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| Agency | Program/Project Name | Project Description | Field of Interest |
| Brighter Bites | Brighter Bites Southwest Florida | Our mission at Brighter Bites is to create communities of health through fresh food. We are a nonprofit that sources and delivers fresh fruits and vegetables directly into families’ hands, teaches them how to use it, and tracks their behavior change along the way. We make it fun. We make it free. And we make it happen via a simple, replicable formula: Produce Distribution, Nutrition Education, Fun Food Experience. Funds will be used for contract fees, research and indirect expenses. |  |
| Calusa Waterkeeper | Public Health and Water Quality: 2020 Project | Calusa Waterkeeper’s (CWK) project idea is to substantially build upon our successful 2019 Southwest Florida Community Foundation grant by expanding the project’s scope and reach. This year our focus has been on increasing public and medical community engagement on health threats from Harmful Algae Blooms (HABs). We propose to broaden that scope to address health threats from two other critical factors in our area’s waterways: fecal indicator bacteria and flesh-eating bacteria Vibrio species. And while we will continue to grow our partnership with Lee Health, we will engage additional healthcare provider groups in the Caloosahatchee River and coastal Gulf watershed. Funds will be used for personnel, contracted services, water quality testing, video, outreach materials, town hall, public forum and project administration. | |
| Charity for Change, Inc. | Charity for Change Program | The Charity for Change Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum, platform and evaluation tools are 11 years old. Our project idea is to update and add curriculum content, update our proprietary platform, and develop new evaluation materials. The curriculum teaches the foundational skills needed to sustain a positive trajectory through elementary school, adolescence and adulthood: social-emotional learning; academic achievement; and civic and cultural development. Funds will be used to hire a consultant, hire a platform developer, create new outcome measurement materials and build new relationships to implement new curriculum. |  |
| Conservancy of Southwest Florida | Environmental stewardship | For environmental stewardship |  |
| Equality Florida Institute | Safe and Healthy Schools Program | Through the Safe and Healthy Schools program, Equality Florida Institute (EQFLI) works with school districts to promote best practices, policies, and procedures to ensure the safety and wellbeing of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) students, a critically underserved, vulnerable population. Funds will be used to develop and train school district officials in Lee (100), Charlotte (145), and Hendry (40), provide support to those county’s and host a Transgender Mental Health Summit. |  |
| Family Initiative Incorporated | Family Initiative-TBRI Specialist | In an effort to expand our evidenced-based approach to support children & adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), we are requesting funding for a Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) Specialist position. The TBRI Specialist will be utilized to integrate TBRI across our array of ASD programs currently offered throughout SWFL, in addition to providing direct services to families in their homes. This position will also facilitate TBRI Caregiver Training free of charge throughout our community, including Hendry, Glades, Charlotte, Lee, & Collier counties. Funds will be used for salaries, training and travel. | |
| Florida Baptist Children’s Homes Inc. | Foster Care | Our goal at One More Child is to provide children who are abused, abandoned or neglected with care through our Foster Care program. In order to care for children, we must excel at recruiting, licensing and retaining quality foster families who are ready and willing to take in a child at a moment’s notice. Our key strategic activities are aimed at removing barriers that prevent families from providing temporary care to children. Funds will be spent on travel, recruitment/licensing and family support. | |
| Florida Department of Health in Charlotte County | “Look Mom–No Cavities!” | The School-Based Dental Sealant Program through the Florida Department of Health (DOH-Charlotte) provides dental screenings, oral health education, preventive services of sealants and topical fluoride and referrals for a dental home. School-Based sealant delivery programs can increase the prevalence of dental sealants among children from low-income families and reduce racial and income disparities in sealant placement among elementary school children. Funds will be used for would be used to purchase dental supplies and equipment to be used for the School-Based Dental Sealant Programs. | |
| Florida Gulf Coast University | Combating Climate Change in SWFL via a Summer Research Program for High School Students | Climate change is a pervasive threat, the blame for which can be attributed to increased carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the atmosphere. Several governments have implemented measures to reduce CO2 emissions. The success of this project will enable the use of an environmentally benign and economically viable membrane process to remove CO2 from shifted syngas in IGCC power plants and at the same time meet the Department of Energy targets for CO2 capture. These funds will allow the PIs and 4 high school students to work full-time on this project and collect data during the summer of 2020. | |
| Florida Gulf Coast University | FGCU Wings of Hope Program | The FGCU “Wings of Hope Florida Panther Posse” Program teaches students, elementary to college, important information about the endangered Florida panther and its habitat. With only approximately 150 Florida panthers left in the world, the students build bridges of hope with education, research and awareness through this program. The activities implemented within the program empowers students to educate others about environmental sustainability and connects them and their community to the natural world. Funds will be used for school bus transpiration to program, program booklets and program bookmarkers | |
| Florida Gulf Coast University | The Immokalee Health Project | The purpose of the Immokalee Health Project is to enhance the well-being of the residents in Immokalee, Florida by increasing their health knowledge levels and promoting self-management and care among those with existing physical health conditions. This 12-month program will create standardized delivery of health education, health screenings and follow-ups targeting 300 Latino/as and Haitian residents in Immokalee. Funds will be used towards a part-time coordinator, two part-time research assistants, 50 hours for a certified physician assistant, health screening instruments, food for workshops, incentives, travel and other administrative needs, and transportation for participants. | |
