The Beaches Community Fund, an initiative of The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida, will distribute more than $280,000 this year to local Beaches-area nonprofits to improve the lives of their fellow citizens who may be struggling. After just four years of grantmaking, the Beaches Community Fund has invested more than $988,000 in Beaches-area organizations that seek solutions on behalf of those who need assistance.
The 30+ generous families who pool their charitable giving dollars to tackle community issues continue to focus on areas that research has shown to be the most pressing needs that can be influenced by thoughtful grantmaking. That includes transportation to jobs, food, medical care, essential services, early childhood literacy, development and helping Beaches nonprofits grow stronger and be more collaborative.
This year, based on data as well as what was learned from previous grants, the Beaches Community Fund decided to add new priorities such as basic needs such as housing, shelter, medical care and healthy food. In addition, it will support for school-aged children, both in-school and afterschool, as well as disaster preparedness.
“We are indeed fortunate that this dedicated cadre of Beaches families has committed themselves to improving the lives of all their neighbors along our coastline,” said Joanne Cohen, VP, Philanthropic Services for The Community Foundation. “They have truly embraced the concept of ‘give where you live’ and the entire Beaches Community has benefitted from their thoughtful generosity.”
BASIC NEEDS $133,880
• Beaches Emergency Assistance Ministry (BEAM) $30,000 for general operating support
• Feeding Northeast Florida $25,000 to partner with the Mayport USO to provide nutritious food and staple items for 50 active-duty military families.
• First Coast Blessings in a Backpack $10,000 to provide a bag of groceries each Friday afternoon at Mayport and Finegan Elementary school students who depend on the free and reduced lunch program
• I.M. Sulzbacher Center for the Homeless $23,880 to fund an Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner position at the Sulzbacher Beaches Clinic for the equivalent of one day each week
• Mission House $20,000 to provide a mental health counselor on-site one day per week for homeless individuals and to help homeless veterans and families at the Beaches
• St. John the Baptist Catholic Church: Emergency Assistance Ministry $5,000 to provide basic survival kits to homeless individuals and families in the Mayport Road corridor
• • We Care Jacksonville $20,000 to continue funding a Community Health Worker, who collaborates with Baptist Beaches, Sulzbacher Beaches Clinic, and BEAM to help uninsured patients with chronic medical issues
STUDENT SUPPORTS & ENRICHMENT $57,250
• Beaches Habitat $10,000 to provide enhanced learning materials and stipends for its afterschool tutoring and enrichment program at the Gail Baker Community Center and Jordan Park Community Center on Mayport Road
• Beaches Boys & Girls Club $15,000 to provide equipment and software for the Music, Mixing and Mastery program, which incorporates reading, writing, performing arts and music technology
• Communities in Schools $15,000 matching grant to continue the Student Enrichment Program at Mayport Coastal Sciences Middle School
• Girl Scouts of Gateway Council $8,750 to launch Daisy troops for four-year-olds at the two Head Start centers at the Beaches (Mayport Elementary and Rhoda Martin Center)
• Outreach Ministries Inc., International $8,500 to provide evening enrichment programming, including cultural performing arts, martial arts, and STEM, for students at the Gail Baker Community Center on Mayport Road.
TRANSPORTATION $10,500
Over the past several years, the Beaches Community Fund has invested (through grants and advocacy) in several strategies to improve transportation access for Beaches residents. Successes include: the expansion of Dial-A-Ride into Mayport and Ponte Vedra Beach, and to include employment-related transportation; the launch of the JTA Beaches Flyer and JTA ReadiRide; and small grants to help Beaches nonprofits assist their clients with transportation services. Because these changes are new and it is too early to assess their effectiveness or the gaps that remain, the Grants Committee decided its 2018-2019 focus would be on helping nonprofits get small grants to assist their clients with critical transportation needs.
• Beaches Emergency Assistance Ministry (BEAM) $3,000 to assist clients with transportation to the food pantry, nutrition counseling, medical care, job interviews, work, or school
• Goodwill Industries of America $3,000 for participants in the Single Parent Program through Goodwill’s A-STEP program with transportation to and from school and work
• Mission House $3,000 to assist clients with transportation to job interviews, to specialty medical appointments that the Mission House clinic cannot resolve, and to apartments to meet landlords and obtain applications for housing.
• Elderly Housing Management Corporation (Pablo Hamlet & Pablo Towers) $1,500 to assist residents with transportation to medical appointments and government offices
EARLY CHILDHOOD LEARNING $56,500
• Kids Hope Alliance up to $55,000 to continue/expand three strategies begun as a partnership between the Beaches Community Fund and Kids Hope Alliance in 2018: An Early Learning Exchange designed to promote collaboration in the early learning at the Beaches; strengthening literacy at existing child care/early learning centers; and helping parents of young children develop their parenting and literacy skills
• Palms Presbyterian Preschool up to $1,500 to for expenses for Early Learning Exchange meetings (as described above)
A STRONG BEACHES NONPROFIT SECTOR UP TO $23,500
• Nonprofit Center for Northeast Florida Up to $20,000 to continue the Eleanor Ashby Beaches Leadership Series, which strengthens Beaches nonprofits and promotes collaboration
• $3,500 to create an inventory of nonprofit organizations serving the Beaches
BUILDING A COLLABORATIVE VISION FOR THE BEACHES UP TO $2,500
• Up to $2,500 to hold a series of forums/listening sessions with Beaches stakeholders
