WVCAN GRANT
Child abuse and neglect cases have been on the rise across West Virginia for numerous years. To improve the administration of justice in these matters, the Bar Foundation’s Board of Directors has given them a high priority in the awarding of grants, especially to the Child Advocacy Centers which are on the front lines in these difficult situations.

The WV Child Advocacy Network (WVCAN) is the state level entity that “provides guidance, protection and help to children and families affected by abuse.” Its vision is—“Empowering children. Restoring hope. Ending abuse.”
A few months ago, the Bar Foundation made a grant to WVCAN to support its Leadership Cohort Institute—“designed to provide an environment where leaders can connect, grow, and learn together. The program gave individuals a periodic step away from their daily routine to gain perspective, learn new concepts, and apply learning in a community of their peers. As Child Advocacy Centers grow and develop, Executive Directors are asked to manage complex change while still meeting the day-to-day needs of the organization.”

Pictured above are the attendees at the excellent event held at the Valley Park Conference Center in Hurricane. The participants were Child Advocacy Centers Directors from across the state, WVCAN leaders and program facilitators.

The evaluations were extremely positive with the best outcome being that—-“The participants found this support project so helpful that they have continued to meet monthly via
teleconferencing for peer consultation. While they use the format introduced in the project, they administer this independently of WVCAN now.”

ANNUAL REPORT
The Annual Report for the Bar Foundation for the recently concluded fiscal year—July 1, 2019-June 30, 2020—was another successful one for the continually striving philanthropic organization for the justice system and the legal profession.

The highlights included:
* The Anonymous Donor’s extraordinary financial commitment to increase the Bar Foundation’s Justice Fund to its $1 million goal in the next three years.
* An expanded focus of grants on legal services for low income citizens programs in the state.
* The Lunch and Laughs with General Ken Gray as the honoree in September 2019, (the nine annual events thus far have generated more than $80,000 for WVU Law student scholarships).
* The impact of the pandemic on the postponement of the Bar Foundation Fellows Dinner in April, 2020, as well as the cancellation of the Lawyer Leadership Institute in May, 2020.
* The agreement to serve as the financial agent for the WVU Law Student Pandemic Emergency Grant program.
* A clean annual independent audit and monthly bank reconciliations.
* The beneficial involvement of the Board of Directors members in all aspects of governance.

U.S. CENSUS
The 2020 U.S. Census forms have been distributed across the country.
As stated on the Census cover page—-“Results from the 2020 Census will be used to:

* Direct billions of dollars in federal funds to local communities for schools, roads, and other public services.
* Help your community prepare to meet transportation and emergency readiness needs.
* Determine the number of seats each state has in the U.S. House of Representatives and your political representation at all levels of government.”