Grants History

Betty Griffin House – Safety Shelter of St. Johns County

• 2007: $20,000 Renewal, 2008: $25,000 Renewal, 2009: $25,000 Renewal, 2010: $25,000 Renewal, 2011: $20,500 Renewal
  WGA provided $92,000 in startup and ongoing funds for the Betty Griffin Rape Crisis Unit in Flagler’s Hospital in St. Johns County. The unit, separate from the emergency room, provides for the immediate needs of rape victims. Exams are performed by specially trained nurse examiners (SANE). Betty Griffin House also maintains a 24-hour, 7-day hotline to provide crisis intervention, make referrals and contact SANEs with a Sexual Assault Response Advocate.
• 2004: $35,000, 2005: $30,000 Renewal
  In 2004, WGA funded new technology to network and digitize program and client tracking at three locations. Monies also helped fund a new manager for the transition facility. The 2005 grant supported the salary of the transition housing/program manager.

Boys & Girls Clubs of Nassau County, Nassau County

• 2020: $46,000
  This grant from WGA will fund the implementation of their SMART Girls Initiative curriculum which provides age- and gender-specific programming for girls aged 11–18. This comprehensive curriculum focuses on academic achievement, healthy choices, and career readiness and incorporates both adult mentorship and peer support to create a safe supportive environment for learning.

Cathedral Arts Project, Inc., Jacksonville

• 2007: $10,000 Renewal
  This grant funded the after-school dance program at two elementary schools in Arlington Heights and Ruth Upson. The program is the only all-girls arts offering available to 1,200 students at 15 Jacksonville schools. Documented benefits for some 60 participants each year included higher grades, better physical fitness and higher self-esteem.
• 2004: $10,000, 2006: $10,000 Renewal
  The 2004 grant supported a pilot for a free after-school dance program for elementary school girls. The program was designed to help girls increase their self-esteem, creativity, discipline, physical fitness and teamwork. The 2006 grant expanded the program to four under-served elementary schools.

Catholic Charities St. Augustine Regional Office

• 2019: $120,000: Project Forward Families
  Project Forward Families enables low-income, single heads of households to pursue educational goals and achieve greater self-sufficiency by providing comprehensive case management and reducing childcare barriers. This program will allow participants to obtain job skills training, a certificate, and economic empowerment in less than two years.

Communities in Schools of St. Johns County, St. Augustine

• 2005: $20,000 for Hand Up to High School, 2006: $10,000 Renewal
  This program paired at-risk girls in grades 7-8 with 10th grade mentors for one year to help them prepare for the challenges of high school. Girls were also invited to a summer institute at Flagler College to foster interest in post-secondary education.

Delta Research and Educational Foundation, Duval County

• 2020: $10,000
  For Dr. Betty Shabazz Academy/Growing and Empowering Myself Successfully (BSA/GEMS). This grant will fund programs that will engage 200 African-American girls, aged 11–18, in activities that promote their interest and motivation to complete college or obtain a vocation and become more fiscally responsible.

FCCJ Foundation, Jacksonville

• 2005: $15,000 for Bridging the Digital Divide for Displaced Homemakers, 2006: $15,000 Renewal
  Computer education helps women bridge the “digital divide” that often separates displaced homemakers from the workplace at large. WGA-funded scholarships allowed women who completed FCCJ’s Challenge Program for Displaced Homemakers to learn basic computer skills.

Generation USA

• 2021: $75,000
  Generation USA is a bootcamp-style training program that focuses on the technical and soft skills employers say are most needed in the workforce. Generation USA partners with local employers to provide full-time jobs or paid internships upon successful completion of the training. This grant will provide a stipend to 70 women in training and 24 in internships so they can afford to participate full-time in the IT and Administrative Medical Assistant programs.

Generation W

• 2021: $75,000
  The Generation WOW program provides girls in middle and high school with mentorship, guidance, and specific tools to better navigate post-secondary education and potential careers. This grant will allow 75 girls to participate in Generation WOW clubs designed specifically for girls who are at or near the poverty level, including those in rural areas, by providing tablets and accessibility resources so they may participate in remote learning activities.

