Mission West Virginia Emergency Aid Grant Application for Schools

Eligible counties: Boone, Clay, Fayette, Kanawha, Lincoln and Putnam

Purpose: There are over 6,000 children in foster care in West Virginia. Youth residing outside of the formal child welfare system expands even greater with over 22,000 youth living with a relative with no parent present.   Kinship caregivers often face tremendous financial burdens when they add a new member to their family; many already live below the federal poverty level. Moreover, many kinship caregivers are grandparents who are often retired with a fixed income. Without additional supports and help, the child and family both incur unnecessary hardships.

Mission West Virginia is accepting applications with the purpose of providing emergency assistance to youth being raised by relatives and/or in foster care.  With funding from this grant, your school will receive financial aid to disseminate to youth for the purchase of items that fall into three categories:

•  Personal care – Examples include toiletries, haircuts, clothing for children arriving or returning to family with little or no belongings, loss or theft of clothing, period of rapid growth, or the beginning of a new school year.

•  School expenses – Examples include school photographs, the purchase of specific items that assist in meeting the child’s educa­tional needs (specialty calculators, subscriptions, study books, etc.), general school supplies and expenses associated with school activities.

•  Recreational costs – Examples include costs for a child with talent or interested for a particular activity that should be encouraged (sports, music, art).

*Other items allowable with approval

•  The approximate amount per child will range from $50 - $150.  For record keeping, we are asking that each representative keep track of each request fulfilled by completing a brief form supplied by MWV and keeping documentation (receipts or financial documents). 

Counties that are currently eligible to apply: Boone, Clay, Fayette, Lincoln, Kanawha and Putnam.

Please complete the form below

Reporting guidelines will be provided when your application is funded.

For questions, please contact rkinder@missionwv.org or call Rachel Kinder at 304-562-0723