| Florida Lions Eye Clinic | Gift of Sight | The Florida Lions Eye Clinic (FLEC) provides a full spectrum of eye care including but not limited to: exams, treatment, surgery and glasses. The Clinic services children and families in both Lee (52%) and Collier (45%) counties, as well as surrounding areas (3%). The population that benefits from this program is the working poor of all ages. The funds will be used for medications, equipment and disposable supplies for patient exams and surgeries, an ophthalmologist and transportation. | |
| Harry Chapin Food Bank of South0west Florida | Harry’s Helpings – Fighting Hunger, Feeding Hope | Harry’s Helpings currently consists of distributing food kits made from food drive donations. The kits are packed by a team of volunteers with enough ingredients to prepare full meals, such as pasta, sauce, and canned vegetables, enough for 15 or more meals. The food kits include recipes and nutrition education materials provided in partnership with the University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agriculture Sciences (IFAS) Family Nutrition Program. The funds will provide more than 800 food kits to feed more than 2,000 individuals with more than 17,518 pounds of food, the equivalent of 14,600 meals. | |
| Healthy Start Coalition of SWFL, Inc. | Prenatal Care in Hendry/Glades County | Healthy Start Coalition of Southwest Florida will continue to contract with 2 prenatal medical care offices to ensure pregnant women in Hendry and Glades Counties have access to prenatal care. Healthy Start pays for prenatal medical care services for women who have no insurance. The funds will be used to pay for second (28 weeks) and individual lab fees for uninsured women at $175-275 per woman. | |
| Lee County Alliance for the Arts, Inc | Working Toward CHANGE | In 2017, the SWFL Community Foundation provided foundational support to launch the CHANGE Program (or, Communities Harnessing the Arts to Nurture and Grow Equity). CHANGE engages aspiring actors of color in theatre education, provides performance opportunities and a platform to convene dialogue on social issues that challenge our community through creative, artistic expression. The underlying mission of CHANGE is to make lasting and institutional change to racial inequities in our community. Funds will be used for quarterly classes, racism conference, community engagement coordinator’s salary and benefits, performance at Dunbar festival and other Community Outreach Efforts. | |
| Legal Aid Service of Collier County | Immigration Legal Services and Empowerment Project | The Immigration Legal Services and Empowerment Project – CIG (‘the Project’) is a continuation of a highly successful program operated by Legal Aid Service of Collier County (‘LASCC’) serving Southwest Florida providing high impact, free legal services relating to immigration status for individuals not born in this country, or their family members, so that they can remain and prosper in the U.S. Funding will be used for a full-time Project Attorney to operate the project. | |
| Massachusetts General Hospital | Warrior Health & Fitness | The Southwest Florida Warrior Health and Fitness Program is a FREE to participants, three-month program for up to 80 Southwest Florida Veterans, annually. Warrior Health and Fitness is designed to help Veterans improve their physical health and well-being through supervised physical exercise, education about healthy eating, living, stress management and the health benefits of physical activity. Funds will be used for general operation expenses of the program. | |
| Naples Senior Center at JFCS | Proposal for Increased Capacity Dementia Respite Support Program | Seeking funding to support increasing the capacity of our Dementia Respite Support Program, which is recognized by the National Brookdale Foundation as one of the leading respite programs in the country. Currently the program provides eight structured respite groups that offer socialization and wellness, with a holistic approach to everyday living and challenges. Funds will be used for general operation expenses of the program. | |
| P.A.W.S. Lee County, Inc. | Surgical Equipment | PAWS is a low cost spay/neuter veterinary clinic that opened in December 1998 and has performed 85,000 surgeries for low income individuals. We perform about 100 surgeries per week in an attempt to end the pet over population problem. Most of our clients receive public assistance, usually food stamps and/or disability. We are located in N Ft Myers close to two of the poorest communities in Lee County. The other spay/neuter clinics in Lee County are located to the east and south and transportation is frequently a problem for N Ft Myers residents. We also send a shuttle to Clewiston to transport pets for surgery. Funds will be used to purchase a new surgery light, a anesthesia machine, transpiration vehicle, gas, veterinary labor, technician and other staff, veterinary supplies and marketing expenses. |  |
| Residential Options of Florida, Inc. | Supported Living for Adults with Disabilities | ROOF is empowering people with disabilities to live in the community by creating supported living homes. These homes are affordable, even for the extremely low income resident, and they are linked to support services that allow residents with disabilities to live independently. ROOF currently has three homes in operation, three additional homes under development across Southwest Florida, and another in the planning stages. When this project is complete, ROOF will have seven rental homes in operation in three counties in Southwest Florida (Charlotte, Collier and Lee), which will be home to 18 residents with developmental disabilities. ROOF is seeking funds to better serve the residents of these homes by hiring a resident services coordinator. |  |
| Sally J. Pimentel Deaf & Hard of Hearing Center | Sign the City | Our organization is trying to promote deaf awareness and education of Deaf Culture throughout the community. We want to ensure that major businesses and common career fields are equipped to communicate with the deaf through basic sign language that corresponds to their particular business. This would be done through traveling, educational presentations put on by our agency and presented to local entities such as police stations, fire departments, hospitals, banks, grocery stores, insurance agencies, etc. The goal would be to provide enough skill to have a basic conversation that is common in their line of work. Funds would be used for salaries, travel expense, advertising, administration cost, instructional services and food for employees. | |
