Wellcore, Inc. secured the prestigious 21st Century Community Learning Centers Grant in the amount of $612,232 a year for 5 years on behalf of the East Ramapo Central School District. This is the first time this highly competitive grant has been awarded to a school district in Rockland County. The 21st Century Community Learning Centers provide opportunities for academic enrichment during non- school hours for children. The program helps students meet state and local student standards in core academic subjects, offers a broad array of enrichment activities and offers literacy and educational services to the families of participating children.

In partnership with the East Ramapo Central School District, Wellcore secured a Community Schools Initiative grant from the New York State Education Department, which provides funding for Pomona Middle School to be designated as a Community Hub site. As a Community Hub, Pomona MS will promote family engagement and provide additional supports for students and families in order to counter environmental factors that impede student achievement. Community Hub sites coordinate and maximize public, non-profit, and private resources to deliver school-linked academic, health, mental health, nutrition, counseling, legal and/or other services to students and their families.

Wellcore, Inc., worked with East Ramapo Central School District (ERCSD) to earn a grant from the New York State Education Department to expand the school day as part of the state’s Extended Learning Time initiative championed by Governor Andrew Cuomo. ERCSD is one of only nine districts in the state to be awarded this additional funding, which increases time for core academics while preserving extracurricular activities. Research has shown that a longer, redesigned school day can help schools boost student achievement. The program, called the Ramapo Extended Accelerated Learning Time Middle School (REAL Time MS), will extend the school day at Pomona Middle School by 25 percent, with the added time specifically focused on additional core subject instruction for remediation and acceleration as well as extracurricular activities such as clubs, enrichment, physical activity, and homework help.

In September, 2014 Wellcore, Inc. secured a $51,000 service-learning grant from the State Farm Youth Advisory Board to benefit Orangetown’s Youth Court program. Youth Court, a youth-led juvenile justice alternative designed for and operated by youth, focuses on restorative justice and trains teenagers to serve as jurors, judges, and attorneys. The grant will allow more Youth Court members to participate in this powerful civic opportunity and will enable more juvenile offenders to make amends through constructive sanctions such as community service. When cases involve suspected substance abuse, Wellcore will be able to provide identification, counseling, and referral services. Wellcore is one of only 65 community organizations to receive this grant across the United States and Canada.

In 2015 Wellcore received grant awards through the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) Drug-Free Communities (DFC) Program to fund four coalitions that it oversees, as well as a mentoring grant to support a brand new youth anti-substance abuse initiative. Wellcore secured new funding for the Suffern United Coalition Against Substance Abuse (SUCASA), which was awarded $125,000 a year for five years (with the possibility of renewing for years 6-10), as well as continued funding for:

• Our Community Against Drug Abuse (OCADA) of the Nyacks and Valley Cottage, which was awarded $123,461 a year for five years
• South Orangetown Community Awareness of Substance Abuse (SOCASA), which was awarded $125,000 a year for five years, and
• Mahwah Municipal Alliance (MMA), which was awarded $125,000 a year for five years.

 
Wellcore was also awarded a $75,000 grant for SOCASA to train and mentor the new Prevention Education for East Ramapo Coalition.
 
The Drug-Free Communities Support Program, created by the Drug-Free Communities Act of 1997, is the Nation’s leading effort to mobilize communities to prevent youth substance use.  Directed by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, in partnership with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the DFC Program provides grants to community coalitions to strengthen the infrastructure among local partners to create and sustain a reduction in local youth substance use.

In 2015, Wellcore secured a “Now is the Time” Project AWARE Community Grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), receiving the maximum grant award of $125,000 a year for three years, totaling $375,000. The program supports the training of teachers and a broad array of individuals who interact with youth through their programs at the community level in Rockland County, NY—including parents, law enforcement, faith-based leaders, and other adults—in Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA), in order to increase the mental health literacy among youth-serving adults, policy-makers, and administrators of programs serving youth. 

Wellcore partnered with the Mount Vernon City School District to bring a fun and educational Parent University program to Grimes Elementary School. This series of workshops and events was held over six Saturday mornings and gave parents the opportunity to learn interactive and innovative ways to assist children with math, reading and homework through creating games, building a rocket ship together, and exploring online resources for homework help.

Parent University also allowed parents to gain new ideas for improving their families’ health and wellness. At a Community Resource Fair organizations such as Big Brothers Big Sisters, The Boy Scouts, Boys and Girls Club, The Girl Scouts, The Guidance Center of Westchester, Mount Vernon Department of Recreation, Mount Vernon Neighborhood Health Center, and the Mount Vernon Public Library were able to connect with families, share information and offer giveaways like free books.

Parent University also includes a parent/child yoga and meditation class and healthy cooking event, where families can relax together and afterwards, watch a cooking demo and enjoy tasty, healthy treats. As a grand finale, Parent University will hold a Family Fun Day with carnival games, a DJ, an inflatable slide, cooking demos, and giveaways including free bike helmets.