Girls, Incorporated of Jacksonville, Jacksonville

• 2022: $50,000
  Due to COVID induced regulations that caused after school program cancellations, Girls Inc. pivoted to a reduced number of schools with a during school day program delivery model. Girls Inc will use this grant to recover a large share of its reach by adding school day programs in four additional schools in the Duval County area. They anticipate serving two hundred girls at each additional Duval School, in addition to the six hundred already being served.
• 2018: $100,000 Breaking Cycles of Female Poverty and Welfare Through Mentoring Programs For 4-8th Grade Girls (Duval County)
  Strong, Smart, and Bold Mentoring Program assists high-risk girls in 4th -8th grades in overcoming barriers that prevent them from successful high school graduation. Working with Duval County Schools, Girls Inc. supports academic achievement and on-time grade advancement, social and emotional development, and experiential opportunities for personal and career discovery. This grant enables Girls Inc. to add 4th and 5th grades to the existing program, including purchase of evidence-based social and emotional learning curricula.

Girl Scouts of Gateway Council, Inc., Duval, St. Johns, & Clay Counties

• 2020: $100,000
  Community Development Troops bring traditional Girl Scouting to low-income, high-crime communities that desperately need safe, positive youth development programs by focusing on life skills including financial literacy and and leadership opportunities. This grant from WGA will help provide programming for approximately 1200 at-risk girls in our community.
• 2005: $2,412
  This grant supported an expansion of the program funded in 2004.

Girls on the Run of Northeast Florida, Fernandina Beach

• 2006: $2,000
  This grant provided partial funding to start the Girls on the Run program in an additional school.
• 2005: $4,635
  WGA funded a school program to help girls ages 8-12 to develop healthy lifestyles and positive self-images.

Hubbard House (confidential address)

• 2004: $60,000 (over two years) for WINGS, 2006: $60,000 (over two years) Renewal – Violence & Justice System Involvement
  WGA provided funds for a full-time program manager for WINGS, a program that provides emotional and financial knowledge, skills and support to women who have moved beyond crisis. The 2006 grant continued the support of this program, which was redesigned for the final year of the grant.

Jacksonville Community Council, Inc. (JCCI), Jacksonville

• 2007: $5,000
  This grant supported JCCI’s study of infant mortality in Duval County.

Jacksonville Film Festival, Atlantic Beach

• 2005: $500
  WGA’s grant was used to help encourage female attendance at “The Changing Image of Women in Film”.

Jacksonville University: POWER Camp

• 2018: $16,094 (Duval County)
  JU will create and conduct a camp for rising 7th to 9th grade girls from low income households. POWER camp will provide girls with an early awareness of the possibilities and benefits of a college education through exposure to creative writing and arts, STEM careers, healthy coping skills, career development, and health education. JU student mentors are paired with camp participants and continue their mentorship through the following year.

Jacksonville Women’s Business Center, Jacksonville

• 2005: $10,000 for Mentoring Matters, 2006: $15,000 Renewal, 2007: $15,000 Renewal
  WGA’s grant leveraged funding from other groups to help the Center launch new mentoring activities, hire additional staff and expand its reach throughout Northeast Florida. The 2007 continuation funding supported the program’s growth, facilitating an increase in the number of participants and expansion into the five-county area.

Jewish Family and Community Services, Jacksonville

• 2007: $40,000 Pilot Grant for Building Bridges, 2008: $56,750 Implementation Grant, 2009: $60,000 Renewal, 2010: $53,000 Renewal, 2011: $36,000 renewal
  This grant funded the continuation of a program focused on girls ages 13-17 who age out of foster care. The program offers individual and group counseling, life skills training and practice, guidance from a female caregiver or mentor, transportation, transition planning and ongoing competency assessment. WGA identified the need for such a program in 2007 and has made grants totaling $209,750 to support design and implementation.
• 2005: $20,000 for Get Moving!, 2006: $50,000 (over two years) Renewal, 2008: $30,000 Renewal, 2009: $15,000 Renewal, 2010 $25,000 Renewal
  This grant was awarded to educational/support groups to help prevent families from entering or re-entering the child protection system. The groups address issues including self-confidence, decision-making and interpersonal relationships.

Kesler Mentoring Connection, Jacksonville

• 2005: $14,650
  This grant was used to recruit, screen, onboard and train volunteer mentors for approximately 30 area agencies. Funding significantly reduced the amount of time involved in connecting mentors and mentees, and increased retention rates.