| Sanibel Sea School, Inc | A Taste of Salt | This grant will be used to construct a mobile science laboratory. This mobile lab will expose students to marine science and technology, independent of their location. This program, A Taste of Salt, will be a vehicle (pun intended) to share the ocean with underprivileged students and ultimately provide the field trips they crave. A Taste of Salt will help facilitate education in two ways – outdoor education in the field and on-the-go, hands-on education at public schools. The beach-side use of the lab will allow students to dip their toes in the ocean, smell the stinky fish, and taste the salty air, then step into a technically appropriate science laboratory. The lab will travel to schools for immersive, STEM-based marine science education. Funds will be used for trailer, contractual services, materials and equipment. | |
| SJC BOXING CLUB INC | SJC Boxing Mentoring Program | Our idea is to create an after-school boxing and mentoring program for youth in Southwest Florida. Any middle school or high school age youth is eligible for the program, but we are particularly interested in participants having family or school troubles and those involved with the juvenile justice system. The program itself will consistent of a 2-hour boxing class and 1-hour of mentoring and tutoring on schoolwork Monday through Friday on school days at SJC Boxing Gym in Fort Myers. Funds will be used for facilities and equipment, coaches, tutoring staff, funds for van (vehicles, license, insurance and maintenance) participant equipment and healthy snacks. | |
2018-2019 Community Impact Grant Info
| Agency | Program/Project Name | Project Description | Field of Interest |
| American National Red Cross | Red Cross Aquatics Centennial Campaign | Swim lessons and aquatics safety training for 250 students at the TICE community pool. Funding includes 2 instructors and CPR training for 25 adults. | |
| Big Brothers Big Sisters | Beyond School Walls | Workplace mentoring initiative; matching 65 students with local businesses to facilitate the exploration of career opportunities. | |
| CAIR | Communities Against Hate Project | Capacity Building. Outreach efforts between foundations and interfaith organizations with the local Muslim community |  |
| Calusa Waterkeeper | Community Outreach Project. Water Quality and Public Health | Increasing community awareness and engagement in response to Harmful Algae Blooms. Funding for field personnel, data collection, video production, and participation in regional conference. |  |
| Cape Coral Animal Shelter | Van Grant | Purchase of a customized mobile van, for the safe transit of animals, for the new Cape Coral Animal Shelter. | |
| Catholic Charities Diocese – Mindful Education | A Path to Healthy Learning Skills | Initiative to Improve Academic Success. Teacher training, travel and program supplies. Funding for New Part-time teacher. | |
| Christian Medical Ministries – Free Pain Clinic | Clinic Expansion | Capacity Building of SWFL Free Pain Clinic. Expanded service hours, adding two full days per week (currently one night) | |
| CROW | CROW Celebrates 50 years | Feasibility study. Expenses for consulting team, to provide guidance for future expansion plan. | |
| Family Health Centers of SWFL | Diabetic Eye Care Project | Purchase of specialized medical equipment for clinic, staff training and transit for ~ 200 patients (bus passes and gas cards). | |
| Feeding Children Everywhere (Full Cart or Fed 40) | Fed40 Program | Expanding a national food distribution program for low income families. | |
| FGCU | STEM Summer Camp for High School Girls | STEM Summer Camp, year 2. A total of ten days serving 20 girls from 10th, 11th and 12th grade. Field research and lab work studies | |
| Florida Department of Health, Charlotte | Helpless and Hooked | Capacity Building. Registered nurse. Includes home visits to educate and assist opioid addicted at-risk pregnant and postpartum women | |
| Glades Education Foundation | AVID About Success | Program Expansion. Summer institute teacher training in Orlando; college field trips and tutoring for students | |
| Gulf Coast Symphony | Transitioning Young Adults with Visual Impairment for Careers in the Arts | Training three (3) visually impaired youth for a career in the arts. Salaries, technology, and student transportation. | |
| Home Base | Home Base Warrior Health and Fitness | FREE 6-month health and fitness program for ~ 60 Post-9/11 SW Florida Veterans | |
| LARC, Inc. | Technology Lab | Purchase of Technology (hardware and software) for 25 special needs students | |
| Naples Senior Center at JFCS | Dementia Network for Collier and Southern Lee | Capacity Building. Case management, convene a community partners council (bi-monthly), and expand caregiver’s support groups. | |
| New Horizons of SWFL | Super Teens Club | Program expansion and operating support for a teens club program in 3 existing locations and one new location | |
| Shelter for Abused Women Naples | Healing Arts Program | Capacity Building. Staff and program supplies in support of an educational art therapy program for abused women. |  |
| Shipley Cardiothoracic Center | Stop Endocarditis with START | Capacity Building. Medication assisted therapy. Clincially supervised substance abuse recovery services. | |
2017-2018 Community Impact Grant Info
| Agency | Program/Project Name | Project Description | Field of Interest |
| Center for Progress and Excellence | Southwest Florida Community Mental Health Clinic | The Center for Progress and Excellence Inc. will develop a community mental health clinic, in a partnership with Hodges University. The purpose of the clinic is to provide mental health services at a greatly reduced price to sections of the Lee County population that typically can not afford or access these types of services. The main objective of the project is to increase access to behavioral health services and ensure that these services are of high quality and culturally competent in nature. | |
| Florida Gulf Coast University Foundation | Demystifying Cancer – CRP Engage | With a 1:1 match from the FGCU Foundation, FGCU’s Cancer Research Program-Engage (CRP-Engage) will disseminate the university’s cancer research through seven programs during the next year that engage high school students to learn more about the biological basis of cancer. The Cancer Research Program is a registered student organization at FGCU and was designed by FGCU students for FGCU students. | |
| Florida Department of Health in Charlotte | School-Based Dental Sealant Program | The school-based program will provide dental screening, oral health education, preventative services of sealants and topical fluoride among children from low-income families and reduce racial and income disparities in sealant prevalence among elementary school children. | |
| Family Health Centers of SWFL | RMCM Children’s Mobile Healthcare Program | Family Health Centers of SWFL, Inc. (“FHC”) is partnering with Ronald McDonald House Charities to bring southwest Florida children the Ronald McDonald Care Mobile (“RMCM” or “Care Mobile”) a “clinic on wheels”. Medical and dental services will be provided to children up to age 21 at local elementary, middle, and high school campuses during the 9-month school year. These services will also be provided on-site at various migrant agricultural worker camps and day care centers year round. | |
