Bright Bridge Ministries Updated Kitchen, Uplifted Lives Grant Year: 2020 | Focus Area: Health & Wellness | Grant Amount: $106,000 | Grant Status: In Progress Bright Bridge Ministries (BBM) is a non-profit agency that began as an outreach ministry of Richards Memorial United Methodist Church with the name Pensacola United Methodist Community Ministries (PUMCM) in 2007. PUMCM was founded to address the many faces of hunger in Pensacola as bagged lunches were handed out to people who approached the church in need of food. PUMCM was rebranded to BBM in 2019. The mission of BBM is to provide food, housing and spiritual support to individuals in need. They treat people with dignity, care and acceptance to empower and assist them in their journey toward recovery and renewal. They have grown over the years into an organization that addresses more than just the hunger of those in the local area. In addition to meals,...

Every Child a Reader in Escambia, Inc. Get Our Children and Families Ready for Kindergarten Grant Year: 2020 | Focus Area: Education | Grant Amount: $106,000 | Grant Status: Complete The mission of Every Child a Reader in Escambia (ECARE) is to maximize children’s potential through increased school readiness, with a goal of ensuring all children in the community are ready. Their vision is that every student starts kindergarten ready to learn. In Escambia County, 53% of children entering kindergarten are not ready. These guiding principles keep the organization’s focus on interventions targeting Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten students that demonstrate results toward kindergarten readiness. In October of 2006, a planning group of community leaders published a business case supporting the creation ECARE. ECARE was proposed to be a community-wide, business-led coalition of representatives from all segments of the community. In 2011 ECARE launched Project Ready, a strategic, results-oriented effort to improve kindergarten readiness that could...

Ecomfort, Inc. Food as a Tool: Impacting lives in the Community Mentally, Physically and Spiritually Grant Year: 2020 | Focus Area: Health & Wellness | Grant Amount: $106,000 | Grant Status: In Progress The mission of Ecomfort is to provide emergency assistance to the homeless and economically disadvantaged individuals of Escambia County. This assistance is comprised of emergency food, hot meals, job placement assistance, resource coordination and guided computer use. Ecomfort, Inc. was founded in May of 2007 as an outreach of Epps Christian Center, Inc. The organization has expanded services in the community, serving individuals and families. Ecomfort started off serving breakfast from 6:00 - 9:00 a.m. five days a week but has since added a food and clothing pantry that operates twice weekly. Ecomfort distributes frozen food, produce and dry goods to the community weekly, and works with other agencies to provide linking services to individuals. Food is used as...

FoodRaising Friends, Inc. FoodRaising Friends Foundational Food for Families Grant Year: 2020 | Focus Area: Family | Grant Amount: $106,000 | Grant Status: Completed The mission of FoodRaising Friends (FRF) is to remove barriers and improve access to food for children at risk or experiencing hunger in the local area. FRFs’ desire is to be part of the movement that begins by ending childhood hunger locally, and substantially impact the cycle of poverty for children in the community. Founded in 2016, FRF began by providing food for Christmas for students in the Santa Rosa Head Start Program. FRF found that every school had pockets of significant poverty where children were experiencing hunger. FRF has chosen not only to pursue adding those schools to the program but is also advocating in the community to bring the realities of childhood hunger to the community's attention. The bags of food from FRF feed the entire household -...

Feeding the Gulf Coast, Inc. Feeding the Florida Panhandle Grant Year: 2020 | Focus Area: Family | Grant Amount: $106,000 | Grant Status: In Progress As a member food bank of Feeding America and a United Way Member Agency, Feeding the Gulf Coast works through member organizations and special programs to provide nutritious food to meet the challenge of feeding people who are hungry as a result of systemic poverty, personal crisis or disaster. Feeding the Gulf Coast also educates the public regarding domestic hunger, proper nutrition and other related issues. Feeding the Gulf Coast, Inc. was founded and incorporated in 1981. In 1988, the food bank became a member of Feeding America, the nation’s largest hunger relief organization. Since its founding, the organization has distributed more than 280 million pounds of food to charitable feeding organizations across the 24 counties it serves, including nine counties in lower Alabama, eight counties in lower...

AMR at Pensacola, Inc. The Phoenix Project - Tiny Home Communities Grant Year: 2020 | Focus Area: Family | Grant Amount: $106,000 | Grant Status: Complete AMR is currently expanding operations through “The Phoenix Project”, which includes the development and management of tiny home communities throughout Escambia County. The Phoenix Project is a sustainable housing solution for individuals and families in Escambia County who are financially, socially, and/or institutionally disadvantaged. The program assists those who do not traditionally meet the requirements for affordable housing options in Escambia County by creating safe, comfortable solutions at a lower price point. The idea is to develop a community that includes strategic designs with a shared community center and on-site healthcare, social, and workforce development services. AMR plans to pioneer the mission of increasing access to affordable housing with an environment that is sustainable, innovative, and eco-friendly. Upon completion, The Phoenix Project will include a total...

