The Putnam County Community Foundation (PCCF) was pleased to present a $15,000 grant to Recovery Raw on Tuesday.
To better serve Putnam County residents and realign the organization’s grantmaking and other strategic initiatives, PCCF completed a Community Needs Assessment earlier this year which identified addiction and illegal drug use as the community’s most pressing concern followed by mental health, access to livable wages, housing, and quality healthcare.
The assessment results – available online – will guide the development of a long-term strategy to address the issues identified by the Community Needs Assessment. This process will likely take several months of planning. However, PCCF is committed to providing resources and support in those issue areas.
To demonstrate that commitment, PCCF’s Board of Directors approved a $15,000 grant to Recovery Raw, a local organization working to create change in the lives of individuals dealing with addiction and setting them up for success in recovery. PCCF surprised Eric and Brooklyn Rippy, co-founders of Recovery Raw, with the grant announcement at its holiday celebration on Tuesday evening.
“We couldn’t run this organization anywhere but Putnam County. Everyone here has been so supportive of our work and we’re grateful to this community for that,” said Eric Rippy while accepting the grant award. “We’ve outgrown our space and hope to build a new building soon. We’ve got people standing shoulder to shoulder at meetings because we’ve grown so much. This donation will support that and so much more for Recovery Raw.”
While no decisions have been made yet as to how the organization will respond to the results of the Community Needs Assessment, PCCF hopes to bring community organizations and leaders together to create significant and lasting change for some of the top-reported issue areas.
“The Putnam County Community Foundation recognizes the opportunity to create significant, collective impact with the help of other partners in our community. We know we aren’t service providers, and we know we don’t have all the answers,” commented Neysa Meyer, PCCF executive director. “We are excited to present this grant and hope it serves as a stepping stone to begin collaborative conversations and tackle the important issues that our community cares about.”
For additional information about PCCF’s Community Needs Assessment, grants or other opportunities at the Putnam County Community Foundation, persons may contact Sarah Stone at sstone@pcfoundation.org or call the office at 765.653.4978.