• Target service delivery to populations with less access to resources, with priority given to programming for children.
• Recognize that providing basic human needs is the first step to assisting the most impoverished.
• Support preventative rather than intervening efforts by identifying the root cause of community issues preventing the growth of self-reliant and productive families.
• Understand the cultural diversity and values of the families residing in Fort Bend County.

To maximize its impact in serving Fort Bend County, the Trustees of The George Foundation have prioritized funding opportunities in support of family stability across the following areas:

Basic Needs: Supports programs serving vulnerable residents to equip them with the basic needs leading to family stability, including:

• providing children a safe environment in which to participate in after school activities, including mentoring and recreational programs.
• protecting children from abuse and neglect.
• assisting vulnerable seniors in being healthy and independent, making it possible for them to remain safely within their communities.

Health and Wellness: Supports programs to assist in removing barriers and increasing access to health care for underinsured and uninsured residents (or underserved residents), specifically in the area of primary health.

Education: Supports a multi-faceted approach to education in which Fort Bend County residents benefit from educational gains, including:

• promoting family involvement in education from early through secondary education.
• supporting professional development and resources for teachers.
• increasing educational opportunities for residents to address the full range of their abilities, such as English as a Second Language (ESL), Adult Basic Education (ABE), General Educational Development (GED), and workforce development programs to allow adults to become better equipped to become advocates for change within their communities.

Sense of Community: Prefers to build community through consensus building and development of partnerships that can be sustained by:

• building partnerships within low income neighborhoods to interconnect residents and assist them in building healthy communities with safe havens in which residents can play, study and participate in community activities.
• supporting the complex issues of immigrants by providing access to resources assisting them to better understand their individual community and the role they play in strengthening their communities through the growth of safe neighborhoods.

FOUNDATION INITIATED PROGRAMS

The George Foundation from time to time will seek solutions to identified community needs through FOUNDATION INITIATED PROGRAMS.

Currently, two Foundation Initiated Programs are in place to encourage volunteerism and provide resources to the nonprofit sector. Youth in Philanthropy encourages high school students to learn about local nonprofits by volunteering with organizations serving Fort Bend County. The second program, Leadership Excellence for Nonprofit Management allows Fort Bend County nonprofit staffs and boards to gain critical skills to carry out the organizations’ missions, through improved governance and development.

Based on the 2007 Fort Bend Needs Assessment (link), the Trustees have identified two additional areas for Foundation Initiated Programs.

Mental Health: Improving mental health is necessary to improve the quality of life and productivity of Fort Bend County residents to remove risk factors leading to violence in low-income communities. The Trustees are currently researching the broad range of issues associated with mental health to allow the Foundation to focus future grant making in areas that will most effectively serve the residents of Fort Bend County.

Transportation: The Trustees of The George Foundation will continue to seek ways in which to address the shortage of transportation resources for Fort Bend County through public and private partnerships to assist in improving transportation access for vulnerable Fort Bend County residents seeking critical basic human needs available throughout the county.

SCHOLARSHIPS

The Foundation seeks to combat the cycle of under-education by providing scholarships to Fort Bend County students.

High School Scholarship: The George Foundation supports a financial need based scholarship program to assist public high school graduating seniors in Fort Bend County who plan to enroll for the first time at a public two- or four-year college or university in Texas. These scholarships are funded by the Foundation and recipients are selected by Scholarship America from the application pool of qualifying students applying annually.

Scholarship Investment Program (link): The Foundation’s Scholarship Investment Program is focused on first-generation college students and non-traditional college students who are committed to earning a college degree for the first time. The scholarships are funded by the Foundation and the recipients selected through a qualifying process overseen by the individual college or university.

Workforce Capacity Building Scholarship Programs (link): Scholarships addressing specific community workforce needs, such as nursing, social work and technical education, have been put in place to encourage students to achieve their education in fields that support resources for Fort Bend County.

Endowed Scholarship Programs: Prior to 1980 The George Foundation granted endowed funds to a variety of Texas colleges and universities that continue to provide scholarships for Fort Bend County students according to criteria set by each institution.