Learn to Read

• 2017: $43,000
  “Literacy for Stability” primarily in Duval, will provide reading, language and math instruction for women reading below the 9th grade level in the area’s poorest neighborhoods and will partner with the Jacksonville’s Sheriff’s Office to serve women inmates. It will also provide age-appropriate books for mothers and grandmothers to encourage childhood reading and language development.

Lutheran Social Services, Jacksonville

• 2005: $20,000 for Financial Literacy Education for Refugee and Immigrant Women (partial amount reallocated to 2006 Grants Pool)
  WGA’s grant helped offer financial literacy training to refugee and immigrant women. The money allowed LSS to hire an additional instructor to teach budgeting, record keeping and savings tips. (Part of this grant was reallocated to the 2006 Grants Pool, due to a significant decrease in the target population.)

MaliVai Washington Kids Foundation, Inc., Duval County

• 2020: $100,000
  This grant from WGA will fund the implementation of the Girl Power! Overcoming Obstacles Curriculum, which provides classes for middle and high school girls focused on subjects such as goal setting, problem solving, conflict resolution, and financial literacy.

Micah’s Place, Fernandina Beach

• 2004: $25,000 for Community Services Project
  This project provided outreach advocacy, crisis counseling, court advocacy and outreach support groups for adults and children who were victims of domestic violence. The grant allowed for a Counselor Advocate to expand these activities.

National Council of Negro Women (Reed Educational Campus), Jacksonville

• 2004: $10,000 for Reed Educational Campus program, 2005: $10,960 Renewal, 2006: $20,000 Renewal, 2007: $23,300 Renewal, 2008: $25,000 Renewal, 2009: $20,000 Renewal, 2010: $15,000 Renewal
  Funding supported the after-school and summer programs for disadvantaged girls ages 9-12. Located in the heart of Northwest Jacksonville, the program provides customized, structured learning experiences in reading, computer skills, health, nutrition and physical fitness.

PACE Center for Girls, Jacksonville, Jacksonville

• 2005: $20,000 for Inspiring the Spirit of Beauty
  This grant allowed the expansion of PACE Center’s Cooperative Educational and Spirited Girls programs, with activities aimed specifically to develop girls’ self-image, wellness and positive attitude.

Quigley House (confidential address)

• 2004: $60,000 (over two years) Transition House (Partial amount reallocated to the 2005 Grants Pool)
  WGA’s two-year grant supported an additional case manager for Transition House, a shelter for victims of domestic violence. WGA provided funding to allow residents to extend their stay from 12 to 18 months. Monies also covered the cost of a job coach and computer skills training for new residents. (A portion of the grant was reallocated to the 2006 Grants Pool, as the program could not be completed as planned.)

Sanctuary of Northeast Florida, Inc.

• 2021: $19,000
  Sanctuary’s mission is to encourage and empower Jacksonville youth and families to become strong and independent by offering afterschool programs and summer camp for at-hope youth in Springfield and surrounding neighborhoods. The Girls on 8th initiative focuses on the unique needs of female youth to help them reach their potential and rise out of poverty. This grant will provide for 20 girls during the school year and 30 girls in summer camp.

St. Gerard Campus

• 2019: $40,000: Homeless Maternity Students Residential/Dormitory Program
  The critical needs of homeless and pregnant teens are met with a comprehensive array of programs at the St. Gerard Campus to prepare them mentally, socially, and physically to succeed in achieving a high school diploma. St Gerard provides housing and a unique curriculum including classes in childbirth, parenting, child development, and nutrition. Transportation to doctors and court is provided, as well as help in finding jobs, enrolling in college, and finding housing at graduation.

The Bridge of Northeast Florida, Jacksonville

• 2005: $6,000 from WGA for Girls’ Connection (Additional partnership funding from Remmer Family Foundation)
  This program introduced “Straight Talk”, a girl-centric curriculum, to girls in grades 3-5 and middle school. Straight Talk helped participants develop self-image and other skills for academic success.

The Cultural Center at Ponte Vedra, Ponte Vedra Beach

• 2006: $5,000
  This grant supported “From The Inside Out”, an arts education program for girls enrolled in the alcohol or drug rehabilitation program at TPC Village.

