Piper Trust Focuses on Maricopa Model
for Living the Last Third of Life
Grants made for promoting civic engagement among older adults, enhancing resources for children, building skills at local nonprofit organizations and supporting new buildings
List of 18 Grants Awarded
SCOTTSDALE, AZ (January 23, 2008)—The Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust has awarded grants that will move Maricopa County closer to creating a model for living the last third of life. Grants totaling $3.7 million will go to promote civic engagement among older adults, enhance resources for children, build important skills at local nonprofit organizations and support new construction, among other efforts.
“The seeds planted in support of older adults at the very beginning of the Trust’s competitive grantmaking in 2001 are bearing fruit,” said Judy Jolley Mohraz, Ph.D., president and CEO of Piper Trust. “These grants point the direction toward the most effective methods to encourage peak physical and mental health among older adults and engage them in meaningful activities to benefit the greater community.”
Civic Ventures, a San Francisco-based organization devoted to transforming the aging of American society, received the initial Piper Trust older-adults grant to explore meaningful activities for older adults. The new $250,000 grant will help determine how to link together the work of now many Maricopa County agencies interested in engaging older adults in paid or volunteer service to the community.
Community Services of Arizona, serving economically disadvantaged people in Chandler, Ariz., will use an $85,000 grant to implement a new way to serve meals to older adults at the Gilbert Community Center. Instead of more typical institutional meals, a café approach will offer food selections, flexible meal times and more social table groupings. The goal is to serve the current older population and attract a younger clientele, ages 55 to 65.
Piper Trust’s grants exemplify a commitment to helping nonprofits build stronger community programs and expand their impact. Five additional sample grants from the current cycle follow:
Piper Trust's Board of Trustees present the
Banner Health Foundation with a grant that
will help expand the Children's Hospital at
Banner Desert Medical Center in Mesa.
Children birth to five are the fastest-growing population in Maricopa County, and there is a persistent shortfall of pediatric beds. Banner Health Foundation will use a $1.5-million grant to help expand the Children’s Hospital at Banner Desert Medical Center in Mesa, Ariz. The 128-bed Children’s Hospital routinely operates at full capacity. Upon completion in fall 2009, the facility will have 216 pediatric beds, 120 of which located in a new, seven-story tower with five patient-care floors.
City of Phoenix Parks and Recreation Department is completing the renovation of the 1922 Memorial Hall building at Steele Indian School Park. The former Indian School gymnasium will provide performance space for theatrical, dance and musical groups at a low rental rate. Piper Trust has granted $300,000 for the historic project to finish the proscenium stage and add theatrical lighting, audio-video systems, dressing rooms and other necessary amenities.
The city of Phoenix, in collaboration with other community partners, is leading the effort to create a college access center to provide coordinated information, technical assistance and support services to increase the number of Valley students who seek postsecondary education. The College Depot will offer a variety of services to students and their families including career exploration, test preparation, college enrollment assistance and financial aid information. Piper Trust has awarded $300,000.
Best Buddies Arizona will use a $150,000 grant to support a volunteer-run, extracurricular club that matches special-education students with mainstream students from the same high school. The friendships that arise from organized group activities and one-on-one buddy pairs provide a unique environment in which adolescents with mental disabilities can learn new life skills and safely experiment with social roles. The Piper Trust award will expand the program currently operating in 32 Maricopa County high schools to four additional schools.
A $48,750 grant to Arizona State University Foundation will create a program to mentor nonprofit leaders in fundraising. The ASU Center for Nonprofit Leadership and Management will select up to 10 local consultants to work individually with about 20 nonprofits in developing fundraising work plans. National fundraising consultant Kay Sprinkel Grace will offer a webinar program on the art of fundraising, similar to a successful program she conducted for National Public Television affiliates.
About Piper Trust:
A private foundation, The Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust is dedicated to honoring Virginia Galvin Piper’s philanthropic commitment to changing lives and strengthening community in Maricopa County (Arizona). By investing in nonprofits and encouraging strategic planning for the future, Piper Trust strives to make Maricopa County a stronger, more nurturing and vibrant community.
Since it began awarding grants in 2000, Piper Trust has invested almost $218 million in local nonprofits and programs. The Trust reported total grants paid of $27.4 million in fiscal year 2007 (ending March 31). Piper Trust focuses on healthcare and medical research, children, older adults, arts and culture, education and religious organizations.
January 2008 Grant Announcement (pdf)
January 2008 Grant Announcement (txt)
List of 18 Grants Awarded (pdf)
List of 18 Grants Awarded (txt)