20,000 grant to the Culmore 4-H
Character Club will help the non-profit provide challenging
after-school activities that encourage critical and creative thinking,
and motivate youth to be lifelong learners and responsible citizens.
Grants also benefited non-profits in Freddie Mac’s other regional
cities. In Chicago, a $45,000 grant will support Big Brothers,
Big Sisters mentoring efforts with children in the North Lawndale
community. A creative project by Developing Hearts Systems,
near New York, received nearly $10,000 to edit and produce, in both
English and Spanish, a video that explains to illiterate parents
how to “read” baby books to their infants and toddlers.
Click here[XLS 37K]
for a full list of the
grants made during this round.
Created by Freddie Mac in 1990, the Freddie Mac Foundation is
dedicated to brightening the future for children, youth, and families
at risk. To date, the Foundation’s funding has helped more than
1.2 million children. As one of the largest corporate funders in
the Washington, DC metropolitan area, Freddie Mac and the Freddie
Mac Foundation have invested nearly $95 million in nonprofit organizations
serving children and families.
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