The stress of dealing with a life-threatening illness or injury can take a toll on military personnel and their families. And if the best care available is located out of state, this can add a new set of challenges to an already overwhelming situation.

To help these individuals and their families cope with leaving their homes to seek treatment at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (AFB), Fisher/Nightingale Houses, Inc., a not-for-profit organization dedicated to creating Compassionate Care Houses on military bases, helped raise private funds to build the Fisher House. The Dayton Foundation supported the project with a $25,000 discretionary grant in 2010.

Fisher House was designed to give servicemen and servicewomen, who currently are receiving outpatient treatment or recently received treatment at the Wright-Patterson AFB Medical Center, a temporary place to stay before making the trip home. The House offers the comforts of home at no charge to eligible service members and their families.

“We truly appreciate The Dayton Foundation’s support,” said Chris Stanley, executive director of Fisher/Nightingale Houses, Inc. “The publicity from the grant also helped to get others to ‘step up to the plate,’ knowing that The Dayton Foundation was behind the project.”

The impact of the home reaches far beyond just a bed to sleep in. The staff and volunteers create a caring environment, with the goal to make each individual or family feel like they are not alone as they begin recovery.

“It means so much to us to have had their support and friendship during our stay. It has made a huge difference,” said one Fisher House guest. “It’s our Fisher ‘home’ not ‘The Fisher House.’”

For individuals with disabilities, participating in a multisensory stimulation program can help improve their social relations, health and overall quality of life. This form of therapy aims to increase the cognitive skills of impaired individuals and their interactions with the world around them. It even can facilitate nerve connectivity in damaged nervous systems.

Thanks in part to a $5,000 discretionary grant from The Dayton Foundation, Echoing Hills Village recently installed a multisensory environment unit at their Community Connections of Montgomery County location to help provide this experience to area residents with disabilities. The Sensory Rover cart, housed in their sensory room, has multiple features designed to stimulate the senses, from mirrored panels that reflect a light display, to a built-in sound system. It also features a 200-strand fiber optic spray for clients to touch and feel, and calming aromatherapy to enhance their sense of smell.

“The staff and clients at Community Connections of Montgomery County greatly appreciate The Dayton Foundation’s support,” said Melissa Villani, habilitation specialist. “Grants like these help us to provide for our clients in ways that we would not be able to otherwise. The cart is a valuable tool to calm and sooth clients in a peaceful atmosphere.”

Nelson is one of many Echoing Valley residents enjoying the benefits of the new cart. “I think it is very pretty and peaceful to look at,” he said.

Childhood hunger can severely impair a child’s health, mental wellbeing and ability to learn. Free and reduced lunch programs help under-nourished children while they are in school during the week. But what happens to these children when the weekend comes?

To help combat this problem, the Community Foundation for Kettering Fund (CFFK) of The Dayton Foundation recently awarded a $3,000 grant to The Kettering Education Foundation (KEF) for the Kettering Backpack Program. The program currently distributes 40 bags filled with simple, yet nutritional, foods weekly to each of the city’s nine elementary schools.

“Thirty-five percent of Kettering’s students qualify for the free or reduced lunch programs, which puts these kids at or below the poverty level,” said Matt Wahrhaftig, executive director of KEF. “Thanks to the grant from CFFK and funding from other community partners, every weekend we are helping to feed 360 elementary school children who otherwise may not have a nutritional meal outside of school.”

Designed to include foods that children are able to prepare themselves, the bags are packed with items such as microwavable ravioli, fruit cups and jars of peanut butter. They are dispensed discreetly to students after school every Friday.

The food is proving to satisfy more than just the students’ hunger pangs. A counselor at Indian Riffle Elementary School said, “I have seen a change in kids’ moods after they get their backpacks. They seem more appreciative, and attendance on Fridays has improved.”

Said a Southdale Elementary School student who receives one of the weekly backpacks, “I like knowing people care about me.”

When Hurricane Ike’s winds blew through Greater Dayton in September 2008, no one could have guessed the destruction left in its wake. While many were inconvenienced due to the loss of power services, few likely were more impacted by the outage than the residents with autism who reside in Choices in Community Living’s Wendhaven home in Dayton.

“The people who live at Wendhaven do not adapt well to even slight changes in their environment. When the power goes out, they can become very anxious and may even panic,” said Judy Leasure, development director for Choices in Community Living, Inc. “Even the laundry being delayed or other disruptions to their routine can require hours of intervention and support from our staff.”

Hurricane Ike was one of several outages in 2008 that sped up plans to purchase a standby generator at the Wendhaven home. With the help of a $2,000 discretionary grant from The Dayton Foundation, an in-home generator recently was installed at the home and will enable the organization to restore power immediately, whenever necessary.

