Hermanowski Family Foundation Initial Request Form

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Organization Name: Champions of Youth
Legal Name (if Different): Champions of Youth, Inc.
Also Known As: formerly Big Brothers Big Sisters of Decatur County
Mailing Address: 1201 N. Lincoln Street, Suite D
City: Greensburg
State: IN
Postal Code: 47240
Main Phone: 8126637556
Main Fax: 812662
Organization Website: www.championsofyouth.org
Employer ID Number: 83-2833451
Organization Tax Status: Champions of Youth

Proposal Information

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Today’s Date: 7-19-2022
Requested Amount: 10,000

Project Title: Eliminating our waiting list
Project Description:

Champions of Youth has a vision that all children will be successful. We do this by meeting our mission of providing children facing adversity with strong and enduring, professionally supported one-to-one relationships that change their lives for the better, forever.
The CORE program provides disadvantaged youth with a mentor who will share time and experience with the youth, opening their eyes to a world of opportunities. Our biggest
challenge is a wait list capped at 50 kids. This was exacerbated during COVID, stopping a lunch
program that gave children a match during their lunch period. We worked diligently to keep in touch with those children but knew the best answer was to increase our CORE program to provide solid long-term matches for our children.
We have successfully increased our CORE program and halfway through the year, we have 34 new matches, which is up 100% from 2021. Making these matches is labor intensive. Each match involves finding a potential mentor, interviews, home visits, and background checks. Once those are successful, we review available children to find the best match. The child and mentor meet and
then if all goes well a successful match is made. It does not end there, each match requires at least 1.5 hours per month follow-up with family, mentor, child, and school when necessary.
In addition to improved social and academic behavior, our CORE program has had a 100%
graduation since 2008. To continue offering this success to these youth in such great need, we need to be able to increase our staff hours, which is why we are requesting $10,000 to add 10 hours per week in staff time which will help us continue to match even more at-risk youth.

Total Project Budget: 189,735

Other Funding
Sources For The Project (Committed & Potential): Chick-fil-A $25,000 pending, looking Out foundation $5,000 pending, Pacers Foundation $5,000 pending, Decatur County United Fund $2,500 secured, County Council $3,400 secured,

Project Duration: January 1,2023 through December 31, 2023
Geographical Area Served: Decatur County Indiana
Age Group To Be Served: 6-18

Contact Information

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Contact Prefix (Mr,Mrs etc.): Mrs.
Contact First Name: Lisa
Contact Last Name: Hermesch
Contact Title: Executive Director
Contact Phone: 8126637556
Contact Email: lisa@championsofyouth.org