| Valerie’s House | My Daddy Died from Drugs: Stopping the Cycle of Opioid Use in Families | With help from SWFCF grant, Valerie’s House will begin a program specifically targeted at children and their caregivers whose family member has died from opioids abuse. | |
| Keep Lee County Beautiful | Mangrove Mani | The project will result in the planting of 10,000 red mangrove propagules along shorelines where there has been considerable damage due to hurricane Irma and boating activity. Over time these mangrove trees could reach heights up to 33 ft and provide filtration as well as a protective barrier along designated shorelines. | |
| Florida Gulf Coast University | Science Summer Camp for Girls – Assessing Environmental Change in Southwest Florida | This STEM program for high school girls will provide authentic summer research opportunities at Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU). throught a daytime program that will run for 10 days over the summer of 2018. Twenty high school girls (incoming 10th and 11th grade students) will be accepted and the program will focus on local climate change issues, in particular sea-level rise and hurricane impacts. | |
| Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast | Beyond School Walls | Within the umbrella of Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast’s (BBBSSC) One to One Mentoring Program, the Beyond School Walls (BSW) mentoring initiative will match employees of local businesses as mentors to at-risk high school students. BBBSSC transports students to the business to shadow their mentor and explore business pathways. | |
| Gulf Coast Partnership | 2017 At-Risk School Collaboration | The goal of this project is to provide basic support, student enrichment, and increase parent/family engagement at The Academy high school in Port Charlotte, where alternative education is provided for to at-risk teens. In addition, they provide services for teen parents and teens that have previously dropped out of school. | |
| Keiser University | The WE Series | Keiser University will provide a series of workshops, titled the Women’s Empowerment Series (“WE”), geared towards female high school students. “WE” will prepare these students to meet the unique challenges of joining the workforce as women and pair them with a mentor, with a focus on the following: Overcoming structural sexism; Encountering discrimination; Being assertive in the workplace; Finding and maintaining a relationship with a mentor; Networking and social capital; Finding, using, and understanding sources; and Making the most of internships and opportunities. | |
| Glades Education Foundation | 2017 AVID About Success | The AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) About Success program brings research-based instructional methods to Glades County schools to improve student achievement through the use of organizational strategies, Socratic tutoring sessions, mentoring, and college/post-secondary education preparation. AVID is a comprehensive system for instructing teachers at all grade levels how to inspire their students to be leaders and achievers, as well as collaborate with others. | |
| Women’s Foundation of SWFL | Earn to Learn Program | The Matched Savings for Education Program (MSEP) helps low-to moderate income students achieve their college graduation goals and do so with little or no debt. MSEP works by combining student savings with scholarships, financial literacy, and success coaching. The program breaks down barriers to accessing post-secondary education and helps individuals and families escape the cycle of poverty and improve their earning potential. | |
| Legal Aid Services of Collier County | Legal Rescue and Empowerment Project | The Immigration Legal Rescue and Empowerment initiative will provide legal services to at-risk immigrant families through an initiative delivered by an experienced immigration law nonprofit. This initiative consists of three key strategic components: (1) the formation of a regional “Hub” for immigration law training and consultation; (2) an outreach campaign of “Know Your Rights” clinics to bring critical, time sensitive information to immigrants while also providing emergency planning family legal services; and (3) encouraging and enabling other SWFL nonprofits to become certified providers of immigration services. | |
| Capital Good Fund | Equitable Financial Services for SW Florida Families | The program will expand lending support to SWFL, focusing on high-impact, credit-reporting loans that address the unique challenges of the Asset-Limited, Income-Constrained, and Employed (ALICE) population: Car Loans and Immigration Loans. Immigration Loans cover the costs of U.S. Citizenship application, green card acquisition or renewal, family reunification, and other adjustments of status. | |
| The Heights Center | Arts and Cultural Programs | The Heights Center will develop programs for children and adults to promote opportunities for family and community development by providing various Music, Art, Theatre and Dance classes, which will increase inclusive access to the expressive and cultural arts. | |
| Lee County Alliance for the Arts | 2017 Dunbar Theatre Project | The Alliance for the Arts project will spearhead conversations on equity and access to the arts in African-American communities, beginning with Dunbar. The goal is to expand inclusion in the arts to populations who have been traditionally underserved, helping provide a space for self expression and enhance the quality of life in all communities. | |
| Jewish Family and Community Services | Dementia Respite Support Caregiver Boot Camps | Caregiver Boot Camp will provide half day workshops at the Naples Senior Center giving caregivers for those with Dementia, education, strategies for relieving stress, activities that can be enjoyed at home and an opportunity to socialize with other caregivers over a meal. | |
| Family Initiative Incorporated | Autism Navigator | The “Autism Navigator” will provide guidance to families who are attempting to understand programs and resources offered by the school system, insurance benefits and coverage, government support, therapeutic providers, medical professionals with specializations to assist their children, childcare and respite, as well as any other Autism Spectrum Disorder opportunities in the community. | |
| Lee County Domestic Animal Services | Learn whats right, avoid the bite, a Lee County Animal Bite Prevention Program | The “Learn what’s right, avoid the bite” campaign is a bite and scratch prevention program for the community in conjunction with the Lee County School District, the Florida Department of Health in Lee County and Lee Health. The project will provide eduation to reduce bites and scratches from dogs and cats. In addition, Lee County Domestic Animal Services will disseminate information on how to reduce the risk of your dog roaming at large and how to prevent bites and scratches from stray, unowned cats. | |
