MOBILE, Alabama - The Community Foundation of South Alabama awarded grants totaling more than $1.5 million yesterday to assist communities in Baldwin and Mobile counties recovering from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The grants were made possible by a contribution received from the Fund for Gulf Communities, a program of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, to address the unmet needs of individuals, families, and children significantly affected by the oil spill and its aftermath, according to the Foundation.

In Baldwin County, the Alabama Free Clinic received $70,670 to open a new location in Gulf Shores to provide free medical care to uninsured residents in the seafood and tourism industries. Alabama Free Clinic currently has locations in Bay Minette and Robertsdale and with the grant, will be able to open its Gulf Shores facility earlier than expected.

“The Community Foundation Gulf Communities grant is a Godsend that will provide stabilized funding and enable the Clinic to open its third location in Gulf Shores, planned for 2012, on Oct. 24, 2011,” Executive Director William A. Chambers said. “The Gulf Shores clinic will provide no-charge medical care to needy adults without health insurance in south Baldwin County.”

The South Baldwin Chamber Foundation received $200,000 to launch a business support center in conjunction with the Coastal Resiliency Coalition to address unemployment and economic recovery.

A $179,000 grant was also awarded to United Way of Baldwin County to help support its Healing Families program, which provided medical, dental, vision care and tutoring services to children and family counseling. Executive Director Rebecca Byrne said the program “provides needed services to relieve the pain of the economic downturn and oil spill and helps put families back on a healthy footing.”

Some 250 students and 415 families may benefit from the Healing Families program this year, Byrne said. “We still have a lot of people coming in with greater needs. We are grateful to the community foundation for recognizing that and we’re hoping this will meet those needs.”

Other awards benefitting Baldwin County include:

∙ $100,000 to HandsOn South Alabama, an initiative of Volunteer Mobile, to expand its services into Baldwin County. The organization helps nonprofits recruit volunteers and manage projects.

∙ $72,500 to the Bay Area Food Bank, which will provide necessary funding to expand its food distribution and child nutrition program, as well as help individuals enroll in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, increasing the number of individuals with access to the program.

∙ $164,000 to the Women’s Business Center, Inc., which will allow the center to offer financial literacy, entrepreneurship training and credit counseling programs at business support centers and libraries.

The Community Foundation of South Alabama is a nonprofit foundation that meets the needs of South Alabama through leadership and grants. More than $60 million in grants have been awarded since 1976 by the Foundation to nonprofit organizations to support community programs. The Community Foundation builds endowments to ensure grants are available to support the community forever. For more information visit www.CommunityEndowment.com