FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Erica Snyder
214.891.5208
erica_snyder@richards.com
The Dallas Foundation’s TRIAD Fund gives nearly $1 million to address veterans’ rising needs
Funds will help 15 organizations provide assistance to servicemen and women
DALLAS (August 3, 2009) – Fifteen nonprofit organizations were awarded $916,000 to aid in the growing needs of military personnel who are serving or have served in Iraq or Afghanistan through The Dallas Foundation’s Texas Resources for Iraq-Afghanistan Deployment (TRIAD) Fund.
“Our troops and their families need help now more than ever,” said Philip Ritter, vice chair of The Dallas Foundation’s TRIAD Fund Advisory Committee. “The TRIAD Fund provides aid to our military men and women so their rising needs don’t fall through the cracks, especially during these tough times.”
Over the past three years, the TRIAD Fund has awarded 55 grants totaling $7.76 million to 49 nonprofit organizations throughout North and East Texas. Military personnel today have to deal with new difficulties including longer tours, multiple deployments and limited resources. With record suicide rates, rising divorce rates and homelessness among veterans, the TRIAD Fund continues to help grantees address these issues, and many others, facing military families. Grant recipients provide employment training, financial assistance, counseling and family-oriented programs aimed at preparing the veterans for life after service.
Among the recent grant recipients is USO Dallas/Fort Worth, which received $100,000 from The Dallas Foundation. From the moment troops arrive home, USO provides the military community with a relaxing lounge in the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport that has welcomed nearly 700,000 military personnel since its inception in 2004. Roughly 150 Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom troops arrive at DFW Airport every day, where volunteers warmly welcome the troops back on American soil.
The following are the most recent recipients of TRIAD Fund grants:
$137,600 to Business Executives for National Security will develop a process for cataloguing, evaluating and connecting nonprofit and governmental organizations currently providing services to Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom veterans.
$7,500 to Big Country Support the Troops will provide 3,000 care packages to service members overseas and community events for military families in the Abilene community.
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$84,000 to Christ’s Home Place Ministries, Inc Counseling Center will give counseling sessions to Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and their family members in Wichita Falls.
$63,198 to Citizens Development Center will institute an employment training and placement program for mentally wounded veterans.
$32,000 to Families in Crisis will provide support for a casework manager at a shelter in Killeen for victims of domestic violence.
$62,900 to Hope4Heroes.org will recruit and train volunteers in designated zip codes to reach veterans that are unable to come to their nearest veteran hospital.
$27,029 to National Alliance on Mental Illness, Waco will provide peer-to-peer counseling and support group sessions in the Waco and Fort Hood areas.
$66,750 to New Hope Counseling and Resources will provide counseling sessions, trainings and classes to Iraqi or Afghanistan veterans in the Amarillo area.
$46,000 to Operation Enduring Support will supply customized family reintegration weekends for returning Iraqi or Afghanistan veterans.
$54,000 to Pastoral Counseling and Education Center will provide faith-based counseling sessions to Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and their family members in the Dallas area.
$15,638 to Ride on Center for Kids will provide equine-assisted therapy sessions for individuals with cognitive and physical challenges from Fort Hood at no charge.
$78,596 to Snowball Express will support a Dallas event for families of fallen soldiers. Children will be able to gather and meet other children just like themselves. By attending Snowball Express a child sees that “service above self” is honored by others and is a value they should subscribe to as they continue to mature as adults. The event also shows them how they can honor their fallen heroes without sadness.
$10,640 to Texas National Guard Family Support Foundation will expand the emergency financial assistance and short-term interest-free loan program to increase both the number served and the amount of funding available per request from $600 to $1,000. The other initiative is Young
Heroes Youth Summer Camps for children of National Guard members.
$130,000 to West Texas Family and Community Services will provide emergency financial assistance, assessments of needs and referrals to agencies in the Amarillo community.
About the TRIAD Fund
The Iraq-Afghanistan Deployment Impact Fund at the Los Angeles-based California Community Foundation awarded $30 million to three Texas community foundations, establishing the Texas Resources for Iraq-Afghanistan Deployment Fund. The Texas community foundations include: The Dallas Foundation, the Permian Basin Area Foundation and the San Antonio Area Foundation. The Dallas Foundation’s grant region includes North and East Texas, Central Texas and the Panhandle, encompassing Dallas, Fort Worth, Killeen (including Fort Hood), Texarkana, Wichita Falls, San Angelo, Lubbock and surrounding areas.
About the Dallas Foundation
Established in 1929, The Dallas Foundation is Texas’ oldest community foundation. The Dallas Foundation serves as a resource, leader and catalyst for philanthropy by providing donors with a flexible means of making gifts to charitable causes that enhance our community and beyond. For more information about The Dallas Foundation, please visit dallasfoundation.org.