American Cancer Society
Amount Granted: $1,890
The American Cancer Society’s mission is to free the world from cancer. They fund and conduct research, share expert information, support patients, and spread the word about prevention. They also help people connect to patient resources, cancer information, or ways to get involved and give back to the community. The funding from the Jo Zakas Foundation will pay for transportation costs for patients in the recovery and treatment programs.
American Heart Association
Amount Granted: $5,000
American Heart Association Ambassador Program provides high school students the opportunity to participate in leadership development and community involvement. Students learn to be a relentless force for a world of longer and healthier lives. The Jo Zakas Foundation provides scholarships to enable at-risk youth in underserved populations to participate in this inspiring pro-gram.
Breakthrough
Amount Granted: $2,580
Breakthrough ministry of Episcopal Social Services works with people who are homeless, unemployed, under-employed, and those suffering from mental illness in Wichita. The Jo Zakas Legacy Foundation will help finance a box truck for Breakthrough which is used for weekly food pick up from the Kansas Food Bank, rehousing of clients, and moving large items when needed.
Children First: CEO Kansas, Inc.
Amount Granted: $4,230
Children First programs focus on students in low-income neighborhoods. The organization strives to increase student success in school and life by providing them with support and tools to make them feel safe and empowered so they can learn and thrive. The Jo Zakas Foundation grant provides funding for the Children First Ambassador Program. This is a leadership project for low-income, mostly minority, middle school students. This funding will support their service-learning Spring project. A portion of these funds will also provide 25 coats and 20 pairs of shoes for children in need.
Cricket Alley Ministries
Amount Granted: $4,200
The Jo Zakas Legacy Foundation grant will be used for Cricket Alley Ministries’ New Start event held once a month for twelve women. This program will serve a total of 84 at-risk women in 2021 that have suffered domestic abuse and homelessness. As part of this event, participating women receive clothing, beauty/ hygiene supplies, guidance, and mentoring to help them find employment and get back on their feet.
EmberHope Youthville
Amount Granted: $4,400
EmberHope Youthville will use the Jo Zakas Legacy Foundation grant to fund their “Walk A Mile Expressive Art Project”. This program promotes emotional healing for young girls in the child welfare system who have experienced severe trauma due to neglect, physical, sexual, or emotional abuse. It’s an eight-week program that begins with self-reflection and learning how to verbalize emotions. The final weeks are spent creating. The young artists create visual representations of their pain, family life, experience in foster care, and hope for the future using a donated sneaker.
Kansas Hispanic Education & Development Foundation
Amount Granted: $5,000
The Kansas Hispanic Education & Development Foundation provides scholarships and education initiatives supporting young Hispanic students in Wichita. They work with students in high school and follow them through their transition to college and career. Recipients are chosen based on financial need, academics, community service, and leadership potential. The Hispanic Foundation partners with Kansas colleges who provide matching funds for their students. The Jo Zakas Legacy Foundation will helps fund their educational programs.
Legacy Ministries / Legacy Works
Amount Granted: $5,000
Legacy Ministries works with teens who lack support and resources. Legacy provides tools and experiences to help students make decisions that break the patterns of behavior — which are self-destructive to their future. Funding from the Jo Zakas Legacy Foundation will help fund salaries for teens who work at Legacy Works which makes and sells pottery, garden produce, and coffee bar services.
Raise My Head Foundation
Amount Granted: $8,880
Raise My Head Foundation provides a safe haven for women who are breaking free from sex trafficking. The goal of the Foundation is to help women in their program live a life of freedom and fulfillment. They offer programs on recovery, growth, and transformation from damaging influences. The Jo Zakas Foundation funding supports two women through the program so they can enter into healthy and sustainable lifestyles.
Wichita Indochinese Center, Inc.
Amount Granted: $4,608
The Wichita Indochinese Center serves refugees and immigrants in Wichita by teaching them English as a second language. The also provide other skills such as Workforce Development so help their students become self-supporting and contributing members of our community. The Jo Zakas Foundation will provide the salary for an Online ESL (English as a Second Language) Coordinator. This position will enable the Center to reach more people and provide learning to additional refugees and immigrants who otherwise would not be able to obtain it.
Wichita Women’s Initiative Network
Amount Granted: $5,000
The Jo Zakas Legacy Foundation grant will be used to provide 150 domestic violence survivors with bags filled with emergency clothing and supplies. The Wichita Women’s Initiative Network employs women survivors to assemble these bags — paying them wages while they learn new job skills to reduce employment barriers. The grant will also be used to pay the wages of four women survivors.
Youth Horizons
Amount Granted: $5,000
Youth Horizons carries on its mission through three primary areas of focus: mentoring for youth aged 5-17, residential group homecare, and awareness/advocacy for youth. The organization provides group homecare for boys since 1996 and is in the process of building a group home for girls to open in 2022. The Jo Zakas Legacy Foundation grant is designated for the purchase of appliances at their new Wren Home for Girls.
