Countywide : County to Consider Awarding 2 Grants

The Board of Supervisors today will consider awarding $1,000 grants each to the Orange County Marine Institute and the South Orange County Hotel for Homeless Women.

The grants, from the county’s Community Social Program fund, would assist the two nonprofit organizations with operating expenses and were recommended by Supervisor Thomas F. Riley.

The Dana Point-based Marine Institute would use its grant to further projects such as a local tide-pool preservation campaign, institute executive director Stan Cummings said.

About 90,000 California students visit the institute each year to study marine biology and the oceans, along with maritime history and literature. More than 50% of the students who attend county schools attend programs at the facility.

The Hotel for Homeless Women, a transitional housing program in Santa Ana, would use the grant for operating expenses. The 38-bed transitional living facility is run by the South Orange County Young Women’s Christian Assn. and opened in 1987.

About 400 women each year stay at the hotel, which provides room and board along with counseling and employment assistance to help the residents make their way back to independent living, YWCA executive director Mary Douglas said.

About 50 Social Program grants are distributed by the county each year, each ranging from $500 to $5,000, grant program manager Shelby J. Brown said.

The grants are given to programs and facilities countywide, such as community centers, day care centers, homeless shelters, senior citizen facilities and school district social programs.

The supervisors meet at 9:30 a.m. Tuesdays in the Board Hearing Room on the first floor of the county Hall of Administration, 10 Civic Center Plaza, in Santa Ana. The meetings are open to the public. For more information, call (714) 834-3100.