OCJ Kids Announces Grant From Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust

PHOENIX - EntSun -- OCJ Kids received a grant totaling $50,000 from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust for its Cell Phone App and Interface Software for Foster Youth Case Management Program. The funds will be used to create the new phone app and software for the free cell phones given to teens who aged out of foster care and are living on their own.

"Our agency has been providing cell phones with talk, text, and data to these youth for the past five years," said Gary Webb, OCJ Kids' President and Founder. "They keep them at no cost for up to one year as long as they check in with a Phone Mentor monthly. The program has worked well, but we need an app to streamline the check-in process and give them access to our videos and other free resources. Our Phone Mentors need interface software for case management and to submit reports. The Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust's generous grant will provide both."

OCJ Kids provided cell phones to 125 teens aging out of foster care in 2024. The Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust's grant will help OCJ Kids serve 250 teens over the next year and provide them with additional resources and support they need as they navigate being on their own for the first time.

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"OCJ Kids provides resources, mentoring, and innovative programs to help at-risk children and foster youth develop skills to live independently," said Gene D'Adamo, president and CEO of the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust. "We are proud to support their work."

Founded in 2009, OCJ Kids' mission is to provide Opportunity, create Community, and fight for Justice for foster and at-risk youth. OCJ Kids provides a wide variety of resources and services to benefit foster children and teens, including hygiene kits, life skills training, workforce preparedness, clothing, and workshops to help them cope with the trauma of past abuse.  For more information, visit www.ocjkids.org.

Since the Trust began its grantmaking in 1998, it has awarded nearly $403 million to 1,131 nonprofit organizations in its home states of Arizona and Indiana. For more information about the Trust and its programs, visit www.ninapulliamtrust.org.