When Broad Street’s Scandinavian Communities heard that it had received $96,655 from the Champlin Foundation for a new nurse call system, Executive Director Colette Silverman said the nonprofit was excited and grateful. The organization was one of four Cranston organizations selected for a total of $173,335 in grants. Throughout the state, 95 grants were awarded for a total of $10.2 million in capital funding; the money will serve Rhode Islanders of all ages across youth services, healthcare, arts and culture and beyond. 

Scandinavian Communities consists of the Scandinavian Rehabilitation & Skilled Nursing and Scandinavian Assisted Living. In the nursing home, the organization provides long and short term care. In short term situations, individuals usually come from the hospital after a procedure (such as a knee or hip replacement) because they need therapy and are not able to go home right away. Their long term care is for people who need care their family can’t provide at home – for instance 24-hour nursing care. The organization’s assisted living has 35 apartments and provides three meals a day, laundry services, activities and assists the residents with any needs.

The new nurse call system will replace one that was installed in 2013. The product, which was produced in 2002, uses 20-year-old technology and will be updated with a new system from SIGNET Electronic Systems, Inc. 

“We were told in the beginning of 2022 that our system was being modernized,” said Silverman, adding that the current system’s company no longer supports the old model.

Residents will use the nurse call system if they need assistance with something. This may be something as simple as requesting a glass of water or having something picked off the floor. The need may even be more advanced – such as needing assistance to the bathroom.

“It’s a way to communicate and is critical to our operations,” Silverman said.

Silverman said the new nurse call system will help provide better response time to residents. She added that this is a web-based system that will show reports of response time and how much time a staff person spends in a room.

Silverman said Champlin Foundation has assisted Scandinavian Communities many times over the years and have been supportive of the organization’s needs.

She added that fortunately there have not been any unexpected issues with the current system, but it is good to be upgrading. Scandinavian Communities will begin its project in 2023.

Scandinavian Communities’ staff includes 110 staff and has 74 beds at the nursing home and has the capacity of 35 individuals at the assisted living facility. The organization has been around for 90 years with the assisted living portion being built 30 years ago.

Of the 95 organizations that received funding from Champlin Foundation, 15 organizations were first time recipients – including MAE Organization of Cranston.

The MAE Organization provides an integrated place to connect with programs that will support, heal, and guide individuals out of homelessness, from providing basic life needs such as food and clothing to therapeutic services that focus on the wellness of each individual. 

“We believe that the unhoused people of Rhode Island deserve the tools, encouragement, and time to repair the root causes of pain, self-doubt, and trauma,” said Martinha Javid, founder of MAE Organization in a Nov. 23 press release from the Champlin Foundation. “Champlin’s grant will allow us to purchase a new van to meet individuals where they are – now and for years to come – to deliver food and supplies and transport clients to healthcare facilities, temporary housing, educational opportunities, and to the MAE Center for our wellness services and programming.”

Girls on the Run also received its first grant from the foundation.

“We will be using the funds to replace our inflatable finish line arch,” said Executive Director Kasha Hanflik in an email interview Monday.

The $1,680 grant from the Champlin Foundation will allow the organization to replace its eight-year-old inflatable finish line arch that broke at Girls on the Run’s spring 5K event in May.

Girls on the Run is a physical activity-based youth development program designed to enhance girls’ social, emotional and physical skills to successfully navigate life experiences. The program was founded in 1996 and came to Rhode island in 2011.

“We offer two seasons each year in the fall and spring and our programs are open to third through eighth grade students. At the end of the 10 week season, every team from across Rhode Island and Bristol County, Massachusetts come together to complete a non-competitive 5K. Each participant worked on setting and achieving goals throughout the season and the 5K is an incredible way for them to celebrate their accomplishments as they cross the finish lines. We recently hosted our fall 5K at Warwick City Park and our spring 5K is held at Colt State Park in Bristol,” Hanflik said.

According to the organization’s website, since coming to the state, more than 30 locations within the state host a team each year, 4,700+ girls have been impacted and 140 volunteers gave their time and effort in the 2021 to 2022 year – which includes fall and spring seasons. Across the world, the program has served over 2 million girls.

Lastly, the Cranston-based Rhode Island Bar Foundation received a $25,000  grant for its Thomas F. Black Jr. Memorial Scholarship Program. Each year since 1989, the foundation has given one first year, full-time law student with this award.

According to the Rhode Island Bar Foundation’s website, the award is meant “to support and foster high legal practice standards by assisting Rhode Island residents who show promise that they will become outstanding lawyers and who need financial assistance to study law. The scholarship is in honor of the late Thomas F. Black, Jr., a person known for his impressive ability as a lawyer and banker, his deeply rooted legal scholarship and his notable participation in civic and charitable causes.”

The Champlin Foundation reflected on the funding in its Nov. 23 press release.

“For so many of the smaller organizations serving historically marginalized communities, the added work they took on in response to Covid — food distribution, health and wellness education, transportation — was substantial and now it continues at rates that were never imagined,” said Nina Stack, executive director of The Champlin Foundation. “Add to this the challenges of inflation and staffing shortages that all businesses are experiencing, and we see the needs are tremendous. Many of these grants will support their efforts to fully incorporate these added services that have now become standard within their infrastructure.”

The Champlin Foundation supports capital improvements across nine key areas of focus: arts and culture, conservation and parks, education, healthcare, historic preservation and heritage, libraries, social services, youth services, and welfare of animals. This grant cycle builds on previous funding that was distributed earlier in the year, bringing the total distributed in 2022 to $20.5 million.   

The first round of applications for 2023 grants will open on Dec. 15 and close on Jan. 15, 2023. The second cycle will begin June 1, 2023, and close on July 1, 2023. They received 120 applications for their second round of funding this year.