7.02.2001 ET

(CSRwire) The Freddie Mac Foundation awarded grants totaling nearly $2 million, supporting innovative programs that strengthen communities by strengthening families. During the second quarter, Freddie Mac Foundation continued to target most of its efforts in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area; however, non-profits in New York City and Chicago also benefited.

“It is paramount that we help children succeed. We’ve been making children our business for 10 years, investing in programs that make children, families and communities stronger. Our grants this quarter continue our tradition of being a friend and partner to our community and children everywhere, ” explained Maxine B. Baker, president and CEO, Freddie Mac Foundation.

The Foundation, which is dedicated to opening the doors to hope and opportunity for children and their families, approved 50 grants in this round of grantmaking. In 2001, the Foundation plans to grant approximately $20 million to organizations working to strengthen families by preventing child abuse and neglect, finding homes for foster children and supporting transitional housing for homeless children and families.

A number of grants made in the Washington, DC region focused on strengthening families. The Bethesda, MD-based National Center for Children and Families received a $100,000 grant to provide tailored parenting education, support and advocacy services, neighborhood-based kinship care, and permanency services to children who are at-risk for removal from their homes due to neglect or abuse. International Medical Services for Health in Sterling, VA received a $100,000 grant to support its Healthy Families America, a program that empowers first-time mothers to care for their children by teaching them parenting skills through regular home visits.

The following four Washington-DC region agencies received $50,000 grants in this round: Calvary Bilingual Multicultural Learning Center to provide arts and technology enrichment activities; D.C. CASA Unit to recruit additional volunteers to work with minority special needs children who benefit from permanency placement through adoption or legal custody; Little Blue House to help provide immediate, safe shelter and medical nutritional developmental services to infants and young children in crisis; and Transitioning Housing Corporation to support the training and job placement of chronically unemployed inner-city men, women and youth.

The Women’s Center of Vienna, VA also received $90,000 to provide low and no cost individuals group counseling, and a crisis and referral system that puts callers in the immediate contact with professional help. Lastly, a $20,000 grant to the Culmore 4-H Character Club will help the non-profit provide challenging after-school activities that encourage critical and creative thinking, and motivate youth to be lifelong learners and responsible citizens.

Grants also benefited non-profits in Freddie Mac’s other regional cities. In Chicago, a $45,000 grant will support Big Brothers, Big Sisters mentoring efforts with children in the North Lawndale community. A creative project by Developing Hearts Systems, near New York, received nearly $10,000 to edit and produce, in both English and Spanish, a video that explains to illiterate parents how to “read” baby books to their infants and toddlers.

Created by Freddie Mac in 1990, the Freddie Mac Foundation is dedicated to brightening the future for children, youth, and families at risk. To date, the Foundation’s funding has helped more than 1.2 million children. As one of the largest corporate funders in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, Freddie Mac and the Freddie Mac Foundation have invested nearly $95 million in nonprofit organizations serving children and families.

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