YMCA of the USA Names Family Strengthening Award Recipients

CHICAGO, Jan. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- YMCA of the USA today announced the selection of five YMCAs engaged in exemplary family strengthening work in their communities as recipients of the 2006 Annie E. Casey Foundation FAMILIES COUNT! Family Strengthening Award.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation created the Family Strengthening Awards to acknowledge and reward YMCAs that are doing exemplary work in supporting the development of strong, capable and economically successful families. Winners will each receive $15,000 in recognition of their outstanding efforts and will serve as role models for YMCA family strengthening programs throughout the United States.

"As the following outstanding initiatives illustrate, the YMCA provides family support through a broad array of programs, services and partnerships in both rural and urban communities," said Neil Nicoll, President and CEO of the YMCA of the USA. "We are proud of the accomplishments of the 2006 Family Strengthening Award winners and are grateful to the Annie E. Casey Foundation for supporting their work and stimulating family strengthening discussions and activities within our organization."

   Winning YMCAs and their program initiatives include:

   The Strengthening Families Program of the YMCA of Greater Charlotte
   (N.C.) is a collaborative, community-based effort that connects
   low-income families to resources that address preschool and school-age
   education, adult basic education, family counseling, health services,
   employment training, financial planning, housing and recreation. The
   program employs seven full-time social workers, whose offices are
   strategically placed in communities around Charlotte, and serves families
   living in 16 fragile and/or threatened neighborhoods.  Through intensive
   intervention, home visits and access to health and education, the program
   serves at-risk families in crisis.

   The Early Childhood Resource Network of the YMCA of Central Ohio
   (Columbus, OH) is a comprehensive, coordinated early intervention program
   which ensures that children ages 0 to 5 with special needs and their
   families have access to services and tools they need to achieve
   self-sufficiency. Founded in 1983, in the last three years the program
   has served more than 700 children from birth to 3 years of age and 800
   preschool-age children and families who are concerned about their
   child(ren) having a developmental delay or disability.  The program links
   families to broad community support networks and prepares parents to
   serve as advocates for their children.

   The Training, Inc. Program of the Education and Training Branch of the
   YMCA of Greater Boston provides individuals and families in the Greater
   Boston area with skills and support necessary to help clients secure
   employment that offers family-sustaining wages, benefits, opportunities
   for career advancement and a path to self-sufficiency. The program
   currently serves an average of 150 individuals each year.  Program
   participants are predominately single mothers and recent immigrant family
   heads of households who earn less than $10,000 annually. The program
   partners with more than 50 local employers and also provides financial
   literacy, English as a Second Language, childcare and healthcare
   assistance. In all, more than 3,500 individuals have graduated from
   Training, Inc.

   Family Program Services of the Muscatine Community YMCA in Muscatine,
   Iowa is a child abuse prevention program for low-income, high-risk
   mothers and their families, and is designed to expand the resource base
   of participants, reduce stresses that may lead to child abuse or neglect
   and assist participants in overcoming barriers that keep them in poverty.
   The program provides self-sufficiency education as well as family
   services and supports.  Support groups have been added to serve fathers,
   teen parents and grandparents raising grandchildren. Founded in 1984, the
   Family Program Services serves an average of 300 families each year.

   The Armed Services YMCA (ASYMCA) of San Diego provides support services
   to military service members and their families. Its unique Family
   Outreach Department provides specific in-home crisis counseling and
   support services to military families going through crises such as
   divorce, severe illness, financial difficulties, abandonment, depression
   and child abuse, in addition to deployment. With a staff of professional
   social workers, the San Diego ASYMCA supports these military families who
   are encountering relational, economic, emotional, physical or situational
   challenges.

"Children do well when families do well, and families do better when they live in supportive communities," said Miriam Shark of the Annie E. Casey Foundation. "Intentional family strengthening programs, like those being offered by YMCAs, help families to become economically successful and better nurture, protect and educate their children."

The five winners were chosen from 42 submissions from local YMCAs across the country. To be eligible, YMCAs must serve low-income, disadvantaged families and provide intentional family services that improve outcomes for children.

ABOUT YMCAs: The nation's 2,617 YMCAs serve more than 20.2 million people each year, including 9.5 million children, uniting men, women and children of all ages, faiths, backgrounds, abilities and income levels. From urban areas to small towns, YMCAs are a place for people to belong, serving America's children, families and communities for more than 150 years by "building healthy spirit, mind and body for all." Visit http://www.ymca.net/ .

ABOUT THE ANNIE E. CASEY FOUNDATION: Since 1948, the Annie E. Casey Foundation has worked to build better futures for disadvantaged children and their families in the United States. The primary mission of the Foundation is to foster public policies, human service reforms, and community supports that more effectively meet the needs of today's vulnerable children and families. The YMCA of the USA-Annie E. Casey Foundation FAMILIES COUNT! Family Strengthening Awards program recognizes YMCAs whose programs support the development of strong, capable and economically successful families. Award recipients receive $15,000 in recognition for their outstanding efforts and serve as role models for YMCA family-strengthening programs throughout the U.S.