Lovell Foundation Awards $492,000 to 13 Nonprofits Serving Southern Arizona

The Tucson-based David and Lura Lovell Foundation recently approved $492,000 in grants for 13 Tucson nonprofit organizations to support programs in the areas of mental health, integrative health and wellness, youth access to the arts, and gender parity. Additional grants to two national programs totaled $156,000.

The largest grant this year is for $162,000 to the University of Arizona College of Nursing, as the final portion of three-year funding for the Integrative Nursing Faculty Fellowship program. The goal is to expand nursing education to encompass more integrative nursing knowledge and skills that can help improve the outcomes of patients with acute and chronic healthcare issues. It is UACON’s vision that in 10-20 years, colleges of nursing throughout the country will incorporate integrative nursing in their continuum of health and wellness programs from baccalaureate through doctoral studies.

A grant for $69,000 was awarded to CommunityShare, toward connecting the expertise of community partners (artists, scientists, retirees, etc.) with students and teachers through an online “matching” platform, workshops/trainings, teacher leadership forums, community events and dialogues, innovation grants, community-based storyteling, and advocacy. In addition to the Lovell Foundation grant, Digital Promise, a nonprofit created by Congress, has committed to partner with CommunityShare to bring Tucson into its network of “education innovation clusters” and begin piloting the online platform as a model nationwide.

Act One received a $50,000 grant toward their field trip program in Tucson, which provides students in Title I schools with engaging, hands-on arts learning opportunities aligned with Arizona’s core curriculum. Act One covers transportation costs, offers “one-stop” scheduling, and provides teaching materials related to the performance or exhibit. Act One’s Tucson arts partners include Arizona Theatre Company, Tucson Museum of Art, UA Presents, Tucson Symphony Orchestra, Tucson Botanical Gardens, Live Theater Workshop, and Arizona Repertory Singers and Theater.

Additional Lovell Foundation grants are:
• $45,000 to St. Elizabeth’s Health Center for their behavioral health program, which serves uninsured and underserved patients at deeply discounted rates. The program treats the psychological, emotional, cognitive and social factors important to the prevention, treatment, and management of physical and behavioral health issues.
• $30,000 to United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona toward strategic planning and community facilitation to expand and mature the work of the ELDER Alliance/End of Life Care Coalition to increase quality healthcare choices during the final years of life. This collaborative effort envisions a broadening of vision to include the entire health care network and creation of a “cultural movement” regarding end of life care and planning.
• $25,000 to Children’s Museum Tucson for Art After Dark, a monthly program for youth and families featuring interactive activities facilitated by CMT and local arts organizations in conjunction with “Second Saturdays” downtown community gatherings.
• $25,000 to Coyote Task Force for capacity building to support their mission of providing vocational services in a safe environment for adults recovering from serious mental illness. They strive to combat personal and societal stigma associated with mental illness by providing peer support, education, and community interaction with recovering adults. Current programs are Our Place Clubhouse, Café 54, and Truck 54.
• $25,000 to the Greater Tucson Fire Foundation toward the Firefighter Mental Health and Wellness Program, which links first responders and their families with services that address unhealthy coping behaviors and mental health problems such as depression and post-traumatic stress. The goal is to keep mental health concerns from becoming serious problems that affect performance.
• $21,000 to the University of Arizona College of Fine Arts for capacity building for CFA in Schools programming (guitar, dance, and drumming; early elementary music education; and Wellness through the Arts). CFA in Schools builds sustainable arts programs in schools with large populations of at-risk students.
• $15,000 for continuing support of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra’s Music in the Schools/Young People’s Concerts. This is the orchestra’s largest music education program, reaching more than 13,000 students from 90 schools.
• $10,000 to Arizona Theatre Company for the Tucson Student Matinee Series, which provides under-resourced middle and high school students the experience of live professional theater. The goal is to use theater as a catalyst to inspire creativity through the development of language literacy, artistic engagement, critical thinking, and informed cultural identity, as well as to foster an appreciation for theater as an art form.
• $8,000 for Invisible Theatre’s Project Pastime, providing mentally and physically challenged students with instruction in music, drama, and dance, culminating in an original musical called “The Me Inside of Me” which the students create and perform.
• $7,500 to the Tucson Girls Chorus to support outreach and add engagement choirs in underserved areas. The mission of TGC is to prepare a diverse group of young women to be confident leaders through participation in an educational program that emphasizes music, performance, leadership training, and community service.

In addition to funding in the Tucson area, the Foundation made two grants to national media-related programs in gender parity and mental health:
• $80,000 to Chicken & Egg Pictures for their Accelerator Lab to expand the pipeline of women non-fiction filmmakers whose artful and innovative storytelling catalyzes social change.
• $76,000 to the Media, Diversity & Social Change Initiative at the University of Southern California Annenberg toward measuring the presence and portrayal of mental health conditions in film. The data will enable activists and advocates to address what may be skewed and stereotypical portrayals of mental illness.

The Lovell Foundation was established in 1994 by David and Lura Lovell. Since then the Foundation has awarded over $14 million to support more than 80 nonprofit organizations nationwide. Today the Foundation is led by an executive director, a board of trustees and a board of advisors. More information is at lovellfoundation.org or (520) 325-3656.