PACE Center for Girls, Inc. Go Reach Grant Year: 2016 | Focus Area: Health & Wellness | Grant Amount: $108,200 | Grant Status: Completed The PACE Center for Girls (PACE) provides girls and young women an opportunity for a better future through education, counseling, training and advocacy. PACE has 19 Centers throughout Florida that serve over 2,000 girls each year, and has assisted over 23,000 since its beginning. PACE began as a community response to the realization that girls involved with the justice system were either being placed in boys’ programs or placed further into the system for their own protection. There were no effective alternatives. Started by Vicki Burke and guided by the research-based recommendations which called for gender responsive programming, PACE created a new alternative to institutionalization or incarceration. PACE is now recognized, as a national model for reducing recidivism and improving school success, employment and self-sufficiency amongst girls, by the...

Studer Community Institute, Inc. IMPACT Brain Bags Grant Year: 2016 | Focus Area: Family | Grant Amount: $108,200 | Grant Status: Completed Studer Community Institute (SCI) was established in 2016 to improve the quality of life for the people in the Pensacola Metro Community by providing fact-based, thoughtful analysis of issues that need to be addressed to move the community forward. SCI believes objective benchmarks are vital to gauging progress and identifying areas that need improvement. In cooperation with the University of West Florida Office for Economic Development and Engagement, SCI created a dashboard of 16 metrics to provide an at-a-glance look at the area’s growth, educational attainment, economic prospects, safety and civic life. All metrics represent the Pensacola Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which includes all of Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties. With the help of the UWF Haas Center and other partners, SCI conducts research and creates tools and data visualizations to...

Manna Food Bank, Inc. dba Manna Food Pantries Fighting Hunger – Better, Faster, Stronger! Grant Year: 2016 | Focus Area: Family | Grant Amount: $108,200 | Grant Status: Completed Manna Food Pantries (MANNA) is a local grassroots organization dedicated to fighting hunger in Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties since 1983. MANNA offers emergency food assistance from three food distribution pantries and services the food-related needs of vulnerable populations through programs such as Backpack4Teens, Healthy Seniors, Tummy Bundles, and others, and engages the entire community in the fight against hunger. MANNA has partnership programs with several local organizations including Gulf Coast Kids House, Lutheran Services Florida, Westminster Village, Santa Rosa County School District, the United Way of Escambia County, Boys and Girls Clubs and Ministry Village at Olive. The organization is nonsectarian, community-focused, volunteer supported, receives no government funding and provides all services free of charge. Service is offered a maximum of four times...

Greater Pensacola Junior Golf Association, Inc. dba The First Tee of Northwest Florida Golf and Life Skills Training Facility Grant Year: 2016 | Focus Area: Environment, Recreation & Preservation | Grant Amount: $108,200 | Grant Status: Completed Originally founded in 1990 as the Greater Pensacola Junior Golf Association (GPJGA) in order to operate a Junior Golf Summer Tour in Northwest Florida, the organization gained its 501(c)(3) status 1995. In December 2003, GPJGA was granted chapter status in The First Tee, a national organization, and began doing business as The First Tee of Northwest Florida (First Tee). As of 2016, First Tee is one of over 175 Chapters operating over 850 Program Sites in all 50 States and 11 countries internationally. The mission of The First Tee of Northwest Florida is to positively impact the lives of young people by promoting character development and life-enhancing values through the First Tee's "Life Skills Learning Experience"...

Northwest Florida Marine Education and Discovery of Gulf Ecosystems, INC. (EDGE) dba Navarre Beach Marine Science Station Coastal Conservation Corp Grant Year: 2016 | Focus Area: Environment, Recreation & Preservation | Grant Amount: $108,200 | Grant Status: Completed NWFL Marine Education and Discovery of Gulf Ecosystems, Inc. (EDGE) was formed in 2014 as a nonprofit organization to support the current activities and visitor programs of Navarre Beach Marine Science Station (NBMSS). NBMSS works to preserve and protect our beach and marine ecosystems through education and hands-on experience for students and the general public. The common mission of the EDGE and NBMSS is to promote the appreciation, conservation, and understanding of the marine ecosystem of coastal Florida through education, service and hands-on, feet-wet experiences. The programs that EDGE implements are designed to empower individuals to become stewards of their ocean through service, experiential learning, scientific inquiry, and innovative technologies. Current programs include Citizen Science,...