| LARC, Inc. | Support for the ADAPT Program | The grant will support the purchase of needed equipment (a Hoyer Lift and Changing Bed) for a renovated “changing room” in the ADAPT program. ADAPT provides Adult Day Training for up to two dozen adults with profound intellectual, developmental and physical disabilities. | |
2016-2017 Community Impact Grant Info
| Agency | Project Name | Project Description |
| Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders Association – Florida Gulf Coast Chapter | REACHing Southwest Florida (Resources for Enhancing Alzheimer’s Caregiver Health) | The REACHing SW FL program is an implementation of the evidence-based Resources for Enhancing Alzheimer’s Caregiver Health (REACH) program which is a multi-component psychosocial and behavioral training intervention for Alzheimer’s caregiver. The intervention is designed to reduce burden and depression, improve ability to provide self-care, provide social support, and help caregivers learn how to manage difficult behaviors in care recipients. |
| Audubon of the Western Everglades | Protection of Vital Wetlands and Habitat in Southwest Florida | The objectives of the project during its one year life span are: to preserve as much southwest Florida wetland acreage at risk of development as possible, including vital hydro-period wetlands; to combat not only outright loss of wetlands but also to prevent loss of wetland functioning brought about by disruption of natural flow patterns; to restore lost wetland functioning where possible; and to protect vital coastal habitats. |
| CROW | Optimizing Success for CROW: Enhancing Community Impact Utilizing Theory of Change | The community, and CROW, will benefit from an objectively-based Theory of Change. CROW wants to understand: What drives people to visit? Why do others support CROW with time, talent and treasure? Which messages resonate and result in behavioral change? How do we deliver beneficial, targeted programs and maintain mission? When is best and how often do we contact/follow up with guests? Where is messaging positioned in the spectrum to move people to act? These steps will aid implementation of the complex behavioral change necessary to move individuals from awareness of the necessity of wildlife to actions that save wildlife. |
| Family Initiative Incorporated | SWFL Autism Center | First, ASD families will be offered a holistic integration of both clinical & ancillary services in one facility. Second, individuals with ASD will be provided support in achieving successful long-term educational & employment outcomes. By housing multiple service providers in one location, we are able to streamline each family’s ability to access timely services. We will also work in tandem with each provider & the family to coordinate service provision & treatment planning. |
| Glades Education Foundation, Inc. | AVID about Success | AVID, a research-based program, is an acronym that stands for Advancement Via Individual Determination. It is a dynamic program that brings strategies and curriculum to students in grades 6-12 to increase their academic success, likelihood of graduating, and knowledge of post-secondary options. The Glades Education Foundation is seeking funding to expand the current AVID program from grades 6-9 to grades 6-10. |
| Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida, Inc. | Cooking Up Career Success | This project will develop a coaching model of working with people who took the initiative to successfully graduate from the course, but need additional help to take the next steps to finding a job. This will involve working closely with the course graduates by offering personal assistance, explore barriers to employment, and develop a plan towards employment while working through the issues affecting their lives. We will also pilot a national tool to assess employment barriers and assist in development of an individual employment plan. |
| Gulf Coast Symphony | MusicWorks! Full Orchestra Expansion | MusicWorks! (MW) a partnership program with the Gulf Coast Symphony and The Heights Foundation, is an intensive daily program that uses music as an instrument for social transformation, empowering children to acquire values and achieve their full potential, positively affecting their society through the study and performance of music. MusicWorks! is the only El Sistema instrumental program in the region. |
| Gulfshore Opera | Gulfshore Opera’s Community in Harmony Initiative | Community in Harmony Program will broaden understanding and support for the classical vocal arts through meaningful education initiatives and community partnerships while a diverse cross section of individuals will share in creative personal and community development. Community in Harmony initiative increases overall community well-being by utilizing the arts to build cultural understanding, mutual respect, and strong communities. |
| Hendry County School District | Clewiston Industrial Mechanics Program | Clewiston has a very high unemployment rate and a high poverty level, just to name a few issues that exist. We have a large percentage of our population between the ages of 18 and 24 that are not employed or seeking employment. The main challenge we are focusing on is to provide training and a link to employment in the area of industrial and farm mechanics. A huge demand for this high skill high wage trade exist within our community. Providing this training will help bridge an unemployment gap as well as provide a qualified workforce locally trained. |
| Human Trafficking Awareness Partnerships | Human Trafficking Prevention Programs in Lee County Schools | HTAP and the Lab Theater are collaborating in bringing the play, “Body and Sold” to the students by engaging them in the production in workshops, assemblies and involvement in the full production of the play. HTAP has years of experience in working with youth, educating them about human trafficking, and the Lab Theater has years of experience delivering information in an exciting and meaningful way through theater |
| I Will Mentorship Foundation | Changing the Game | Strategic activities link directly to the desired change through a 5 phased after school program that includes: College 101; ACT/SAT; Financial Aid and Scholarship Workshop; Grass Roots College Tour; and College Symposium. Both at-risk youth and their parents will become engaged in the educational process and make decisions about their academic futures. |
| JFCS of Southwest Florida | Creative Expression and Memory | Art therapy will be a new componet to the program that will select arts experiences with the goal to help trigger short and long term memory, decrease agitation, manage behavior, enhance reality orientation, reduce anxiety, strengthen communication and increase self-esteem. A certified art therapist will assess the strengths and needs of the individuals in the dementia groups and develop a plan that will include creating art projects such as painting, drawing, manipulating clay and paper, viewing and discussing works of art and trips to the local art museum. |
