Blue Mountain Community Foundation recently awarded grants from the First Fruits Fund, a component fund of BMCF. As promised we will be announcing recent grant awards over the next few weeks.

The Fifth grantee is…

Children’s Home Society Family Support, $10,000

Children’s Home Society of Walla Walla offers a wide variety of services and activities that promote healthy development in children. Families receive the support they need through relationship building groups, parenting classes, and mental health counseling as well as counseling to child victims of sexual abuse/assault and other crimes. Summer recreation programs, tutoring programs, and early learning programs help support children’s academic success.

The 2012 First Fruits Grant will help to fund interactive workshops based on research by Drs. John & Julie Gottman Ph.D. of The Gottman Relationship Institute. This service is designed for couples and single parents to strengthen relationships with the people who matter most – their children and family. Parents learn relationship-building skills and how to apply them in everyday life situations. This service will be implemented using a group format as well as individual family support services for families as assessed throughout delivery of service.

The primary target population will be families who currently live at the Christian Aid Center and the YWCA, or are in transition to living independently of community or public assistance.

Over the past four years Children’s Home Society has delivered Gottman focused services.  Following is data collected over that time period:

• 97% of parents report being satisfied with the program.
• 93% of parents report their communication skills improved as a result of the program.
• 93% of parents report their conflict resolution skills improved as a result of the program.
• 87% of parents report their contentment in their relationship improved as a result of the program.
• 89% of parents report their commitment to their relationship improved as a result of the program.

Drs. John & Julie Gottman Ph.D. have more than 35 years of relationship research discovering what makes relationships succeed, fail or are in chronic ailment. What they have learned and put to practice in many ways both in the private and public sector is that when couples/parents learn a specific set of skills based on their experience throughout life their relationships get better.  The underlying concept behind Gottman work is the Sound Relationship House Theory.

The First Fruits Fund

The First Fruits Fund was established in 2008 with a generous grant from the Vista Hermosa Foundation.  Since that time, the Fund has made 66 grants exceeding $550,000.

The stated goal of the First Fruits Fund is to “encourage collaborative and innovative approaches to building self-sufficiency for the most under-served in our communities, including improved access to such basic needs as housing, food, education and livable wages.”  Founders believe that the most impactful way to achieve that goal is to support community-based initiatives that empower people themselves to identify their needs and collectively own the process of change.