Sisters of Charity awards Immigrant Families Initiative grants

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The Sisters of Charity Foundation, a ministry of the Sisters of Charity Health System, has made grants totaling $197,500 to 13 state organizations serving South Carolina’s immigrant and refugee populations through the 2018 Immigrant Families Initiative.

Immigrants represent nearly 5% of the state population and make multiple contributions to its economy, but often experience poverty, the foundation said in a news release. The Immigrant Families Initiative, launched in 2014, strives to improve the health, well-being and economic mobility of first- and second-generation immigrants and refugees.

The grant recipients are:

• Hispanic Alliance, Greenville County: Funding will support the Student DREAMers Alliance, a six-session intervention for a selected group of high-achieving youth who face barriers to higher education.
• Beaufort-Jasper YMCA, Beaufort County: Funding will support a summer camp for children of migrant workers on St. Helena Island as well as the Out of School Youth program, which serves those age 16-20 who have dropped out of school to work.
• Catholic Charities Office of Immigration Services, Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Darlington, Dillon, Dorchester, Florence, Georgetown and Orangeburg counties: Funding will support the partial salary of a full-time staff attorney in the Mount Pleasant office.
• Community Initiatives, Greenwood, Abbeville, McCormick and Saluda Counties: Funding will support the partial salary of a medical director, clinic manager and intake coordinator in the immigrant support program.
• Greenville Tech Foundation, Greenville, Pickens, Anderson, Laurens and Spartanburg counties: Funding will support emergency needs for DREAMer youth pursuing post-secondary education.
• Lutheran Family Services in the Carolinas, Richland and Charleston counties: Funding will provide employment and workforce education services to refugees.
• My Amigos Bilingual Education Center, Lexington and Richland counties: Funding will support the purchase of multicultural and diversity resources for a preschool site scheduled to open for the 2018-19 school year as well as materials for current classrooms.
• Neighborhood Outreach Connection, Beaufort County: Funding will support educational outreach programs and health screenings, along with workforce development, financial literacy and community development activities.
• PASOs, statewide: Funding will support leadership training for community health workers in the Building Stronger Latino Communities Together program.
• Richland Library, Richland County: Funding will support tutors and assessments in the Mano a Mano program, which also provides students’ families with tools to reduce language and societal barriers.
• Richland School District 2, Richland County: Funding will support the Student Interpreter program, which develops skills in interpretation and translation, promotes on-time graduation and provides some participants with the opportunity to open interpreting businesses.
• SC Appleseed Legal Justice Center, Richland, Lexington and Newberry counties: Funding will support the development of a leadership and civic engagement program, with a short-term goal of registering eligible participants to vote.
• Student Action with Farmworkers, statewide: Funding will support leadership training in the Into the Fields program, which provides outreach and education to farmworkers.