| Lee County Alliance for the Arts | Theatre Accessibility for Visually Impaired and Hearing Impaired Persons | In order to accommodate the growing number of theatre-goers, we are requesting a grant to equip our theatre with the technology required to offer audio descriptive and active listening devices beginning with our 2016/2017 Season of the Arts performances and Theatre Conspiracy productions. The equipment will also be utilized to enhance access to everything that goes on in our theatre – not just performances. Lecture series, comedy shows, author talks and more will become available to this group of patrons. |
| New Mission Systems International | New Life for Lost Treasures – Empowering Women through Employment | Through NMSI’s “New Life for Lost Treasures” program, women with a history of abuse, exploitation and trafficking as well as a strong desire to change the trajectory of their lives, are given the unique opportunity to learn valuable work force skills and gain confidence through employment. Short-term, focused employment gives women the skills and confidence they need to secure long term employment, helping break the cycle of poverty in their lives and the lives of their children. |
| Sanibel Sea School | Immokalee to the Sea | Sanibel Sea School will work with Hendry County teachers to create long-term, curriculum-driven marine experiences to enhance classroom learning, beginning with a pilot program for gifted students that can be offered to additional students in the future. |
| School District of Lee County | Partnering for School Readiness | The goal of this project is to improve school readiness for all of Lee County’s children entering kindergarten by providing a clear and consistent communication system between the School District of Lee County (Lee) and its PreK community. This project will support the Coalition’s Quality Rating System (QRIS) and develop an additional level/designation of a “School District of Lee County Partnership Program” as an incentive for more providers to join the QRIS and focus on improving the quality of their PreK environment. |
| The Heights Center | Teach.Learn.Connect (T.L.C.) | Develop, implement and evaluate the 20 week Teach.Learn.Connect (T.L.C.) program to parents of students enrolled in the Harlem Heights Community Charter School. Parents will receive training for 3 hours each week on such topics as: Parents as Teachers, Forming Positive Relationships, Building Self-Esteem, Positive Discipline, Conflict Resolution, Homework Without Tears, communication, The power of Encouragement, Fostering Responsibility & Resiliency, Routines & Structure, Interactive Literacy, Math in the World. Training will be presented by certified professionals and will incorporate time for parents and children to work together as new skills are practiced |
2015-2016 Community Impact Grant Info
| Agency | Project Name | Project Description |
| Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders Association – Florida Gulf Coast Chapter | Female Alzheimer’s Caregiver Support (FACS) | The support services and activities of the FACS program will be specifically tailored to meet the special caregiver considerations and needs of female caregivers. Components of the FACS program will include a 24/7 Information & Referral Helpline, Care Consults, Support Groups, Caregiver Trainings, Respite Care, Memory Screens, Wandering Support Services and Public Education & Outreach Activities. |
| Champions For Learning | Real World Learning Model: College & Career Preparation Program | Champions For Learning (CFL) developed The Real World Learning Model (RWLM), which started as a collaboration between CFL, CCPS, FutureMakers & the SWFL Community Foundation. The RWLM will facilitate a needed change in our community, where more students will successfully graduate high school, earn a postsecondary degree with little no/debt & transition into the workforce. |
| Charlotte County Homeless Coalition Inc. | The Food Connection Project, Phase 3 | Phase 3 of the Food Connection Project will be to move on to the training of case managers within each of the existing Food Connection Partner Agencies. The training will be specifically to build each partners capacity to provide targeted case management. The Food Connection’s ultimate goal is to increase independence and food security for local families while decreasing dependence on community resources. |
| CROW – Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife, Inc. | Visitor Education Center Re-Nesting Tree | CROW’s plan is to retrofit an existing kiosk into a three dimensional re-nesting tree. It will feature CROW’s “If You Care, Leave It There” and Re-Nesting Programs. These educational programs have proven effective in both reducing the number of patients unnecessarily brought to CROW’s hospital and reintroducing young and recovered birds into their natural habitat. This educational program informs the public on when it is appropriate to leave healthy neonates where they find them or re-nest if possible. As a result, CROW’s annual patient load of neonates has dropped from 80% to 46% over the past 3 years, giving hundreds of birds a greater chance of thriving in the wild. This education is imperative to saving wildlife. |
| Family Initiative Incorporated | ASD Family Support Group | Family Initiative (FI) will provide two significant areas of support to the families of Southwest Florida that do not currently exist. One piece is the venue for families to come together. The second is the support that will be provided by FI team of clinicians. These two factors will be available for both children diagnosed with ASD & as well as their parents. In bringing these families together, FI will have the opportunity to build interaction skills and supports that are lacking. |
| Glades County Board of County Commissioners | Glades County Regional Training Center | The goal is to see high school students, out-of-school youth – ages 16-24, veterans, TANF recipients and others in the service area who are unemployed or underemployed receive training comprised of soft skills training and stackable certifications that can lead to advanced training and employment opportunities in manufacturing and logistics in such a way that they can step on and off the training path until they reach a level of employment where they can provide a sustainable lifestyle for themselves and their families. At the same time, the project aims to create additional training opportunities available to incumbent employees for advancement, so that a continuous pipeline of entry level positions are created and the trained staff to fill those positions. |
| Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida, Inc. | Food Security through Community Action | As part of Lee County’s neighborhood Revitalization program, Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida provides resident coordinators for the communities identified. It focuses on a “grass roots” approach to assisting these neighborhood leaders to find solutions to issues in their community. These neighborhoods are “food deserts”. A food desert is an urban area in which it is difficult to buy affordable or good-quality fresh food. Because of socio economic conditions, these communities also experience low to very low food security. |
