Our community is fortunate to have so many outstanding nonprofit organizations doing great work in our community! The Community Foundation is pleased to announce the 2024 Helping Today, Shaping Tomorrow Grant Recipients:
Bond Community Health Center
Children’s Home Society of North Florida
Early Learning Coalition of NW FL
Gadsden Arts Center & Museum
Independence Landing
International Rescue Committee
Kids Inc. of the Big Bend
Pace Center for Girls Tallahassee
Safe Families for Children N FL
Scientiae
STEMS4Girls, Inc
Bond Community Health Center
Bond Community Health Center is a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) that has served the Tallahassee community since 1984, providing comprehensive primary care, behavioral health, dental and pharmacy services. Bond’s mission is to provide quality healthcare to the underserved, with a focus on the vulnerable populations, including the uninsured and the homeless.
Bond Community will use these grant dollars to enhance their marketing of their mobile health unit, which operates three times a week to serve individuals facing transportation barriers. They want to bring awareness of the services the mobile unit offers through social media, flyers, partnerships with local organizations, to ensure the underserved populations are informed about these services. This will increase their visibility and awareness of the mobile health unit to further help those in need in the community.
Children’s Home Society of Florida
Children’s Home Society’s (CHS) mission focuses on building bridges to success for children with a vision of a world where children realize their full potential. Nearly 75% of children enter foster care because of neglect: poverty, addiction, and domestic violence. CHS wants to reach these families before these challenges turn into crises.
CHS will use these grant dollars to provide a commercial washer and dryer, and basic clothing items for children to wear while their clothes are being laundered at Sabal Palm Elementary. This will help students with their self-confidence and keep this from being a reason for their absenteeism. The Leon County School District has agreed that all plumbing connections will be in place.
Early Learning Coalition of Northwest Florida, Inc.
The Early Learning Coalition of Northwest Florida (ELCNWF) exists to grow healthy children, parents, and the relationship between them. Early education and care prepare children to learn when entering kindergarten through grant funded programs such as Help me Grow North Florida (HMGNF).
ELCNWF will use these grant dollars for the HMGNF program operations. HMGNF ensures that all children ages 0-8 have the best possible start in life by providing free developmental screenings and connecting families to resources they may need for their children to succeed in school and the future. By identifying vulnerable children, they can link families to community-based services and resources and empower families to support their children’s healthy development.
Gadsden Arts Center & Museum
The Gadsden Arts Center & Museum’s (GACM) mission is to inspire the exploration of the visual arts and bring people together as well as contribute to the cultural and economic vitality in our community. GACM hosts world-class art exhibitions and education programs year-round for children and adults.
GACM will use these grant dollars to help fund their Art for Children & Youth programs, providing children, youth and families in Gadsden County and the region with art experiences free of charge. These programs are offered in the museum, in schools every week, and at home, and include Free Family Saturdays, the Art Zone, Art in Schools, Creative Futures Council, Field Trips, Summer Art Camp, and Art @ Home Kits.
Independence Landing
Independence Landing was established in 2017 with the mission of creating a safe, affordable, residential community for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. They believe that with the right support, anyone can live independently. They provide guidance in daily living skills, decision-making, wellness management, and self-advocacy and emphasize recreational activities that foster social interactions and friendship.
Independence Landing will use these grant dollars to enhance their culinary program and provide essential nutritional support to their residents. Specifically, these grant dollars will be used to cover the costs of supplemental meals for residents who cannot afford the $8 per meal price and expand healthy meal options on the weekends when their program is currently not operational.
Independence Landing supports several residents with traumatic brain injuries. They provide a supportive housing environment that is tailored to meet the needs of these residents, featuring personalized assistance from trained staff familiar with cognitive and physical rehabilitation. They offer life skills training focused on daily living tasks, helping residents regain confidence and autonomy. Their culinary workforce development program is also accessible to those with brain injuries teaching advanced kitchen skills while promoting teamwork and socialization, enhancing both culinary and interpersonal abilities.
International Rescue Committee
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) office in Tallahassee has been serving the community since 2015, working to help refugees, asylum seekers, survivors of human trafficking, and unaccompanied minors rebuild their lives in the Big Bend. Providing tools and support needed to integrate successfully and achieve self-sufficiency.
The IRC will use these grant dollars for their housing program, specifically aimed at fulfilling the basic needs of our clients. Purchasing essential items such as car seats, grocery items, and bus passes to facilitate reliable transportation to job interviews and essential appointments.
Kids Incorporated of the Big Bend
Kids Incorporated was established in 1972 embracing the four cornerstones of the Early Head Start program – child development, family engagement, community engagement, and staff development. Their vision is that all children and families can reach their full potential.
Kids Incorporated will use these grant dollars towards classroom supplies such as toys, games, music, books, paints, and room decorations like rugs and wall décor, all of which will enhance the experiences and creativity of the students. The grant dollars will also go towards health services like the purchase of thermostats, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and health educational items.
Pace Center for Girls Tallahassee
Pace Center for Girls provides girls and young women an opportunity for a better future through education, counseling, training, health, and advocacy. Most of the girls that come to Pace live in poverty. Pace’s goals are to prevent the girls from becoming a part of the juvenile justice system and enhance school performance, youth employment, and adult self-sufficiency.
Pace will use these grant dollars towards counseling services for mental health as well as substance abuse prevention and recovery. This will empower the girls to create healthier, addiction-free lives, with access to such resources being vital for their well-being.
Safe Families for Children North Florida
Safe Families was launched in Tallahassee in 2017. A Safe Families Circle of Support gives a family facing crisis an extended family-like community to help them stabilize their circumstances without entering the child welfare system. The Circle of Support can help step in and address issues of shelter, food, housing, resource navigation, emergency childcare, transportation, etc.
Safe Families will combine this grant along with business donations to hire a full-time staff person to work with their community partners and volunteers in creating greater communication for the families they are serving. This will also allow other staff greater flexibility to continue to recruit business donors in the Strong Families Tax Credit program for their chapter.
Scientiae
Scientiae is a nonprofit organization providing cutting-edge STEM education to students in the Big Bend region. Their goal is to bridge the gap between classroom learning and real-world applications, preparing students for future careers in science, technology, engineering, mathematics as well as expanding access to STEM education, particularly for underrepresented and economically disadvantaged students.
Scientiae will use these grant dollars to directly support their STEM education programs for K-5th grade students, particularly those from underserved communities. Purchasing essential materials and supplies, including STEM kits, robotics tools, and science experiment equipment. These resources will be used in their after-school programs as well as summer camps. Part of the grant will also provide scholarships to students who may not otherwise have access to these educational opportunities due to financial barriers.
STEMS4Girls, Inc.
STEMS4Girls has been an active nonprofit organization for the past seven years providing afterschool programs in STEM Literacy education for all children and youth. They currently focus on 2nd-5th grade and beyond. Their vision for the STEM Literacy Program is to acquire a facility that will accommodate the increasing demand for their services and to reach more communities and include students from pre-kindergarten through first grade.
STEMS4Girls will use the grant dollars in two major areas meeting the educational and basic needs of the students they serve. Half of the grant dollars will be used to recognize and reward academic progress, and the other half will be used to provide healthy snacks to the students. Research has demonstrated that recognition can help boost self-esteem and encourage perseverance while healthy snacks are correlated to better test scores. Any remaining funds will be used to promote their STEM Literacy Program and services.