The Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust in Scottsdale, Arizona, has announced grants totaling nearly $1.2 million to fourteen local nonprofit organizations.

Two of the grants — $268,000 to the A.T. Still University of Health Sciences, Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral Health in Mesa and $66,500 to Central Arizona Shelter Services — will support improved dental services to underserved populations. "There is a tremendous need for dental services for special populations in the Valley," said Piper Trust president and CEO Judy Jolley Mohraz. "The requirements of children with special needs, as well as homeless older adults, are complex and involved. These programs fill voids in the community."

The trust also announced grants in the areas of at-risk youth ($767,000), services for the elderly ($135,000), and arts and culture ($159,000). In addition, Phoenix Children's Hospital received $5,400 to support training for nurses, while $50,000 was awarded to the Arizona Foundation for Human Service Providers for the Arizona Child Care Association.