By Mark Scott
Buffalo, NY – Several first-time applicants were on the receiving end of some major grants awarded by the Community Foundation of Greater Buffalo in its latest grant-making round.
The Foundation awarded nearly $500,000 in grants -- the largest total it ever awarded during a single funding cycle.
Foundation President Gail Johnstone says one of its goals is improving the city's literacy rate. A program called "Buffalo Reads" received $200,000. She says raising reading levels is key to helping the economically-disadvantaged become self-sufficient.
Johnstone says another first-time applicant, Jericho Road Ministries, received $47,000 for a new program that targets immigrant women on Buffalo's upper West Side.
A second West Side program sponsored by PUSH -- People United for Sustainable Housing -- is getting $25,000 to promote low-income home ownership while training at risk youths in the building trades.
A total of 14 non-profit health and human services agencies received grants in this latest round of funding from the Community Foundation.
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