Heart Haven OutReach Awarded $13,500 Grant

Non-Profit Leaders, Business Leaders, Elected Officials, and Community Leaders came together for the 2018 Grant Awards Reception hosted by The Community Foundation of Will County. This year’s reception was hosted at Mistwood Golf Club in Romeoville and featured 11 organizations receiving over $87,000 in grants.

One of the recipients this year was Heart Haven OutReach, which received $13,500 from The Community Foundation of Will County as well as the Center for Economic Development Education Grant Fund. The grant will be used to develop programming and training for staff and volunteers that will allow H2O to expand their current High School level OutReach Mentoring Program to serve Middle School aged children who are at risk for falling through the cracks. Programming will focus on motivating participants to achieve school and life success, increase and maintain positive relationships, improve decision making skills, as well as demonstrate responsible behaviors at school and in the community.

H2O’s Executive Director, Ryan Lawrence, accepted the grant and gave an inspirational speech highlighting the utter importance of their organization’s impact to the youth of Bolingbrook & Romeoville. Volunteers are key to the success of Heart Haven OutReach. Whether it is volunteering directly at an H2O program or if it is serving time behind the scenes, H2O can use your help. Please visit https://hearthavenoutreach.org/support-h2o/volunteer/ to inquire about volunteering.

Photo (left to right): Leonel Venegas, Ron Oestreich, Caleb Jenkins, Kathleen Elliott, Ken McConnaughay, Dr. Nadia Carpanzano, Ryan Lawrence, Michael Carpanzano

About The Community Foundation of Will County:

The Community Foundation of Will County (CFWC) is Will County’s charitable endowment, allowing for investment income to be used to promote philanthropic purposes. Our priority areas are in health, education, human services, and the arts. The CFWC is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) public foundation established in 2006. We ‘connect people who care, to causes that matter’ to improve the lives of Will County residents. We seek to build partnerships to strengthen relationships and identify needs among non-profit organizations, professional advisors, donors and community stakeholders.

About Heart Haven OutReach (H2O):

Heart Haven OutReach, better known as H2O, is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that serves middle & high school teens in the greater Bolingbrook and Romeoville area who are experiencing challenging times. Through a variety of time-tested and research-based programs, we pursue our mission of “reaching out to the hearts of youth and facilitating life transformation.” Our mission is to transform the lives of (at risk) struggling teens through caring relationships and programs that support healthy development on an emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual level.