Native American Connections Receives $500,000 for Homeless Youth Services from The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation.
Native American Connections (NAC) is pleased to announce a $500,000 grant over two years from The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation. The donation will fund the organization’s existing Homeless Youth Services.
“The sad reality is that more and more youth are experiencing homelessness in Arizona,” said Bob Parsons, co-founder, The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation. “Native American Connections is stepping in at a critical time to help youth not only gain access to housing and basic needs, but also pave a new path for themselves.”
For the past 50 years, NAC has been working to mitigate mental health, substance abuse, and housing crises in our community. Today, they own and operate four health service clinics and 19 housing sites in the greater Phoenix metropolitan area and are a member of the HUD Continuum of Care. NAC also operates the Phoenix Indian School Visitors Center where community programs and services are offered in addition to their health and housing services to more than 10,000 people each year.
In January 2023, the National Point-in-Time Unsheltered Street Count conducted by the Maricopa County Association of Governments found more than 10,000 people were experiencing homelessness in the Phoenix metropolitan area on a given night; 49% of who could be sheltered, more than 700 of whom were youth. Recognizing the growing youth homelessness crisis, NAC opened a second homeless youth shelter in Surprise. The new shelter accommodates 40 homeless youth between the ages of 18-26 years of age.
“Homeless youth are estimated to be the largest undercounted segment of the homeless population because they are easily self-concealed,” said Trula Breuninger, CEO of Native American Connections. “They couch surf, moving from friend to friends’ homes or live in cars. We want to do everything possible to reunite them with families and set them up for success in the future.”
Funding from The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation will support emergency shelter services for homeless youth at both the Central Phoenix and Surprise HomeBase sites. Those sites also provide medical and behavioral health assessments, counseling and support services, programs for homeless youth to earn their high school diplomas as well as training and career readiness programs. Additionally, the funds will support NAC’s transitional housing service site at Saguaro Ki, co-located on the Central Phoenix youth shelter campus. It is a 24- unit transitional housing community for youth ages 18-26, where they sign a lease, their monthly rent is 30% of their earned income, and they meet weekly with a case manager.
“Native American Connections is giving youth safety and stability now while teaching them life skills to attain stable housing in the future,” said Renee Parsons, co-founder of The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation. “We applaud NAC’s efforts to empower youth to stay in school, improve their health and well-being, and become positive contributors to the greater community.”
The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation Donates $300,000 to Junior Achievement of Arizona.
Funds to bring more financial literacy and career readiness programs to low-income and ethnically diverse students
A recent study found 8 out of 10 American workers live paycheck to paycheck to make ends meet. These issues are even more critical for low-income and ethnically diverse students, as they are least likely to learn financial and career readiness concepts at home or school. The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation grant of $300,000 over two years to Junior Achievement of Arizona will ensure financial literacy–including money management skills such as budgeting, saving and responsible use of credit–are taught to K-12 students throughout Maricopa County.
“Our real-world education is needed now more than ever,” said Katherine Cecala, president of Junior Achievement of Arizona. “Post pandemic students are graduating unprepared for the workforce and it’s our job to help them navigate the realities they will face as adults and teach them skills to become financially stable.”
Junior Achievement (JA) is filling a critical gap for today’s students who receive limited real-world experience in school, particularly when it comes to money management and career readiness. The nonprofit provides this important personal finance curriculum to kindergarten through high school aged students using a volunteer-led delivery model executed through partnerships with 400 schools, nearly 3,200 educators and more than 8,000 volunteers throughout Arizona.
As a former Junior Achievement alum, Renee Parsons, co-founder of The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation, knows firsthand how important JA’s programs are for students.
“Students learn about basic financial concepts and engage in a hands-on experience at JA BizTown,” said Renee Parsons, co-founder, The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation. “There they learn what it takes to manage a business, pay their bills and balance a checkbook. These are valuable skills that prepare students for a successful future as entrepreneurs, business owners and employees.”
JA’s programs seek to narrow income gaps and provide a pathway to the most vulnerable students in hopes of a brighter, more successful and more just future for all. The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation donation will help fund over 2,500 low income students with K-12 financial literacy and workforce readiness programming. Additionally, it will support 1,078 students with JA BizTown programming for two consecutive years.
“Financial literacy is not something most kids are learning at home or in school,” said Bob Parsons, co-founder, The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation. “Junior Achievement is delivering this important piece of education in an easy to learn way, preparing kids to succeed as adults.”
JA’s programs help narrow the income gap and provide pathways for Arizona’s most vulnerable students to overcome inequities. Junior Achievement’s programs are working and it’s evident in some of its recent statistics:
- 90% of alumni report being confident in money management.
- 85% of alumni say that JA played an important role in fostering a belief they could achieve their goals.
- 45% of the businesses started by alumni employ more than 20 people, compared to approximately 12% of U.S. small businesses.
- 60% of Hispanic alumni, 52% of African American alumni and 51% of Caucasian alumni have started one or more businesses during their careers.
The 100 Club Arizona Receives $4.8 Million Grant Over Three Years from The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation.
Funds will Expand Mental Health & Trauma Support & Help Families of Fallen Officers
The 100 Club of Arizona is pleased to announce The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation has issued an up to $4.8 million grant over the next three years. The funds will help further the organization’s mission of supporting first responders and their families who have experienced trauma and loss in the line of duty, as well as support capacity building programs for the organization.
