VENICE, Fla. — Some bay area community organizations are getting a boost with much-needed funding for their programs.
The Gulf Coast Community Foundation recently approved nearly $11 million in grants, including nearly $7 million in grants from donor-advised funds, as well as $612,671 in scholarship awards. The awarding of the grants and scholarships happened at the foundation's first meeting of the fiscal year, in late October 2021.
"These various grants support projects and initiatives that align with our regional priorities, transform our region, and support thriving communities with opportunities for all," read a statement on the foundation's website.
Some of the funds will also go towards tackling a shortage of nurses. The organization is providing $150,000 to the State College of Florida (SCF) Foundation to address the critical shortage of nurses in the region.
"Florida is known for having an older population that does require a little bit more assistance and my very first initial reaction was like yes, wow, how important, how crucial," said Cady Chennault, a second-year nursing student at the State College of Florida.
"How necessary, especially with everything that's going on, I think there is a huge need for more nurses here in our community and I feel very excited and fortunate that it is going to our school," said Chennault.
The funds will go towards supporting efforts by the SCF Nursing Center of Excellence to recruit future nursing students and help retain them in the nursing field by providing career advancement training as well as helping to staff local hospitals.
"I would argue that we have had a nursing shortage for many, many years, but that shortage was greatly and dramatically increased as a result of the pandemic where we lost a lot of our local nurses to mobile nursing or a lot of them just left nursing because of the trauma that they were facing on a day-to-day basis because of the pandemic," said Jon Thaxton, senior vice president, community leadership, Gulf Coast Community Foundation.
"And as if that's not enough to really accelerate the need for more nurses, we are opening up a very significant branch of Sarasota Memorial Hospital in Laurel and we will need nurses to staff that facility as well," Thaxton said.
While current students may not benefit immediately from this specific fund, according to school officials, the students who spoke with 10 Tampa Bay said the money would help produce stronger future nurses who would serve the community.
"We are getting the privilege to have added resources and opportunities for more students to be added into the program which in turn will cause a ripple effect and create further outreach in the community and helping those in need," said Mariah Chacon, also a second-year nursing student at SCF.
Smaller community grants will come from a purse of $124,000 that will fund programs and projects by regional non-profit organizations. One example of such community grants of $25,000 would go to the Venice Theatre to support AACT World Fest 2022. The event is an international community theater festival that will feature performances from around the world. Another $14,000 is earmarked for the Glasser/Schoenbaum Human Services Center to determine the feasibility of developing a nonprofit human services center in North Port.
Foundation leaders said the funding was a necessary response to the growing needs of the community brought on by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to many income and shelter losses for many families as it heads towards the 20th month.
"A lot of our families are struggling to make ends meet, a lot of our arts and culture organizations are cash strapped because they have not been able to hold events and so philanthropy kind of steps in and fulfills that role," Thaxton added.
In addition, $62,500, would go to help the Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast launch and staff the Nature Interpretation Program which would target both adults and children.
"There is a huge desire from the community to help them understand what our environment is all about, how it works and functions," said Christine Johnson, president of Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast.
"The Conservation Foundation is enormously proud of receiving this grant from a Gulf Coast Community Foundation. $62,500 to help us hire a new staff person to take people outside into nature, giving them wonderful experiences and an opportunity to learn more about our environment here on Florida's Gulf Coast," Johnson said.
"A nature interpreter is a person who helps people understand what's important about our environment and gives them experiences in nature, so think hiking or kayaking or walking through a nature preserve and identifying birds and plants, where we get our water and where our water comes from and that's what this position is going to do. It's really a gift to the entire community," she said.
The Gulf Coast Community Foundation leaders said they received 30 percent more in donations in the past year and hope that support will continue so they can provide more grants to community organizations.
To learn more about how you can apply for community grants for your local organization, you can connect with the Gulf Coast Community Foundation.