Joplin Philanthropic Society awards $130,000 in grants

May 14—The Philanthropic Society of the Joplin Regional Community Foundation announced recipients of three grants totaling $130,000 on Tuesday.

The recipients are the Joplin Police Department, the Creative Learning Alliance and Watered Gardens.

The grants were presented during the society's annual grant luncheon at Missouri Southern State University's Ron Richard Athletic Center.

Tom Wells, Impact Committee chair, also announced that the group had crossed the $1 million mark in awarded grants to nonprofits serving Joplin, Webb City and Carl Junction.

"What really struck me when I was going through that list is the diversity of those organizations, their size, their scope, their history, their time in Joplin," Wells said. "It's a wonderful mix, and that was represented again this year in our applicants."

The society had 27 total applicants, a 50% increase from its previous high. Winners were chosen from a group of six finalists by a committee made up of society members.

Joplin Police Department

The Philanthropic Society awarded $50,000 to the Joplin Police Department. The grant will provide the first-year salary of an embedded social worker within the department.

The award was the first of its kind from the Philanthropic Society to a government agency. Training, equipment and office space will be provided by the police department.

The social worker will assist by responding with officers and help with incident de-escalation and providing care for residents beyond what officers can provide.

"We can make arrests, we can take reports, but we can't really get to the heart of the problem with a lot of people in our community," said police Chief Richard Pearson. "If I can have an embedded social worker in the police department to help get at the source of these issues, to help people raise themselves out of homelessness, get off of drugs and alcohol, get some help with their legal issues, then I think we can move the community forward as opposed to going through this revolving door of dealing with the symptoms of the issues."

While the grant alone isn't enough to get the program up and running, Pearson said it's a good start.

"Rome wasn't built in a day," he said. "We're going to try and get this thing up and running as quickly as possible, but we realize we're going to need more money. This is a big win for the community because we're going to use this money to help the community, and that's what I'm really excited about."

Creative Learning Alliance

The Philanthropic Society awarded $50,000 to the Creative Learning Alliance. The grant will support programs, supplies, equipment rental and STEAMagination events and exhibits at its new STEAM museum in downtown Joplin.

Neely Myers, executive director of the Creative Learning Alliance, said that as the museum prepares to open it doesn't want to delay educational programming. The grant will help provide those opportunities in the gap before they open.

"We know that those doctors who are going to KCU, those engineers who are going to work in town, those passions are born very early on," Myers said. "We want to give young people the opportunity to learn and find their passions from a place of curiosity and wonder."

Watered Gardens

The Philanthropic Society also awarded $30,000 to Watered Gardens' Washington Hope Center.

The center serves as a shelter for mothers with children in crisis or chronic homelessness.

Travis Hurley, director of advancement for Watered Gardens, said the group has renovated the second floor of the center to add nine more family units. With the addition of several families, the need for staffing grows as well.

Watered Gardens has been slow to fill the second floor because of understaffing. Hurley said the grant allows the group to make the hires needed and begin filling the upstairs space.

Hurley anticipates that by summer, Watered Gardens will be able to fill the upstairs space with families. He said there's a tremendous need in the community. The center opened around the first of June 2020, and by the end of the month, it was full. In seven months, over 100 mothers had to be turned away.

"We are so thankful to the Philanthropic Society for what they do for so many ministries and efforts in our community to help those that are vulnerable," Hurley said. "To be on a list with some great organizations, we're just truly honored."

Did you know? The Philanthropic Society was formed by the Joplin Regional Community Foundation in 2018 and is composed of 100 members who donate at least $2,500 in annual dues to the society's fund.