January 25, 2019

Announcing 2018 Grant Awards

In remembrance of the passing of Jamie Bernard on January 25, 2010, the James Kirk Bernard Foundation (JKBF) is pleased to announce its December 2018 grant funding to Active Minds and Bard College.

Active Minds (activeminds.org) is the nation’s premier nonprofit organization supporting mental health awareness and education for students and young adults ages 14–25. The JKBF grant to Active Minds is for two purposes: (a) sponsorship of their annual conference, which this year is March 22-23 in Washington, DC, and (b) preparation of best practice guidelines for colleges based on the recent evaluation of Active Minds programs published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. The paper found that the presence of Active Minds on college campuses could significantly increase the number of students who receive help for mental health issues. The JKBF grant will allow Active Minds to document its approach so it can be disseminated to more campuses, impacting more lives. As a sponsor, JKBF will have an exhibit at the annual conference in Washington.

Bard College (bard.edu) is a liberal arts and sciences institution which inspires curiosity, a love of learning, idealism, and a commitment to the link between higher education and civic participation. Jamie attended Bard, receiving a post humous degree in 2010. The grant to Bard is for two purposes. The first is to expand the resources of the library, by providing enhancements to the library cafe and seminar rooms so students can better collaborate, create, and connect, and by enabling the purchase of 530 electronic volumes of Greek, Latin and English texts from the Digital Loeb Classical Library at Harvard. An avid reader and creative writing major, Jamie’s favorite place at Bard was the library. The second purpose is to host guest speakers on the Bard campus who have relevance to mental health. In the past JKBF has underwritten several speakers, including author Andrew Solomon (Noonday Demon) and clinical psychologist Kay Redfield Jamison.

JKBF commends these two organizations for the excellent work they do to support the growth and wellness of young adults. The Foundation is happy to support their work.