Applications for Learn, Play, Create Grant Program

POUGHKEEPSIE – After announcing more than $690,000 in grant awards through the first round of its 2022 Learn, Play, Create: Supporting Our Kids grant program last month, Dutchess County will be accepting applications, starting tomorrow, July 6th, for the second round of the 2022 program, which offers one-time grants awards to local non-profit organizations that serve children and families and were deprived of a year of fundraising or participation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To be eligible for this second round of awards, organizations will need to demonstrate how their use of funds meets one or more domains of the County’s Path to Promise, which ensures every child has access to the resources necessary to become successful young adults.

County Executive Marc Molinaro announced the Learn, Play, Create (LPC) grant program in June 2021 as part of his initiative to direct $57 million in one-time funding allocated to Dutchess County through the Federal Government’s American Rescue Plan (ARP) to areas the community has recognized as priorities; 147 projects received LPC funding in 2021. In the 2022 county budget, the County Legislature approved $1 million in LPC grants, to be awarded in two rounds; the County Executive announced more than $362,000 in LPC awards in early June, followed by more than $328,000 in awards later that month.

Approximately $346,000 in LPC grants is available in this second round, with grants between $2,500 and $20,000 available to non-profit youth organizations that directly serve children, including teenagers and families and promote learning, arts enrichment and sports engagement. Application instructions and guidance will be available on the County’s website, and applications can be submitted through an online portal starting July 6, 2022.

County Executive Molinaro said, “Over the past year, countless children have benefited from the projects funded through Dutchess County’s Learn, Play, Create program. This next round of LPC awards will positively impact even more local kids through our innovative Path to Promise, ensuring the projects funded will provide the critical assets young people will need to thrive along their journey to adulthood. Dutchess County is proud to advocate for our children and give them the best opportunity to thrive while fostering their development.”

Dutchess County’s Path To Promise focuses on six areas that encompass the major elements of a child’s growth process, referred to as domains. These six domains are:

* Learning – acquiring knowledge leading to the success of students in future college and career aspirations;

* Material Basics – providing for the basic needs of youth and families, including housing support and food;

* Safety – the feeling of being protected from danger, risk, or injury;

* Family/Social Relationships – having pro-social bonds with family, peers, and other adults providing opportunities for emotional and spiritual growth and support;

* Mental Health – opportunities to develop or support positive psychological and emotional well-being, including enrichment and leadership, and pro-social growth opportunities; and

* Physical Health – ensuring access to quality health care, opportunities for positive body growth and development, as well as access to appropriate and quality responses to cases in which children get sick or hurt.

Examples of possible funding awards for this second round of 2022 LPC awards include:

* A tutoring program to help middle-school students from low-income families in literacy, math, and science;

* Supplies for a youth mentoring program to foster positive adult and peer relationships;

* Instructions/lessons on how to care for and ride horses for youth living with mental illness

* Winter coats and/or food supplies for children in need;

* Supplies for an anti-bullying service or program in local schools;

* A skills clinic for player development at no cost for participants; and

* Materials and/or supplies for an organization to market a “pop-up” educational event/program, such as back-to-school preparation or new skill development, such as computer coding.

Applications for this second round will be accepted through August 4th at 4 p.m., and awards will be announced in autumn 2022; funding should be utilized within one year of the award. Neither organizations which received previous LPC funding nor school districts, private and religious schools – including school-funded clubs and/or programs – and municipal-funded/sponsored departments or clubs are eligible for this round of LPC funding.