Women’s Center of Jacksonville, Jacksonville

• 2006: $5,000 (Discretionary Grant) Bosom Buddies
  This grant supported the Women’s Center’s program for breast cancer victims and survivors.

Ability Housing

• 2022: 18,250
  This grant will be used to provide loanable electronic resources for residents to virtually access employment and GED classes offered through community partners as many of these were cancelled due to COVID. Sixty-five percent of their resident population is Single Female Head of Household. Sixty percent of employment training enrollees are female and 60-80% of the GED enrollees are expected to be female.
• 2021: $60,000
  The Northeast Villages Program has 332 quality, affordable rental units in Duval County. It also offers comprehensive case management services, on-site recovery support, trauma-informed care, financial education services, employment training and job placement, and access to primary and behavioral healthcare. With this grant, 52 women will receive the comprehensive care this program provides.

Barnabas Center, Inc., Nassau County

• 2022: $50,000
  This grant will help to partially offset the cost of workforce development and employee retention-both of which have been incredibly stressed by the pandemic. More than 50% of Barnabas’s population is female.
• 2020: $60,000
  Expanding upon a previous WGA grant, Hope Builders for Women 2.0 will offer individualized life skills training such as career and education planning, health and wellness coaching, and financial literacy. The program will also provide direct financial assistance for housing, transportation and childcare, as well as a savings match program of up to $1,000 for each woman in the program.

• 2002: $10,000 for Literacy Program for Women in Nassau County
  This 38-week program helped increase the literacy skills of women who used the Center’s emergency assistance program for food, clothing and shelter. Developed in collaboration with the University of North Florida Extension Service, Nassau County School District and several human service agencies, the life skills curriculum improved skills using home and family life tasks (e.g. completing job applications, preparing nutritious meals, managing household finances).

BEAM (Beaches Emergency Assistance Ministry), Inc., Duval & St. Johns Counties

• 2023: $40,000
  Beaches Emergency Assistance Ministry serves residents in both Duval and St John’s counties by providing emergency assistance and a path to economic stability for the Beaches communities. BEAM will use the $40,000 to provide up to $1500 per client per year in income support for past-due rent and utility bills that participants would otherwise become delinquent on due to sudden and transitory decreases in income.
• 2022: $50,000
  This grant will be used to partially offset the rapid rise in both cost and demand for BEAMs food services specifically brought on by COVID. More than 70% of BEAM’s pantry clients are women. Beam anticipates curbing food insecurity for 1,000 families who have a female and/or children in the household and that they will have at least 50 Single Parent Program participants during the grant cycle.
• 2020: $80,000
  BEAM’s Single Parent Program helps women find a path to economic stability and includes intensive case management, financial literacy training, career support, and access to mental health services over a three-year period. WGA began supporting this program in 2014, and this grant will support 60 new women on their path to economic stability.

Community Connections of Jacksonville, Jacksonville

• 2002: $50,000 (partner agency) Taking Our Measure and Finding Our Strength, 2003: $70,000 (partner agency) Renewal
  In its first year, this collaboration among six agencies provided a seven-month girl-centric learning experience to girls ages 12-18. The program helped girls to build their self-esteem, recognize their special talents, respect their bodies, value education and develop leadership skills. In 2002, this grant supported a 12-week program for approximately 36 women to develop creative self-expression, assertiveness and self-esteem. In 2003, the collaboration focused entirely on girls, and the program was expanded to include girls ages 9-11. Participating agencies were The Bridge of Northeast Florida, Community Connections of Jacksonville, Girls, Incorporated of Jacksonville, PACE Center for Girls of Jacksonville, Planned Parenthood of Jacksonville and the Women’s Center of Jacksonville (2002 only).

Delta Research and Education Foundation

• 2023: $10,000
  The local chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority provides “whole girl” mentoring and support services to African American girls through programs focused on knowledge/awareness of college, self-confidence to attend college, understanding of the importance of fiscal responsibility and enhancement of mental and physical health. Delta will use the grant funds to provide programming on protective parenting, money management, and support access guidance to promote positive outcomes in improving mental, physical, and financial health.

Empowerment Resources

• 2021: $13,500
  Empowerment Resources, Inc. serves at-risk youth and families by providing programs and services that positively impact the whole family.

