Family Focused Group Receives Oklahoma County ARPA Grant

 An Oklahoma group working with children in the state's foster system is receiving a $20,000 ARPA grant from the Oklahoma County Board of Commissioners.

The 111Project plans to use the funds for its CarePortal, which met only 67% of all needs last year.

"We're just so, grateful for commissioner Brian Maughan recommending us because this funding goes directly to Oklahoma County to help local families in the community get some assistance and see if we can get a little higher amount of our needs met," said the Executive Director Chris Campbell.

Campbell's organization connects churches and people with anonymous requests made from families across Oklahoma, largely in partnership with the Oklahoma Department of Human Services.

Examples range from rental or utility assistance to new appliances or donations of unused items.

"Some of those goals are really significant, like getting their children reunited with them out of foster care or actually maybe even keeping their kids in a really safe situation," Campbell said. "There's some things that we can do to help with that. And so through CarePortal, those agency partners put in a request and those requests are public."

For its part, Oklahoma DHS said it's a valuable partnership.

"The 111Project organizes ministry partners and trainings so the local community can step forward to support their neighbors and help children and families thrive," an agency spokesperson said. "There are innumerable success stories through this partnership, but each of them represents a community surrounding its vulnerable families and offering much-needed support to agency staff."