Re-Entry Alliance Pensacola, INC. REAP's Second Chance Re-Entry Program Grant Year: 2015 | Focus Area: Health & Wellness | Grant Amount: $106,000 | Grant Status: Completed The mission of Re-Entry Alliance Pensacola, Inc. (REAP) is to improve the safety and quality of life in Northwest Florida by enabling individuals returning from incarceration to be self-sufficient, crime-free, productive citizens and neighbors. At the suggestion of Chief Judge M. Casey Rodgers, Federal District Court for the Northern District of Florida, REAP was formed to assist federal inmates returning to our local community. In 2012, an Inmate Mentoring Program was established primarily using local attorneys acting as mentors to inmates participating in the Federal Re-Entry Court Program. This group of volunteer mentors formally organized in July 2013 as REAP. Current projects include a federal court mentoring program; the REAP Community Garden whereby produce is donated to Pensacola United Methodist Community Ministries free food bank and lunch...

Feeding the Gulf Coast, INC. Northwest Florida Healthy Food Distribution and Milton Warehouse Expansion Project Grant Year: 2015 | Focus Area: Health & Wellness | Grant Amount: $106,000 | Grant Status: Completed Feeding the Gulf Coast (formerly known as Bay Area Food Bank, Inc.) provides nutritious food to meet the challenge of feeding people who are hungry as a result of personal crisis or disaster and educate the public regarding domestic hunger, proper nutrition and other related issues. The Food Bank was founded and incorporated in 1981. In 1988, the Food Bank became a member of Feeding America, the nation’s hunger relief organization. In its disaster relief role, the Food Bank works in partnership with state emergency management agencies and is poised to act as a primary food source should the Gulf Coast be struck by disaster. The Food Bank operates various nutrition programs for low-income families including child nutrition programs: Backpack, Summer...

Lutheran Services Florida, INC. Transportation to Healing, Hope and Help Grant Year: 2015 | Focus Area: Family | Grant Amount: $106,000 | Grant Status: Completed Lutheran Services Florida is a statewide, nonprofit, human service agency dedicated to helping all people in need, regardless of religious affiliation, age or national origin. Their mission is to bring God’s healing, hope and help to people in need, in the name of Jesus Christ. Since 1990, the Northwest region of the program has served the Florida panhandle. Lutheran Services Florida-Northwest (LSF-NW) operates two shelters as part of the Children/Families in Need of Services Program, a prevention program for runaway, truant, ungovernable and homeless youth, who are not under supervision with the Department of Juvenile Justice or the Department of Children and Families. One of these shelters is the Currie House, a 12-bed shelter which serves Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties. The program at the Currie House is...

Children’s Home Society of Florida, Inc. Weis Community School Family Playground Grant Year: 2015 | Focus Area: Family | Grant Amount: $106,000 | Grant Status: Completed Children’s Home Society of Florida, Inc. (CHS) is Florida’s oldest and largest child welfare organization, providing leadership and innovative solutions for hurting and abandoned children since 1902. Since 1920, CHS has rescued children and created forever families through traditional and international adoption and foster care in the Pensacola area. Over those 95 years, CHS has changed children’s lives through in-home services to prevent abuse or neglect, counseling and psychiatric services for children, substance abuse prevention and treatment for youth, pregnancy prevention services, parent training and support for unwed mothers, youth employment and education, school-based support for truant and homeless youth, and coordination of services for children and adults with special needs. Their mission statement is embracing children…inspiring lives. CHS has established strong relationships with many community partners...

Veterans Memorial Park Foundation of Pensacola, INC. VMP Venue Enhancements and Infrastructure Improvements Grant Year: 2015 | Focus Area: Environment, Recreation & Preservation | Grant Amount: $106,000 | Grant Status: Completed The mission of the Veterans Memorial Park Foundation of Pensacola, Inc. is to collaborate with the City of Pensacola and work as Advocate, Provider, Steward and Protector for the Veterans Memorial Park (Park). The Park began with a vision of local veterans more than 20 years ago, who wanted to construct a Vietnam Memorial in our area similar to the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C. After several years of fundraising and securing an area for a memorial park adjacent to Admiral Mason Park, the current “Wall South” was constructed and recently celebrated its 20th year. The Park has expanded to include other Memorials: World War II, Marine Aviation Bell Tower Memorial, Purple Heart, Submarine Memorial, Korean War and most recently Revolutionary War...

Coast Watch Alliance, INC. "Research to Restaurant", Affecting a Sustainable Seafood Resource by Taming Lionfish Grant Year: 2015 | Focus Area: Environment, Recreation & Preservation | Grant Amount: $106,000 | Grant Status: Completed Coast Watch Alliance (CWA) was founded in 2014, with the goal of providing a focus on issues that affect our coastlines and offshore reefs. CWA and the subgroup, Gulf Coast Lionfish Coalition (GCLC), have collaborated to serve the coastline communities of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana with both water quality and lionfish-related efforts. The GCLC was recently merged into CWA, as the two organizations worked on common issues and had some common board members. CWA is a collaboration of divers, recreational anglers, scientists, and business owners working to conserve and protect coastal and marine environments. The organization’s mission is to discover, appreciate, and defend our coastal and marine resources; to exercise and promote the responsible use of our oceans and...