“Let the winds and storms roll in,” Ms. Leasure said. “Thanks to The Dayton Foundation grant, we can rest assured that the people we serve at Wendhaven will be safe and secure in their home.”

Students are inspired most to create when they are invested in what they are learning. To incorporate this philosophy into its existing summer camp, The Human Race Theatre Company partnered with The Lovewell Institute for the Creative Arts to bring area youth a unique theatrical opportunity. Thanks in part to a $12,000 grant from The Dayton Foundation, plans were set in motion to bring this internationally known, innovative program to Dayton.

“With the introduction of Lovewell, the program is so much more than just a chance to perform,” said Kevin Moore, executive director of The Human Race Theatre Company. “In the past we chose a known play for students to perform. The Lovewell concept goes well beyond that single-focused, left-brain exercise by immersing students in every aspect of the creative process. They learned how to build their own, completely original production from the ground up.”

Last summer, 15 teens gathered at the inaugural Human Race/Lovewell Summer Stock. In three short weeks, A Novel Insight: A Musical Bestseller successfully premiered in front of a full house at The Loft Theatre. In an end-of-camp survey, one teen said, “It was amazing! I was really encouraged by the staff to use my talents and do my best.”

“The Dayton Foundation’s grant allowed us to bring Lovewell artists in to help establish the program here in Dayton,” Kevin Moore said. “One measure of the program’s success is the number of returning students who not only had a wonderful experience last summer, but also are bringing friends to participate with them this summer. Enrollment is growing along with enthusiasm, and we hope it will continue for many years to come.”

Whether it is because of an illness, accident or routine surgery, the need for a blood transfusion can strike anyone without warning. Because this need does not discriminate and is ever-growing, Community Blood Center/Community Tissue Services (CBC/CTS) is faced with the task of increasing donations, despite an aging donor base and more stringent testing requirements that limit blood supply.

In response, CBC/CTS has created several programs to educate the community on the importance of blood donation. With the help of a $25,000 discretionary grant from The Dayton Foundation, CBC/CTS expanded these programs by creating L.A.B. (Learning About Blood), a mobile education vehicle that travels to local schools.

Through colorful, interactive displays, youth in a 15-county service area visit this “classroom on wheels” to learn about blood statistics and watch video clips of individuals whose lives have been changed by blood donation. The tour also includes a demonstration of the blood donation process to help ease potential donors’ fears about giving blood.

Since September 2008, L.A.B. has visited prospective blood donors throughout Greater Dayton, with donations from one school’s blood drive increasing more than 10 percent following a visit from a CBC education specialist and L.A.B. visit. At another school, parents toured L.A.B. at their children’s urging, with some adults pledging to donate at an upcoming drive.

“A safe and readily available blood supply is vital to our community’s health,” said Joy Rogers, development director for CBC/CTS. “The L.A.B. helps us spread the word to encourage and increase donation. The Dayton Foundation’s grant was instrumental in our effort to inspire others to donate blood, so that they may help save lives.”

Time can be a heart attack victim’s worst enemy. To help give citizens a better chance of surviving cardiac arrest, the Washington Township Fire Department has placed defibrillators strategically throughout the community.

Thanks to a generous annual donation from the Philip B. and Katy W. Conway Fund of The Dayton Foundation, six defibrillators were located in public facilities in 2008, for a total of 30 units throughout the city and township, with plans to add more.

“For each minute cardiac arrest goes untreated, an individual’s chance for survival declines 7 to 10 percent,” said William Gaul, fire chief for Washington Township. “Having defibrillators readily available can improve a victim's chance for survival.”

Since its establishment in 1987, the Conways’ fund has awarded more than $204,000 to purchase these units and has supported the township’s paramedic bike patrol program, as well as numerous other organizations in Greater Dayton.

Despite 70 percent of its students living below the federal poverty line, Stivers School for the Arts in Dayton has long excelled academically and artistically. But after voters rejected a bond issue in 2007, 30 adjunct positions composed of local professional artists were facing certain elimination. The quality of this state-designated school of excellence seemed threatened.

“Without adjuncts we simply are not a school for the arts,” said Bill Pflaum, a school volunteer and president of The seedling Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded by parents, alumni and community leaders to provide financial support for school programs. “The talent and experience they bring to the classroom is vital to the students’ education. They truly are the heart and soul of the school.”

Thanks to donations from Dayton Foundation donors, plus additional community funding, more than $160,000 has been raised to date to restore adjunct faculty.

