The Cabool Development Foundation recently received a $13,000 grant focused on fighting rural poverty.
The grant was awarded by the Louis and Dorothy Coover Regional Grantmaking Program, a partnership between Community Foundation of the Ozarks and Commerce Trust Co. Eight agencies in the Ozarks received a total of $109,475 this year.
This money will help make affordable primary health care available to 43,000 residents of a four-county region in south central Missouri. The Cabool Development Foundation has partnered with the Southern Missouri Community Health Center in West Plains, a federally qualified health center, to help realize that goal by providing medical, dental and mental health care for those in need. Funds from the request will provide necessary fees for application for additional resources, create a Web site to educate the region about the program and make a partial down-payment for office space, as well as operational supplies.
The Coover Regional Grantmaking Program supports new and innovative programs that address regional needs, this year focusing on requests to help eliminate some of the effect of rural poverty throughout our region. Mrs. Coover, a 30-year employee of Commerce Bank, established the Louis L. and Julia Dorothy Coover Charitable Foundation in 1992 to honor the memory of her husband.
The Houston Community Foundation is an affiliate of the Community Foundation of the Ozarks. Both organizations support asset development, community-based grant making, organizational collaboration, and leadership initiatives. CFO is comprised of 41 affiliate community foundations and more than 1,600 charitable funds totaling approximately $140 million.