Nineteen-year-old Sherry returned to Dayton after leaving her boyfriend in Michigan. She wanted to live with her mother until she could find a job or go back to school, but her mother’s boyfriend turned her away.

So Sherry turned to Daybreak, a shelter for homeless youth. Sherry now lives safely in one of 24 transitional apartments at Daybreak’s new residential and service center located on South Patterson Boulevard in downtown Dayton. The center opened in May 2008, thanks in part to a $50,000 grant from The Dayton Foundation toward Daybreak’s $9.6 million capital campaign to renovate the 100-year-old building and enhance the organization’s services for youth.

The new transitional housing is allowing Daybreak to change the way it serves the community’s growing number of homeless youth ages 18 to 21. Daybreak also operates a crisis hotline and emergency youth shelter and provides outreach, prevention and life-skills programs.

One of the most important jobs in life often comes with little or no training — parenthood. And while planned pregnancies present obstacles to even the most prepared individuals, the challenges intensify when unplanned pregnancies occur.

Elizabeth’s New Life Center (ENLC) has responded to this growing need through its Learn & Earn program. New mothers and fathers, who participate in the program’s childhood education classes, earn coupons that they can spend in ENLC’s Mother and Child Boutique. Clients can redeem their coupons for items such as clothing, diapers and strollers. Plus, with the help of a $1,000 grant from The Dayton Foundation for ENLC’s Milk for Babies initiative, the boutique now stocks formula as well.

“When another local source stopped carrying free formula, we stepped up with the Milk for Babies initiative to provide mothers with emergency assistance for their babies,” said Vivian Koob, executive director of ENLC.

In addition to earning coupons for formula purchases, clients who don’t have extra money to buy a can of formula when their monthly Women, Infants and Children (WIC) stipend runs out can come to the boutique for emergency assistance up to three times.

“With the help of The Dayton Foundation’s grant, we are able to give mothers the opportunity to provide excellent, consistent nutrition to their babies through high-quality, pediatrician-recommended formulas,” Koob said. “And with our Learn & Earn program incentivizing our clients to take advantage of our parenting and child development classes, it is a win-win for mother and child.”

The Boonshoft Museum of Discovery has long fostered a love for science and learning in the Miami Valley. In an effort to attract more youth, the museum offered several new opportunities in 2007, thanks in part to a $10,900 grant from The Dayton Foundation. The museum purchased high-powered microscopes and video equipment to document scientific findings about the effects of climate change, as well as added a one-week day camp session.

“Finding new and innovative ways to connect and educate the youth is crucial to improving science, math and technology skills in the future,” said Susan Pion, vice president of education at the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery. “To be able to provide children with lab-grade microscopes and equipment to produce documentaries speaks volumes.”

Ms. Pion also sees the effects of the Foundation’s grant as more than just the programs offered and equipment purchased. “We see our grants as leverage,” she said. “If we are able to maximize those dollars, it can help us attain funding from other sources.”

For instance, the museum recently was selected as one of 21 science centers in the world for the Albedo Experiment, a NASA and IGLO (International Action on GLObal Warming) sponsored project that involved simulating a polar iceberg. Another project allowed a Boonshoft teacher to spend six weeks aboard the USCGC Healy, a world-class, high-latitude research platform and icebreaker ship, and offered satellite link-ups of her experience to museum visitors.

“We were honored to be selected for these projects,” Ms. Pion says. “Without these grants, we would not be able to continue as the premiere museum that we have become on a national, and even global, level.”

Red, white and blue stars, proudly displaying pictures of military sons and daughters, line the large curtain leading into the store. American flags and patriotic memorabilia sit on a red-skirted table, along with a sign that asks passers-by to, “Write a letter, send a card, draw a picture…for Our Troops.”

At first glance, one might think the Blue Star Mothers of America, Miami Valley Chapter #3, storefront in Kettering is simply a patriotic display honoring our armed forces. Behind the curtain, however, busy volunteers work with precision organizing donations and compiling care packages for American troops overseas.

Thanks to a $2,195 grant from The Dayton Foundation, along with a donated storefront from Town and Country Shopping Center, the chapter was able to move operations from their homes to a centralized location. The Foundation grant helped to cover start-up expenses, such as obtaining an insurance policy, as well as purchasing shelving and a loading cart to transport goods.

“We are so appreciative of the Foundation’s grant. This support enabled us to establish ourselves in a new and more visible location,” said Beverly Kay Peyton, president of the local chapter and mother of disabled veteran Spc. Matthew Peyton.

Children’s lack of physical exercise has become a growing concern among parents and teachers. As more schools eliminate physical education classes, and television and video games consume students’ after-school hours, more children are leading sedentary lifestyles. With the help of a $10,000 grant from The Dayton Foundation, Learning Tree Farm, a hands-on learning facility set in a traditional farm setting, created the Farm, Fun & Fitness program to respond to this growing epidemic.

Wheelbarrow races, water bucket relays and obstacle courses motivate students to move as they jump over hay bales and swing from the rafters of a sheep barn. Activity logs and health-related worksheets help teachers and students continue the momentum at school and at home.

“Farm, Fun & Fitness has been a rousing success,” said Bruce Macke, executive director of Learning Tree Farm. “The children learn that exercise can be fun, and they learn how to make healthy choices in life. We would not have been able to present the program without The Dayton Foundation’s support.”

More than 600 Greene County senior citizens rely on Golden Age Senior Citizens Center to provide them with transportation every day. Whether it’s driving clients to doctor appointments or to the grocery store, the Center has vans on the road five days a week and drives an average of more than 100,000 miles annually.

Because this use can put a lot of wear and tear on a vehicle, Golden Age Senior Citizens Center needed to purchase a new van. With the help of a matching grant from The Dayton Foundation, Golden Age purchased a new 16-passenger van with a wheelchair lift.

“Without our service, many seniors would not be able to get to their dialysis treatments, chemotherapy or other appointments, or even go grocery shopping,” said Judy Baker, executive director of the Center. “The old vehicle required continual maintenance and repairs. Without the Foundation’s matching grant, we would not have been able to purchase this much needed new van.”