TULALIP — Thanks to the Tulalip Tribes, more homeless kids will have places to live, more salmon will have good habitat in which to spawn and more senior citizens will be safe.
Cocoon House, the Adopt A Stream Foundation, the Warm Beach Health Care Center and the Edmonds Senior Center were just a few of about 280 nonprofit groups in the Puget Sound area that received a total of $6.9 million this year from the tribes. That’s the most in any one year since the charitable program began in 1993, according to the tribes.
The awards were announced last week at the tribes’ annual Raising Hands ceremony.
Groups in the fields of education, health and human services, cultural preservation, public safety, the environment and economic development were among the recipients.
The tribes donate money generated by casinos, the Quil Ceda Village shopping center and other endeavors. Groups apply to receive funding.
Cocoon House of Everett received $10,000 to go toward its housing program for homeless youth, chief executive officer Cassie Franklin said.
The organization helps kids living on the street, works with parents to prevent at-risk children from becoming homeless and provides emergency and long-term housing to more than 300 children, she said.
The money from the tribes will go toward the housing portion of Cocoon House’s activities, consisting of group homes in Everett, Monroe and Arlington.
The tribes have given to Cocoon House before, Franklin said.
“They’ve very generous, they’re a great community partner,” she said.
Also receiving $10,000 was the Warm Beach Health Care Center, a nonprofit endeavor affiliated with the Warm Beach Camp and Conference Center, a Christian organization. The care center provides independent and assisted living and skilled nursing care for a total of 350 residents, spokeswoman Sheila Bartlett said.
The money was received earlier this year and went toward a $160,000 electronic alert system. Residents can push a button if they need assistance, Bartlett said.
“If folks are on our campus and fall, we can find them,” she said.
The tribes also gave $5,000 to the Edmonds Senior Center. The money will cover about half the cost of printing and distributing the senior center’s newsletter, director Farrell Fleming said.
“It’s our principal instrument to attract people here and let them know about our programs,” Fleming said.
The tribes helped the senior center fund its first computer lab years ago, he said.
The Adopt A Stream Foundation, based at McCollum Park in south Everett, was one of several environmental groups to receive funding. The group provides environmental education and does stream restoration projects around Snohomish County.
The $5,000 from the tribes will go toward restoration projects on Tulalip Creek, near the fish hatchery on the reservation, and Allen Creek in Marysville.
The tribes have donated to the stream group in the past, including a $50,000 grant to toward a permanent trout stream exhibit, director Tom Murdoch said.
“They’ve been very generous to everybody in the community,” he said. “They’ve been terrific about sharing their resources with the public.”
Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439; sheets@heraldnet.com.
Apply for awards
Nonprofit and community groups may apply for awards. For information, go to the Tulalip Tribes Charitable Funds website at www.tulalipcares.org.
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