Epic-Cure (one-time donation)

• 2022: $6,350
  With a vision of Peace at home…then in the world, the Safety Shelter of St. Johns/Betty Griffin Center, offers protection and quality services for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault and their families in St. Johns County. Without the flow of volunteers during the pandemic to support survivors during rape exams, and reduction in revenue from the thrift store and fundraisers, the staff of the Safety Shelter of St. John’s County has experienced additional stress. This grant will fund a Wellness Program for the staff, allow for an increase in hours for the Advocacy Coordinator and provide direct assistance for survivors in the center’s care.

Family Promise of Jacksonville

• 2023: $50,000
  Family Promise of Jacksonville is dedicated to ending homelessness, one family at a time. The $50,000 will be used to provide prevention funding for the women and children in their care. The pandemic, followed by the lifting of the rent increase moratorium, has wreaked havoc on single mothers with children. This has resulted in unnecessary stress, uncertainty, and instability. WGA funding will allow single mothers to stabilize their families and provide the hope of a more secure future.
  
• 2022: $50,000
  This grant will be used to improve storage at the food pantry, increase funds available for client stabilization as well as monies for staff healthcare. FPoJ anticipates impacting at least 56 women directly and seventeen children of working single mothers.
  
• 2021: $50,000
  Family Promise of Jacksonville changes outcomes for low-income mothers at risk of or experiencing homelessness by providing temporary shelter using partnerships with local congregations. Family Promise provides holistic, individualized case management that helps mothers transition into affordable housing. The WGA grant will support 40-50 families through the A Promise of Home program.

• 2018: $50,000 Back to Work, Back to Home
  Utilizing a blend of social services, volunteers, and underused buildings, Family Promise of Jacksonville offers hope to homeless women with children. Family Promise partners with local multi-denominational congregations to provide temporary housing and meals to families. At the Family Promise Day Center, women receive wrap around services and intensive case management focused on resources needed to transition from the shelter to affordable housing.

First Coast No More Homeless Pets

• 2019: $78,614: Veterinary Technician Education and Employment Program
  A pilot program of First Coast No More Homeless Pets, (FCNMHP) the Vet Tech Education & Employment Program will offer unemployed and underemployed women paid job-skills training as veterinary techs in hospital and clinical settings. The 6-month program provides significant career opportunities for women in at-risk populations and underserved communities. Upon completion, successful students will be fully qualified and ready for employment as a Vet Tech.

Gateway Community Services, Inc.

• 2019: $100,000: Women in Transition
  Gateway Community Services will create its Women in Transition program that will bridge the gap for homeless women who have been treated for substance use disorder and co-occurring mental disorder. This program will provide wraparound services and rental assistance in Transitional Recovery Housing as these women work to recover financially and emotionally following treatment and prepare for independent living within the community.

Girl Scouts of Gateway Council, Inc., Jacksonville

• 2004: $10,000 for Middle School in Motion
  2004 funding supported an after-school program to serve approximately 100 middle school girls in Baker and Duval Counties. The program offered interactive activities to strengthen girls’ character, self-esteem, goal-setting, positive peer influence and financial literacy. Girls participated in field trips designed to broaden their horizons and allow them to explore new opportunities.

Girls, Incorporated of Jacksonville, Jacksonville

• 2004: $10,000 for Photo Voice: The Game Face Project
  Based on an award-winning Girls, Inc. curriculum, this program provided cameras to middle school girls to take photos and explore the importance of health and fitness as well as cultural challenges to body image.

• 2002: $70,000 (partner agency) Taking Our Measure and Finding Our Strength, 2003: $50,000 (partner agency) Renewal
  In its first year, this collaboration among six agencies provided a seven-month girl-centric learning experience to girls ages 12-18. The program helped girls to build their self-esteem, recognize their special talents, respect their bodies, value education and develop leadership skills. In 2002, this grant supported a 12-week program for approximately 36 women to develop creative self-expression, assertiveness and self-esteem. In 2003, the collaboration focused entirely on girls, and the program was expanded to include girls ages 9-11. Participating agencies were The Bridge of Northeast Florida, Community Connections of Jacksonville, Girls, Incorporated of Jacksonville, PACE Center for Girls of Jacksonville, Planned Parenthood of Jacksonville and the Women’s Center of Jacksonville (2002 only).