Learn to Read of Northwest Florida, INC. Public Awareness Campaign – The Most Powerful Organization That Nobody’s Heard Of Grant Year: 2015 | Focus Area: Education | Grant Amount: $106,000 | Grant Status: Completed Learn to Read of Northwest Florida, Inc. (LTR) is an all-volunteer literacy organization based in Pensacola and serving Escambia and Santa Rosa counties. The local Council on Aging formed LTR to address the lack of literacy skills in many of their clients. Due to demand, the program was expanded to serve challenged readers age 18 and up. LTR later became affiliated with the Laubach Literacy Action, a nationwide network of adult literacy organizations united to improve adult reading and writing skills and to teach English proficiency to foreign nationals. In 2002, Laubach Literacy merged with Literacy Volunteers of America to form ProLiteracy Worldwide, and LTR became the local area affiliate. LTR’s mission is to ensure through teaching that no...

AMIkids Pensacola, INC. AMIkids Careers Grant Year: 2015 | Focus Area: Education | Grant Amount: $106,000 | Grant Status: Completed AMIkids Pensacola, Inc. (AMIkids) is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping youth develop into responsible and productive citizens. The organization’s mission is to protect public safety and positively impact as many youth as possible through the efforts of a diverse and innovative staff. AMIkids opened its doors in 1991 as Escambia Bay Marine Institute, Inc., a non-residential day treatment program located on Muldoon Road and serving boys and girls ages 14-18, from Escambia County, who are referred by the Department of Juvenile Justice. In 2009, the nonprofit was renamed AMIkids Pensacola, Inc. and was affiliated with the national organization AMIkids, Inc. In June 2013, AMIkids was awarded a contract to also allow for the operation of Escambia Boys Base, a 28-bed, staff secure, boys-only residential program on Corry Naval Station. Both programs implement...

Pensacola Museum of Arts, INC. Expanding and Protecting the Vaults for PMA’s Fine Art Collections Grant Year: 2015 | Focus Area: Arts & Culture | Grant Amount: $106,000 | Grant Status: Completed In 1954, local members of the American Association of University Women saw the need for a venue to present traveling art exhibitions, lectures, films and other cultural presentations, offer art classes for both children and adults, and provide public meeting space. In order to realize their vision for an arts center, the women collaborated with others in the community and created the Pensacola Art Association (PAA). The PAA, which became the Pensacola Museum of Art, Inc. (PMA) in 1982, leased the Old City Jail, built in 1909, from the City of Pensacola and later purchased the building in 1988. Today, this building offers a primary venue for fine arts exhibitions and arts education for the PMA. The mission of PMA is...

Ballet Pensacola, INC. Ballet Pensacola, INC. Grant Year: 2015 | Focus Area: Arts & Culture | Grant Amount: $106,000 | Grant Status: Completed Ballet Pensacola was founded in 1978 as Kaleidoscope Dance Theatre by Italian-trained dancer and teacher Gioia Michelotti. The theatre offered performance opportunities for young dancers and promoted the art of dance. The organization was renamed Ballet Pensacola in 2005. The organization presented The Nutcracker for the first time in 1989 and today, internationally-acclaimed Ballet Pensacola consists of a training academy that serves more than 300 students each season and a performing company of more than 40 dancers, including 16 professionals from around the world. Ballet Pensacola’s mission is to enhance the cultural life of the community by developing an appreciation and knowledge of the art of dance through high quality dance education and excellent performances. The organization pursues its mission in three main areas: major performances, dance education and outreach....

Our Lady of Angels St. Joseph Medical Clinic, INC. Improving and Expanding Patient Services Grant Year: 2014 | Focus Area: Health & Wellness | Grant Amount: $102,500 | Grant Status: Completed The medical clinic was formed in 2001 by a group of volunteer physicians from the St. Joseph parish to provide free medical, dental, pharmaceutical and social services to medically uninsured and undeserved patients in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties. Project Description Fund the purchase of basic diagnostic equipment that will allow volunteer physicians to treat the Clinic's 7400 patients more efficiently. Equipment purchases will support treatment of patients with diabetes, heart and lung disease and include an ultrasound system, ECG, vital signs monitor, spirometer, ophthalmoscope, sterilization equipment, and coagucheck. New waiting room furniture will provide a more welcoming, modern environment for patients and contribute to their sense of worth and well-being. Community Impact The project will bring the Clinic into the 21st century and provide a...