Merakey Foundation

The Merakey Foundation is a fundraising entity with a mission to align donor generosity with Merakey's commitment to whole person care throughout the united states. Since its founding in 1999, the Merakey Foundation has raised millions of dollars through grants, fundraising events, and private donations for Merakey programs. Highlights this past year include distributing over $250,000 in impact grants across all Merakey service lines and raising funds to support therapeutic programs for adults with mental and behavioral health concerns, sensory resources for autism schools, new technology to stay connected with others, and program enhancements for students in need of emotional intervention.the Merakey Foundation is grounded in Merakey's purpose, vision and core values:our purpose: putting our heart and soul into exceptional care.our vision: to be a nationally recognized provider of the highest quality health and human services.our core values: compassion, diversity, integrity, safety, trust, and qualityhighlights of the Foundation's year include:the Foundation organized a holiday toy drive to help offset the expenses of holiday giving for our foster care families. In 2023, 200 children in Merakey's foster care received gifts for the holidays.through the Merakey Foundation's annual coat drive, Merakey helped distribute more than 100 new winter coats to children in philadelphia in november. The coats, provided by pacifico marple ford through the auto dealers caring for kids Foundation, were distributed to children and youth who receive services at Merakey's children's services site in philadelphia. Several news outlets were there to catch the action, including cbs news. The Merakey Foundation held its annual recovery care kit drive, for which all donations go toward helping individuals in the community without homes and struggling with addiction. Recovery care kits are assembled and hand-delivered by the dedicated staff from the recovery mobile teams at Merakey parkside recovery in philadelphia.in may 2023, the Merakey Foundation joined the foster care team for an appreciation cookout to celebrate our foster families. The afternoon was sponsored by higher information group and held at the pavilion at greystone brew house in dillsburg, pa. caregivers who have become foster families through Merakey's foster care program were recognized and celebrated for their commitment to supporting children, adolescents, and their families during a time of need.this year, the Merakey Foundation supported projects within the intellectual and developmental disabilities division and children and families program division. These grants truly make a difference in the lives of the individuals we support and their ability to live a full and meaningful life.idd impact grant recipients and projects:carmichael, ca collapsible bathtub to cater to a variety of sensory needschester and Delaware counties, pa pantry items to help organize a community food bankescondido, ca lighting for an outdoor basketball court and activity areaphiladelphia, pa gym memberships for aging individuals in need of physical activitiespittsburgh, pa new technology items that will support making connections with otherspittsburgh, pa multi-purpose room accessories for sensory, music, craft, and exercise purposesportage, pa memberships and passes to local gym and amusement park for residents to enjoyredding, ca gazebo for an outdoor area to protect residents from weathervirginia beach, va welcome kit to help equip new families for safety and care when entering the life sharing programc&f impact grant recipients:harrisburg, pa program enhancements for students in need of emotional interventionchambersburg, pa sensory space and playground enhancementsleechburg, pa sensory space enhancementsgreensburg, pa life skills programmt. Pleasant, pa therapeutic gardening programorange county, ny entrepreneurial workshops, therapeutic gardening program, well-being, and safety essentialsbutler and greensburg, pa sensory space enhancementsthe Merakey Foundation impact grants focus on projects that invest in transformative ideas and scalable solutions that support Merakey's strategic initiatives. The Foundation's impact grants are funded by generous donors and the fundraising efforts of the Merakey Foundation. Each year the Merakey Foundation also funds scholarship beds and transition support for adults in recovery, sensory and therapeutic equipment for adults with idd, and a foster care scholarship fund for young adults transitioning from foster care.