Helping WIN, Inc.

• 2019: $45,243: Grants with Dignity
  Helping WIN’s Grants with Dignity program delivers emergency cash assistance to women battling poverty in Northeast Florida, thus preventing a small crisis from developing into a larger issue. Helping WIN partners with local small agencies who have established ongoing relationships with women working their way out of poverty. The grantee repays the grant by providing service hours to the referring agency.

Her Song: Economic Empowerment Program/EMPath (Economic Mobility Pathways)

• 2018: $38,210 (Referrals from all NEFL Counties)
  Her Song is the first residential program in NEFL providing healing home and holistic programs for survivors of human trafficking to aid in their journey toward recovery and restoration. Residential Coaches, using the EMPath Bridge to Self-Sufficiency® and the Mobility Mentoring® system, give survivors the time, support, safe space and a prescribed pathway from victimization to empowered living. Participants use EMPath tools to increase their incomes, secure permanent housing, attain education, and establish themselves in careers that help them break the cycle of poverty.

Hubbard House, Jacksonville

• 2022: $50,000
  This grant will help support the recruitment and retention of key staff, increase customers and donations, and provide repairs for their building and their sole 19-year-old truck that collects high-value donations. Approx. 90% of the 5,000 individuals served by Hubbard House are female.
• 2018: $150,000 I. M. Sulzbacher Center for the Homeless and Hubbard House: Step Up To Success (All NEFL Counties)
  This collaboration will assist formerly homeless women (many with children) and survivors of domestic violence by lifting them out of poverty through career training, vocational certification, and job/career placement. One-on-one mentoring by a Goodwill College Navigator and the A-Step Program will help women reach economic security and self-sufficiency through gainful employment at a living wage or entrepreneurial self-employment. Upon completing their education, participants will be eligible for micro-loans and/or stipends to assist them in acquiring the tools/equipment to start their new career.

I.M. Sulzbacher Center for the Homeless, Jacksonville

• 2018: $150,000 I. M. Sulzbacher Center for the Homeless and Hubbard House: Step Up To Success (All NEFL Counties)
  This collaboration will assist formerly homeless women (many with children) and survivors of domestic violence by lifting them out of poverty through career training, vocational certification, and job/career placement. One-on-one mentoring by a Goodwill College Navigator and the A-Step Program will help women reach economic security and self-sufficiency through gainful employment at a living wage or entrepreneurial self-employment. Upon completing their education, participants will be eligible for micro-loans and/or stipends to assist them in acquiring the tools/equipment to start their new career.

Jewish Family and Community Services, Jacksonville

• 2018: $120,000 for 360 Wraparound Program (Duval, Nassau, St. Johns Counties)
  JFCS will provide in-home, intense financial assistance case management to low-income female heads of household. Individualized home visits and coaching will help women emerge from crisis with skills and resources to achieve and maintain economic empowerment and self-sufficiency. This includes wraparound gender-responsive, trauma-informed care. There will also be limited emergency financial assistance provided for housing stability and basic needs.

John E. Ford Elementary School, Jacksonville

• 2002: $9,964.50 for Great Girls + Great Books = Great Readers, 2004: $7,500 Renewal
  This project aimed to improve reading comprehension and critical thinking skills of girls enrolled in grades 3-5 at John E. Ford Elementary, a C-ranked school in Jacksonville’s Urban Core. Participants and their mothers were involved in reading, discussions and writing through a curriculum developed by the Junior Great Books program of the Great Books Foundation.

Literacy Alliance of Northeast Florida, Inc.

• 2023: $5,000
  Approximately one-quarter of adult women in Northeast Florida read below a high school grade level. Without foundational literacy skills, women are shut out of adult education and workforce development opportunities. The pandemic only heightened the gap. As a result of WGA funding, the Literacy Alliance will be able to pay for the babysitting costs of up to ten women who are continuing their literacy education, thereby breaking the cycle of poverty.

Lutheran Social Services of Northeast Florida, Inc.