| Gulf Coast Symphony | MusicWorks! | In 2015 the Gulf Coast Symphony (GCS) launched a Venezuela El Sistema inspired program at the Heights Center (HC), called Music Works! (MW) as a pilot site for a larger, replicable program, with multiple opportunities for children to experience the transformative power of music. The program provides an innovative education and social initiative that creates opportunities for personal development in children (grades K-2) through the study of music. This program is free. |
| Gulfshore Opera | Gulfshore Opera’s “Community in Harmony” Program | Community in Harmony Program will broaden understanding and support for the classical vocal arts through meaningful education initiatives and community partnerships while a diverse cross section of individuals will share in creative personal and community development. |
| Hendry County Library System | Impact Hendry Educational Library Project (I HELP) Partnership For Success | The Hendry County Library system will strategically add to the outreach programs to daycare and preschool centers, incorporating the services of 6 qualified teachers for our tutoring of elementary students, as well as of pre-schools in LaBelle. The libraries will seek to further develop the idea of family literacy centers started last school year by incorporating the “Every Child Ready to Read” parent instruction program in each library. Through this program, parents of children 0 – 5 years will be exposed to materials that help them improve their children’s early reading skills through talking, singing, reading, and writing by a trained professional. |
| I Will Mentorship Foundation | Changing the Game | The change from this program is to inspire approximately 150 middle through high school, at-risk youth to pursue education and help make it a reality, not just a dream. Changing the Game is an innovative program consisting of 5 modules in IWMF’s crib-to-career approach that seeks to motivate youth from within, the only way that true change can occur: 1. Connection; 2. Entry; 3. Saturation; 4. Stability; and 5. Progress |
| Lee County Alliance for the Arts | Arts & Prosperty Economic Study (Lee County & Collier County) | The project will provide data detailing the key role played by the nonprofit arts industry in strengthening the economies of Lee County, Collier County, and the City of Fort Myers. The study utilizes a highly regarded research methodology that is credible, accurate and statistically valid. In sum, the study will address: (1) the economic impact of direct spending by nonprofit arts and culture organizations, and (2) the impact of eventrelated spending by their audiences. |
| Naples Botanical Garden | Naples Botanical Garden Workforce Development Program for At-Risk Youth | Naples Botanical Garden is proposing a collaborative workforce development program for at-risk high school students to meet the challenge of diversifying career opportunities and assisting in the transition to adulthood while achieving economic self-sufficiency. The Collier County Public Schools (CCPS) Exceptional Student Education (ESE) department has identified a need for more diverse career experiences for high school students identified as at-risk. |
| New Mission Systems International | New Life for Lost Treasures | The program offers paid internships for women in need (human trafficking) to help them learn business skills and gain work history for their resume. During their internship, staff will actively work with them to gain full time employment with a business in the community. This program will include ongoing training and coaching in the areas of resume writing, submitting job applications, interview training, business skills, financial literacy and more. These skills will better prepare them for the workforce, creating opportunity to gain confidence and shine as they seek employment. |
| RCMA | ICS Digital Project | The digital program builds on the organization’s past success and works to create more equitable access to technology by providing families and other community members with digital resources, including opportunities to develop technological competencies required to navigate the changing landscape in education, career, health, and other social services. |
| The Heights Center | Creating a Pathway to Prosperity | The primary issue addressed in this project is the unemployment/ underemployment of residents in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods of Lee County which leads to an inability of individuals to support themselves and their families. Lack of job specific technical skills adversely impacts an individual’s ability to obtain employment at a living wage. Additionally, learning challenges, minimal academic skills, limited English Proficiency, transportation and scheduling concerns are barriers to successful completion of the few job training programs accessible in the area. In order to bring about the desired outcome – employment at a living wage – a job training program must provide both technical job-specific skill development as well as support programs which reduce the barriers to a participant’s success. |
| The Immokalee Foundation | Immokalee Reader Program | The Immokalee Readers program is an after-school early intervention literacy tutoring program designed to target the lowest-performing student readers and complement the reading instruction they receive during their regular school day. The program matches high school-aged tutors with elementary age children to provide intensive and enjoyable reading lessons. |
| Gulf Coast Humane Society | Reduce Pet Over Population | The clinic is up and running for low cost spay/neuter, the only thing we need to make an impact here is the funds to cover the surgeries on those that are on public assistance. The other part of this grant is printed materials the organization can leave with families, schools and with the Animal Control Officers in the surrounding counties as a tool to help GCHS share the mission. |
2014-2015 Community Impact Grant Recipients
| Agency | Project Description |
| Amigos en Cristo, Inc | With the requested funds, Amigos en Cristo can provide the necessary immigration services for 25 of these women to obtain a U-visa at no cost to the individual. In addition, Amigos en Cristo will hire and train an individual to become an accredited immigration specialist to help meet the growing and still unmet immigration needs of ACT and others in Lee county. |
| Hendry County Library System | The Hendry County Library system will continue the educational aspects of the Impact Hendry Employability Library Project (I HELP) started in this last grant period. This includes the English instructions for non-English speakers who are parents of children in our tutoring program; the payment of fees for GED exams; and tutoring elementary school students in reading and mathematics. New initiative will include the following: develop a family literacy center in each of the three libraries covering reading, math, and computer skills. |
