| Organization information | |
|---|---|
| Organization Name | West Michigan Regional Veterans' Treatment Court |
| Please tell us the amount of funding you are requesting Aware to raise for your organization from the Aware annual fundraising event. | $2,500 |
| If your organization received Aware funding in the previous years, how many clients were serviced and/or how many services were provided with those funds. If you receive Aware funding this current year, how many clients will be serviced and/or how many services will be provided with these funds? | This is the first time that the court is requesting funding assistance. |
| Please provide a listing of the Officers and Board members of your organization. | Judge William A. Baillargeon is the presiding judge of the WMRVTC. |
| Your Contact Information | William Baillargeon |
| Phone | 6163408758 |
| Email hidden; Javascript is required. | |
| Scoring Criteria | |
| 1. Description of the Organization (maximum 5 points, please limit to ½ pages) | The West Michigan Regional Veterans' Treatment Court (WMRVTC) is one of the only multi-jurisdictional veteran treatment courts in existence. This court was established by Judge Baillargeon in 2014 and has jurisdiction over Ottawa, Allegan and Van Buren county justice involved veterans. The goal of the court is to provide extensive supervision, monitoring and treatment for veterans involved in the criminal justice system as a result of issues arising from their service. Most commonly these issues are centered on PTSD and substance abuse. |
| 2. Funding Request (maximum 35 points, total, please limit to 1 page) | The funds used would be to assist in defraying the expense of the drug and alcohol testing required to maintain certification, and to insure compliance with the rigorous demands of the WMRVTC. The dollar amount requested, $2,500 would enable the court to provide services to 2 veterans, allowing us to work with them to better function in the community rather than going to local jail or state prison. |
| 3. Funding Justification (maximum 40 points, please limit to 1 page) | The funding requested will pay only for some of the testing requirements. The court has grant funding from the state and federal government, but those amounts have diminished as more demand is made of those sources for new courts and also as a by product of unfortunate reductions in funding driven by recent political efforts. Although this court has been successful for these last 11 years, we now find it necessary to seek additional sources of financial assistance to provide service for these men and women that have served our nation in the armed forces. |
| 4. Summary | West Michigan Regional Veterans' Treatment Court is a specialty court that partners with the Veterans Administration to provide supervision, monitoring and treatment to veterans involved in the criminal justice system as a result of problems related to their service (most commonly PTSD, substance abuse, and self medication). This court provides services for veterans in Allegan, Ottawa and Van Buren Counties. Judge Baillargeon, who established the court in 2014 has presided over it from its start and has had the honor to graduate more than 50 veterans successfully, saving them and the community the time and expense of resorting to prison. Rather, these individuals now thrive in the community and often spend a considerable amount of time giving back, by continuing to attend court review and veteran corps peer groups. The requested $2500 would enable us to extend services to 2 additional veterans in a time when grant finances for the court are being reduced. |
| Application Agreement | This is an application, otherwise known as a Request for Funding (RFF), from
West Shore Aware. This RFF is a request from your organization to Aware, for Aware to host a
Fundraising Event for your organization. By completing this RFF, your organization is requesting to be considered by Aware’s membership for an Aware fundraising event to be held during the summer of this year, also known as the White Party.
If your organization is chosen for a fundraising event by the Aware membership, your organization will agree to the following terms and conditions for the said fundraising event. 1. Aware will be given and provided full credit for the fundraising event in all of you organization’s publicity and advertising for said event, to include but not limited to event posters, newspaper advertising, handouts, radio and television advertising for the event, and organizational announcements concerning the event. 2. Your organization will only use the funds raised by Aware from said event for the purpose described in the RFF submitted to Aware. 3. Your organization understands that West Shore Aware is a philanthropic organization of LBGTQ+ individuals and their supporters, and that the funds your organization receives from Aware will be coming from the West Michigan lakeshore community. 4. The funds received from Aware as a result of the fundraising event will be net, after expenses for said fundraising event are paid. 5. Aware may use the name of your organization in its own advertising and publicity as a recipient of funds.. 6. Your organization will supply Aware with written approval to hold, or be part of a fundraising event held by Aware. 7. West Shore Aware reserves the right to audit any organization that receives funding to determine whether the funds were used as described in its RFF. 8. Your organization will allow West Shore Aware to use you organization’s name on the West Shore Aware website. In addition, if your organization has a website, you will link that website to the West Shore Aware website and allow West Shore Aware to link to your organization’s site. West Shore Aware’s web site link must remain on your web site for a full year from the date of the monetary disbursement. Failure to do so will disqualify you from requesting future funding. Once you have completed the RFF and agreed to the aforementioned, please submit it. Please sign this document below, indicating acceptance of the aforementioned terms and conditions. By signing the document, you acknowledge your organization is a registered 501(C) 3 Charitable organization. |
| Signature | |
| Date | 03/28/2025 |
| Ready to Submit |
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