KERRVILLE— The Cailloux Foundation announced that $519,200 in grants have been approved during the first quarter of 2005. The awards range in size from $8,200 to $500,000 with the largest grant going to the Hill Country Youth Ranch (HCYR) to build The Cailloux Charter School in Ingram, Texas. These awards represent the first grants approved by a new Board of Directors since the institution became a family controlled foundation earlier this year.

HCYR Executive Director Gary Prior shows residents of the Ranch the preliminary drawings for the Cailloux Charter School to built on site.

 The HCYR is a residential facility providing long-term care for abused, abandoned, and troubled children. It has been home to more than 1,000 children since it began in 1977. The HCYR provides long term residential care to children who are not candidates for family reunification. The organization has a second campus at Big Springs Ranch near Leakey, Texas. The Ingram campus has the capacity for 80 children and includes a training center for certification of child care workers, an assessment center for traumatized youth, and an arts center. The HCYR will construct a new 11,000 square foot charter school and second assessment center at the Ingram campus with Foundation grant funds. The $500,000 award from the Foundation will pay for half of the cost of the capital project and the HCYR will be seeking additional donations and grants for the remainder. The school will serve up to 40 special needs children, focusing first on elementary and middle school children. These children need the best educational environment possible to overcome severe disadvantages and with time may be able to be individually mainstreamed back into the Ingram Independent School District. The new assessment center will allow for better gender separation when children first come to the HCYR for assessment and processing. The new charter school will share administrative costs with the HCYR's Ed Brune Charter School at the Big Springs Ranch for Children.

A grant of $11,000 was awarded to the Kerr County Christian Action Council (KCCAC) to help fund additional clerical salaries for the organization’s Alpha Omega Life Center- formerly known as the Pregnancy Center. In 1984, the KCCAC began operation as a crisis pregnancy center, later adding a maternity home which was closed in 1998. The organization now provides parenting education, sexual education, marriage counseling, post-abortion counseling, pregnancy tests, material assistance, and referrals. In 2004, the KCCAC received grants to purchase and remodeled a building to house client services. They have expanded services to include a speaker's bureau, an in-house library, and are emphasizing adoption referrals. They currently serve an average of 100 clients per month and have 13 volunteers. All services are free.

 The Foundation awarded $8,200 to the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country for the Hill Country Rehabilitation House Fund. The organization was established in 1982 for the benefit of Kerr County as the Kerrville Area Community Trust. In 2000, the name was changed and the service area was expanded. The CFTHC has $6,500,000 in assets, 40% of which are restricted funds held for specific charitable purposes. One such fund exists for the Hill Country Rehabilitation House in Kerrville. This nonprofit organization is for men who are recovering from alcohol or drug abuse.

 Several changes to The Cailloux Foundation Scholarship Program including the increase of annual awards to $12,000 per recipient and allowing recipients to attend private universities within Texas have been made. The Foundation also added five high schools to the program. Graduating high school students from Our Lady of the Hills Catholic School in Kerrville, the Ed Brune Charter School at the Big Springs Ranch in Leakey, Mason High School in Mason, Utopia High School in Utopia, and Nueces Canyon High School near Barksdale and Campwood will be eligible to apply for the award in 2006. Applicants must have a minimum SAT score of 1017, a minimum grade average of 85, and be in the top third of their class, with a family adjusted gross income of less than $70,000 to apply. The next application deadline is February 1, 2006.

Floyd A. and Kathleen C. Cailloux created The Cailloux Foundation in 1994. The Foundation’s mission is to perpetuate the Cailloux’s vision through the betterment of individual lives, with emphasis on the needs of disadvantaged children. Mr. Cailloux was co-founder of Keystone International and was instrumental in the company becoming a leader in the manufacturing and marketing of industrial valves for general industry. In 1981, Mr. and Mrs. Cailloux moved from Houston to Kerrville, where they became very involved in charitable endeavors in the Texas Hill Country and around the state. The Foundation continues these endeavors by awarding grants to eligible nonprofit organizations mainly in the Hill Country.

 The application process for the Foundation consists of an initial letter of inquiry from a nonprofit organization to help Foundation staff determine if a project fits within its guidelines. If a project does fit the guidelines, a full grant application is provided for the agency to complete. Please read the application process section on this site for more information regarding inquiries to the Foundation. n