| Redlands Christian Migrant Assoc. | Some 30 of the school’s best students were chosen to receive iPad minis for homework reading assignments. The honor inspired most of them to take solemn responsibility for the computers and the homework.Parents, typically farm workers, were awestruck at their children’s success and at the marvels of the minis. Teachers videotaped verbal reading assignments on the iPad minis in Spanish. At home, parents listened to the assignment, then watched as their children videotaped themselves reading aloud in English. Afterward, they discussed a videotaped question posed by the teacher. Finally, the child uploaded a video of the full exercise to the teacher’s computer. Often, teachers saw siblings joining in, triggering family discussions. |
| Naples Botanical Garden | Naples Botanical Garden will continue to collaborate with mental health navigators and support groups. Our programs include weekly and monthly pre-vocational programs throughout the school year, Therapeutic Horticulture field trips and programs for special needs students, and sensory programs for Alzheimer’s patients and their caregivers. Therapeutic Horticulture is the purposeful use of plants and plant-related activities to promote health, wellness and quality of life for an individual or group. TH programs have been shown to be an effective method of therapy for mental illness, Alzheimer’s and a wide range of physical diagnoses. |
| Grace Community Center | The Exceptional Entrepreneur business model will be profitable and self-sustaining. We will increase productivity of participants through workstation management and task analysis. We will increase sales through marketing research, outreach and collaboration with area businesses. We will also be able to significantly impact sales of all our products through representation at local produce markets. Additionally, we expect to foster partnerships that will enable us to expand the business. |
| Children’s Home Society of Florida | The most efficient way to improve our existing process requires the hiring of an Intake Coordinator. This position implements the new standardized assessments for the children, ensures quick initiation with services, and matches a therapist quickly according to expertise and immediacy of need of the client. The quality of service and support will increase and have a valuable impact on family advancement. |
| Goodwill and Partners (AMI Kids, CCMI, Harry Chapin, Heights Foundation, Literacy Council and Pine Manor Assoc.) | We have formed a coalition of partner agencies with the goal of reducing intergenerational poverty by offering training, education, and social services through a collaborative interagency approach. This approach is designed to increase workforce & economic development for residents living in selected neighborhoods. We are successful in this program by taking a person-centered approach to success through our collaboration. Our iPerson: Multi-Agency Program Approach to Transform Communities provides a continuous, agile, and flexible support system that includes: Life Coaching, GED & Financial Literacy Classes, VITA Taxes & FAFSA Help, DCF ACCESS, Job Coaching, Vocational Education, HMIS Data Tracking. |
| Lighthouse SWFL | Through months of research, meetings, investigating, and listening to parents and local eye doctors, we discovered a major need for vision rehabilitation of children age 6-14. The challenge is to raise funds to start such a program, and then grow it to a full-time program serving all three counties as we do with the rest of our services.The plan is to open a program this Fall with a once-a -month gathering of parents and their children with visual impairment and blindness. The program will be educational in nature for the parents ,and rehabilitation-oriented for the children. A critical piece of this program is buy-in by the parents. The program will not be a babysitting service. The parents have to learn, too. |
| Gulf Coast Humane Society | Currently the Gulf Coast Humane Society’s clinic has only two exam rooms and one Vet to see the patients. We have grown over the last three years with community support and a excellent team to now being booked out for appointments 3-4 weeks. An exciting opportunity presented itself with the donation of Dr. Bruno, a retired plastic surgeons, building. This is in our demographic area & with little build out to convert to a Vet Clinic. GCHS would have 5 exam rooms giving us the ability to see more patients. |
| CROW | In order to educate the public of the importance of the interrelatedness of the health of our ecosystems, wildlife and human health, CROW needs to make significant updates to existing displays in our Visitor Education Center that sees nearly 15,000 visitors annually. In addition, CROW will add a new section devoted to our collaborative research efforts in support of the “One World, One health” concept. |
| Charlotte Co. Homeless Coalition | The Food Connection decided that the use of bar code technology would reduce the likelihood of inaccurate information being manually entered into the system by volunteers and did not require extensive understanding of databases. The data system already being used by many agencies in our community for client tracking is the Community Information System (CIS/HMIS) this is the data system the group agreed to use. During the first year of the Food Connection Project our community began creating a baseline of unduplicated client information. Year 2 of the project will not only include supporting existing pantries, but also will identify and engage smaller pantries in the Food Connection |
| Gulf Coast Symphony | Music Works! is a program with the priority of serving the social and cultural needs of at-risk children in our community. The program creates an environment of opportunity through the collective practice of music in orchestral playing as models of academic and life skills-development, social organization, and community building. MW provides an educational and social preparedness program while developing musical knowledge and performance skills at a high level. Students will receive individual and group instruction on a string instrument of their choice. A total of 34 students will attend classes for 2 hours at a time, 3 times each week for a total of 6 hours per week. Each day that they attend, students will spend approximately one hour in small groups and then one hour together as a large ensemble. |
| Quality of Life Center | The Youth Business Project allows students with various talents and interests to play a role on a team. Students build academic skills, confidence, and learn what it takes to start a business in a real-world setting. At-risk teens also learn to develop teamwork and leadership skills in a professional “project management” framework. |