“Without the gifts made through The Dayton Foundation, we’d never achieve our goal,” Mr. Pflaum said. “We are so appreciative of this support.”

Nineteen-year-old Sherry returned to Dayton after leaving her boyfriend in Michigan. She wanted to live with her mother until she could find a job or go back to school, but her mother’s boyfriend turned her away.

So Sherry turned to Daybreak, a shelter for homeless youth. Sherry now lives safely in one of 24 transitional apartments at Daybreak’s new residential and service center located on South Patterson Boulevard in downtown Dayton. The center opened in May 2008, thanks in part to a $50,000 grant from The Dayton Foundation toward Daybreak’s $9.6 million capital campaign to renovate the 100-year-old building and enhance the organization’s services for youth.

The new transitional housing is allowing Daybreak to change the way it serves the community’s growing number of homeless youth ages 18 to 21. Daybreak also operates a crisis hotline and emergency youth shelter and provides outreach, prevention and life-skills programs.

One of the most important jobs in life often comes with little or no training — parenthood. And while planned pregnancies present obstacles to even the most prepared individuals, the challenges intensify when unplanned pregnancies occur.

Elizabeth’s New Life Center (ENLC) has responded to this growing need through its Learn & Earn program. New mothers and fathers, who participate in the program’s childhood education classes, earn coupons that they can spend in ENLC’s Mother and Child Boutique. Clients can redeem their coupons for items such as clothing, diapers and strollers. Plus, with the help of a $1,000 grant from The Dayton Foundation for ENLC’s Milk for Babies initiative, the boutique now stocks formula as well.

“When another local source stopped carrying free formula, we stepped up with the Milk for Babies initiative to provide mothers with emergency assistance for their babies,” said Vivian Koob, executive director of ENLC.

In addition to earning coupons for formula purchases, clients who don’t have extra money to buy a can of formula when their monthly Women, Infants and Children (WIC) stipend runs out can come to the boutique for emergency assistance up to three times.

“With the help of The Dayton Foundation’s grant, we are able to give mothers the opportunity to provide excellent, consistent nutrition to their babies through high-quality, pediatrician-recommended formulas,” Koob said. “And with our Learn & Earn program incentivizing our clients to take advantage of our parenting and child development classes, it is a win-win for mother and child.”

The Boonshoft Museum of Discovery has long fostered a love for science and learning in the Miami Valley. In an effort to attract more youth, the museum offered several new opportunities in 2007, thanks in part to a $10,900 grant from The Dayton Foundation. The museum purchased high-powered microscopes and video equipment to document scientific findings about the effects of climate change, as well as added a one-week day camp session.

“Finding new and innovative ways to connect and educate the youth is crucial to improving science, math and technology skills in the future,” said Susan Pion, vice president of education at the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery. “To be able to provide children with lab-grade microscopes and equipment to produce documentaries speaks volumes.”

Ms. Pion also sees the effects of the Foundation’s grant as more than just the programs offered and equipment purchased. “We see our grants as leverage,” she said. “If we are able to maximize those dollars, it can help us attain funding from other sources.”

For instance, the museum recently was selected as one of 21 science centers in the world for the Albedo Experiment, a NASA and IGLO (International Action on GLObal Warming) sponsored project that involved simulating a polar iceberg. Another project allowed a Boonshoft teacher to spend six weeks aboard the USCGC Healy, a world-class, high-latitude research platform and icebreaker ship, and offered satellite link-ups of her experience to museum visitors.

“We were honored to be selected for these projects,” Ms. Pion says. “Without these grants, we would not be able to continue as the premiere museum that we have become on a national, and even global, level.”

Red, white and blue stars, proudly displaying pictures of military sons and daughters, line the large curtain leading into the store. American flags and patriotic memorabilia sit on a red-skirted table, along with a sign that asks passers-by to, “Write a letter, send a card, draw a picture…for Our Troops.”

At first glance, one might think the Blue Star Mothers of America, Miami Valley Chapter #3, storefront in Kettering is simply a patriotic display honoring our armed forces. Behind the curtain, however, busy volunteers work with precision organizing donations and compiling care packages for American troops overseas.

Thanks to a $2,195 grant from The Dayton Foundation, along with a donated storefront from Town and Country Shopping Center, the chapter was able to move operations from their homes to a centralized location. The Foundation grant helped to cover start-up expenses, such as obtaining an insurance policy, as well as purchasing shelving and a loading cart to transport goods.

“We are so appreciative of the Foundation’s grant. This support enabled us to establish ourselves in a new and more visible location,” said Beverly Kay Peyton, president of the local chapter and mother of disabled veteran Spc. Matthew Peyton.