“We’ve witnessed a rise in mental health issues in basically every community across our country,” said Bob Parsons, Co-Founder, The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation. “Renee and I believe our first responders are among the most impacted. This grant will allow the 100 Club of Arizona to expand its mental health treatment support, trainings, and financial assistance to first responders and their families.”
The grant will provide funding over a three-year period to the following 100 Club of Arizona programs and initiatives:
- Mental Health & Trauma Support which includes underwriting mental health treatment for first responders in need, including counseling, hyperbaric therapy, ketamine therapy, and stellate ganglion block procedures, etc.
- PEER 100 which includes training & resources geared towards those specifically coping with PTSD and other hazards of the job along with the 100 Club’s Bulletproof & Fireproof wellness apps, which allow first responders to access resources and tools on demand from any smart device.
- Critical Incident Support including cash grants through the H.E.R.O.S. program which ensures first responders experiencing a catastrophic life event such as cancer, terminal illness or death of a child or spouse have financial assistance. This program also includes support for on duty injury, as well as financial and wellness support for spouses and children of fallen first responders.
- Capacity Building to support the 100 Club of Arizona’s organizational infrastructure to enhance growth and improve long term sustainability.
- Death & Injury Prevention which includes Safety Enhancement Stipends (S.E.S.) for police and fire departments across the state to purchase equipment and supplies that further the safety of their members and general operations.
“Supporting the brave individuals who put our community first every day is a priority for us,” said Renee Parsons, Co-Founder, The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation. “We want first responders and their families to know the community cares about them and is grateful for everything they do to keep us safe.”
The 100 Club of Arizona provides much needed support to public safety agencies, their members and families statewide. Today, services have expanded beyond financial assistance to include funding for enhanced safety equipment, confidential mental health services and scholarships.
“As we draw near to 9/11, we are reminded how our first responders continually put our community’s well-being before their own,” said Angela Harrolle, CEO and President of the 100 Club of Arizona. “We are honored to be the backup to our officers, firefighters and their families, through the ups and downs of a challenging career.”
The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation Awards $1 Million to Child Crisis Arizona to Support Center for Child & Family Wellness, Operational Costs.
Child Crisis Arizona, whose mission is to provide children and youth in Arizona a safe environment, free from abuse and neglect, by creating strong and successful families, has been awarded $1 million by The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation. The generous donation will support both the organization’s annual operational costs as well as its highly anticipated Center for Child & Family Wellness. Currently under construction, this 38,000-square-foot, climate-friendly, net-zero campus will expand Child Crisis Arizona’s ability to serve more people and offer health, wellness, and educational opportunities to the community.
“Since 2015, Child Crisis Arizona has more than doubled in size and scope of services, experiencing unprecedented growth in our Early Education Services, which increased by 200%, and our shelter bed capacity, which increased by 177%,” said Torrie Taj, CEO of Child Crisis Arizona. “While this growth has drastically increased the number of children and families we serve, it has caused staff members and entire departments to become displaced and dispersed throughout the Valley to make space for additional classrooms and shelter beds as needed.”
According to Taj, the Center for Child & Family Wellness will centralize Child Crisis Arizona operations and become the new home to services for low-income children and families, including foster care and adoption services; family education; children’s counseling; health and wellness, including medical screenings and basic needs; centralized kitchen and food distribution; centralized administration and philanthropy; foster teen programs; art, dance, and music therapy; and volunteer and staff training. It will also allow for strategic collaborations with such organizations as Ballet Arizona, United Food Bank, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and Free Arts for Abused Children of Arizona.
“Child Crisis Arizona is often the go-to resource provider for children and families in need,” said Bob Parsons, co-founder, The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation. “Their new state-of-the-art campus will continue to improve how we take care of vulnerable children and families, offering hope and support when families need it most.”
At full build-out, the Center for Child & Family Wellness will feature:
- Meeting rooms that can convert into larger spaces for community classes aimed at providing educational opportunities ranging from financial literacy to parenting skills to drug trends in teens.
- A Health and Community Wellness area, which will include space for medical screenings and immunizations for low-income families, basic needs distribution, and food distribution.
- An art and music therapy space, hosting partnerships with Ballet Arizona and bringing the arts to vulnerable children within our organization and community.
- A Counseling Support Center with four sensory and play therapy rooms.
- A Foster Care and Adoption wing, offering foster or adoptive families realistic training and ongoing support to prepare them for placement of children of all ages and backgrounds.
- A donation center and a volunteer center.
- A full-service kitchen to provide meals for our clients throughout the east valley.
- A Safe Kids Car Seat Safety Station, across the parking lot, that will offer classes on proper car seat installation and will distribute free car or booster seats to low-income families.
Additional spaces include a children’s playroom, community partner hub, technology center, job skills center, and innovation space.
“Child Crisis Arizona has worked tirelessly to ensure that children and families who are economically disadvantaged, are experiencing homelessness, the foster care system or other such challenges can be safe and well cared for,” said Renee Parsons, co-founder of The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation. “Their new campus will not only allow them to continue making a positive impact on our community, but also increase that impact.”
Upon its completion in early 2024, in addition to the full range of services provided, the two-story campus will be among the first of its kind in Arizona to put sustainability at the forefront, meeting the highest level of standards for Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) and attaining a Living Futures Petal Project Certification.
“We look forward to honoring the long-standing relationship with and support from The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation by dedicating the lobby in the Center for Child & Family Wellness in their name upon opening in 2024,” said Taj.
The Center for Child & Family Wellness will be located at 424 W. Rio Salado Pkwy. in Mesa.