Milk and Honey Outreach Ministries, INC. Building Precious GEMS Grant Year: 2016 | Focus Area: Education | Grant Amount: $108,200 | Grant Status: Completed Milk and Honey Outreach Ministries (Milk and Honey) was established in 1992 as a children’s Bible study program within a low income, inner-city housing project. By 1996, the program was incorporated as a community-based nonprofit organization, with a mission to help children and youth live up to their fullest potential. Services included after-school care, tutoring, mentoring, and nutrition, in addition to Christian education. A delinquency prevention grant from the State of Florida Department of Juvenile Justice in 1997 enabled Milk and Honey to extend its programs and increase the number of children served. The GEMS Program (Girls Embracing a More Excellent Way), is designed for economically disadvantaged African-American preteen and teenage girls. The girls participate in a year-long program that focuses upon the positive aspects of being African-American and...

The Arc Gateway, INC. Jeff’s Corner Garden at The Arc Gateway Grant Year: 2016 | Focus Area: Education | Grant Amount: $108,200 | Grant Status: Completed The Arc Gateway was formed in 1954 by a small group of parents who wanted a better life for their children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. From serving thirteen children in a small one-room schoolhouse, The Arc Gateway has evolved and grown and now serves over 600 children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in a wide array of programs in Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties, including education, vocational training and employment. The mission of The Arc Gateway is to provide the best possible life experiences for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The Arc Gateway’s clients represent a broad spectrum of intellectual and physical disabilities. Current clients range in age from birth to more than 80 years old. Included among organization’s more than 600 clients...

St. John's Cemetery Historical and Educational Foundation, INC. The OUTDOOR MUSEUM at St. John ’ s Historic Cemetery Grant Year: 2016 | Focus Area: Arts & Culture | Grant Amount: $108,200 | Grant Status: Completed St. John’s Cemetery Historical and Educational Foundation, Inc. (the Foundation) was formed by the St. John’s Cemetery Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)(13) not-for-profit cemetery organization responsible for maintaining and providing perpetual care for a 140 year old, 26 acre, Pensacola burial site, known as the St. John’s Cemetery (the Cemetery). The Cemetery organization has long had an interest in making the Cemetery wider-known, and available to anyone with an interest in Pensacola’s culture and history. The Foundation seeks to introduce Pensacola to the “OUTDOOR MUSEUM” that is St. John’s Cemetery, which, having been established in 1876, reflects 140 years of Pensacola’s history and culture presented in its grave markers and funerary assets. The Foundation is newly formed for the...

The Santa Rosa County Creek Indian Tribe, INC. Native American Cultural Center Grant Year: 2016 | Focus Area: Arts & Culture | Grant Amount: $108,200 | Grant Status: Completed The Indian Removal Act of 1830 made it illegal to be an Indian east of the Mississippi River. The federal government sought to remove all Indians via the infamous “Trail of Tears.” Those who were not removed were systematically hunted down, and thus were forced to stifle their language, heritage and culture. The Santa Rosa County Creek Indian Tribe, Inc. (the Tribe) are the descendants of those Creek Indians, purposed with reviving, preserving and teaching the language, heritage, and culture of the Creek People. The mission of the 1,156 Tribe members is to bring knowledge of the culture of Native American Indians to children, the community, and the world, via traditional events, educational programs, and the establishment of a Native American Cultural Center. In...

Escambia Search and Rescue, Inc. Sea, Air and Land Capabilities Improvement Initiative Grant Year: 2016 | Focus Area: Health & Wellness | Grant Amount: $108,200 | Grant Status: Completed The mission of the Escambia Search and Rescue, Inc. (ESAR), while remaining a 100% volunteer, self-sustaining organization, is to respond at any time of day or night and in any weather, to those in need. ESAR was chartered by local citizens in 1961, arising from a community need that was unanswered by local law enforcement and emergency services. They are the oldest search and rescue group in Florida, and the second oldest in the country. ESAR stands ready to respond to search and rescue requests 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The organization primarily serves over 450,000 residents of Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties, but makes every effort to respond to all aid requests, regardless of location. In the last three years...