Veterans Memorial Park Foundation of Pensacola, Inc. Accommodating Veterans Memorial Park Events Grant Year: 2020 | Focus Area: Environment, Recreation & Preservation | Grant Amount: $106,000 | Grant Status: Completed The Veterans Memorial Park began with a vision of local vets after a visit to the Pensacola area by the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall more than 27 years ago. The mission of the Veterans Memorial Park Foundation is to collaborate with the City of Pensacola and work as Advocate, Provider, Steward and Protector for the Park. Areas of support include assisting the City in developing and advancing a unifying theme in the development of the park; providing ongoing maintenance, preservation, improvement and development of the Park; educating the community about the Park’s mission and holding the sacrifice of those memorialized there as worthy of their gratitude, respect and emulation; and promoting the incorporation of the Park into the fabric and culture of...

Pensacola Little Theatre, Inc. A Stage for all Stages: Restoring the Little Theatre's Big Rigging Grant Year: 2020 | Focus Area: Arts & Culture | Grant Amount: $106,000 | Grant Status: Completed IMPACT 100 funds will be used to replace the entire theatre rigging system used for every performance and community event on the stage. The grant dollars will cover the site preparation, permitting, construction, materials, and labor. Rigging systems are the backstage backbone used to quickly, quietly, and safely hang and transport curtains, lights, scenery, set pieces, stage effects, and even people. Every piece of scenery, every moving light, every curtain or screen is all operated by the rigging or "fly" system. Safety is at the forefront of PLT’s mission. With over 1,000 volunteers dedicating nearly 80,000 volunteer service hours each year, PLT’s priority is to remain up-to-code in all aspects of their home-away-from-home. The existing system was built over 20 years...

Pensacola Opera, Inc IMPACT Opera: In Perfect Harmony - $106,000 Grant Year: 2020 | Focus Area: Arts & Culture | Grant Amount: $106,000 | Grant Status: Completed The mission of the Pensacola Opera is to enrich the culture of Northwest Florida by producing professional opera performances, educational programs, and other opera-related community events for people of all ages, interests and backgrounds. Founded in 1983 by a group of community volunteers (some of whom remain active Trustees), Pensacola Opera is the only opera company in Northwest Florida and one of only five professional opera companies in Florida affiliated with OPERA America. Pensacola Opera’s mainstage productions feature acclaimed artists who regularly appear throughout our nation and the world. In 2003, the company established the Artists in Residence program to continue its commitment to the identification, training, and nurturing of promising young singers. More than 200 singers audition each year for the five coveted residencies. Annually...

Gulf Coast Kid's House, Inc. Protecting Our Children During a Time of Uncertainty Grant Year: 2020 | Focus Area: Education | Grant Amount: $106,000 | Grant Status: In Progress The mission of Gulf Coast Kid’s House (GCKH) is to end child abuse and heal families through collaborative intervention, family support and prevention education. GCKH is the only child advocacy center and child abuse prevention center in Escambia County. Timely, effective assistance designed to address the specific trauma each child has experienced is provided. They provide a place where child protective services, law enforcement, prosecution, medical, and mental health professionals work together under one roof to provide comprehensive services to child victims of abuse. Through this coordinated effort, children and families experience reduced trauma and better case coordination, leading to better outcomes for children and families. GCKH sees the most egregious physical abuse cases, sexual abuse cases and medical neglect cases in Escambia County....

Keep Santa Rosa Beautiful, Inc. Panhandle Butterfly House & Nature Center Grant Year: 2020 | Focus Area: Environment, Recreation & Preservation | Grant Amount: $106,000 | Grant Status: In Progress Keep Santa Rosa Beautiful, Inc. is the official affiliate of Keep America Beautiful and Keep Florida Beautiful. Incorporated by the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce in 1994, the organization operated as Santa Rosa Clean Community System, Inc. until 2016 when the name was changed to Keep Santa Rosa Beautiful (KSRB). KSRB is dedicated to its mission of protecting and enhancing the environment through awareness, education, and action. KSRB’s programs “Drive it Home,” “Adopt-A-Spot,” and “Adopt-A-Highway” promote litter clean-ups for the Santa Rosa County area. Other programs include Rivers and Beach Clean-up and Recycle/Reuse. The organization provides a community garden, and for 21 years has operated the Panhandle Butterfly House. Originally located in Navarre, the Panhandle Butterfly House averaged about 14,000 visitors...