• 2022: $50,000
  This grant will be used to purchase food for 4,322 households, 60% of which are female headed, so their clients can use any available funds to stabilize other aspects of their lives.
• 2021: $60,000
  Lutheran Social Services provides struggling families with the services and support they need to overcome hardship and regain self-sufficiency. The Steps to Success program bundles financial counseling, career coaching, and benefits assistance into one comprehensive support system. This grant will allow Lutheran Social Services to serve 60 women over the two-year grant period.

MaliVai Washington Kids Foundation

• 2022: $32,700
  The MaliVai Washington Kids Foundation develops champions in classrooms, on tennis courts and throughout the community affecting over 200 K-12th grade students in Duval County. The pandemic forced their aftercare program facilities to increase cleaning/sanitizing and upgrade technology. This grant will support the cost of added cleaning/sanitizing staff and upgrade their technology capabilities. Sixty percent of the students participating in the aftercare program are girls.

Micah’s Place

• 2022: $9,300
  This grant will be used to upgrade the computers and Wi-Fi, at the center. They have been struggling to meet the needs of survivors who have needed virtual options for support groups, court hearings, and even doctor’s appointments. It will also allow the staff to include virtual tools to support survivors remotely and allow for outdoor meetings. Micah’s Place clients are almost exclusively females, including female heads of households and their children.
• 2021: $60,000
  Micah’s Place provides prevention and intervention services to victims of domestic violence. The Breaking the Barriers program helps to cover essential costs many survivors encounter, particularly related to financial instability. This grant will allow 15 to 25 women to access this program.

National Council of Negro Women (Reed Educational Campus), Jacksonville

• 2002: $50,000 for Collaboration Grant: Taking Our Measure and Finding Our Strength, 2003: $70,000
  In its first year, this collaboration among six agencies provided a seven-month girl-centric learning experience to girls ages 12-18. The program helped girls to build their self-esteem, recognize their special talents, respect their bodies, value education and develop leadership skills. In 2002, this grant supported a 12-week program for approximately 36 women to develop creative self-expression, assertiveness and self-esteem. In 2003, the collaboration focused entirely on girls, and the program was expanded to include girls ages 9-11. Participating agencies were The Bridge of Northeast Florida, Community Connections of Jacksonville, Girls, Incorporated of Jacksonville, PACE Center for Girls of Jacksonville, Planned Parenthood of Jacksonville and the Women’s Center of Jacksonville (2002 only).

Northeast Florida Women Veterans

• 2022: $50,000
  The mission of Northeast Florida Women Veterans is to provide women veterans with skills sets that will lead to self-sufficiency. The veterans receive financial assistance, case management, emergency and transitional housing and skill-based workshops. During the pandemic, the need for financial assistance and food doubled. This grant will support the hiring of a part-time case manager to help offset the increased workload due to the pandemic, support utilities and insurance at Lighthouse, the temporary housing facility, and fund Operation HandUP, providing financial assistance to women veterans.

PACE Center for Girls, Jacksonville, Jacksonville

• 2002: $50,000 (partner agency) Taking Our Measure and Finding Our Strength, 2003: $70,000 (partner agency) Renewal
  In its first year, this collaboration among six agencies provided a seven-month girl-centric learning experience to girls ages 12-18. The program helped girls to build their self-esteem, recognize their special talents, respect their bodies, value education and develop leadership skills. In 2002, this grant supported a 12-week program for approximately 36 women to develop creative self-expression, assertiveness and self-esteem. In 2003, the collaboration focused entirely on girls, and the program was expanded to include girls ages 9-11. Participating agencies were The Bridge of Northeast Florida, Community Connections of Jacksonville, Girls, Incorporated of Jacksonville, PACE Center for Girls of Jacksonville, Planned Parenthood of Jacksonville and the Women’s Center of Jacksonville (2002 only).

Planned Parenthood of Northeast Florida, Jacksonville

• 2002: $50,000 (partner agency) Taking Our Measure and Finding Our Strength, 2003: $70,000 (partner agency) Renewal
  In its first year, this collaboration among six agencies provided a seven-month girl-centric learning experience to girls ages 12-18. The program helped girls to build their self-esteem, recognize their special talents, respect their bodies, value education and develop leadership skills. In 2002, this grant supported a 12-week program for approximately 36 women to develop creative self-expression, assertiveness and self-esteem. In 2003, the collaboration focused entirely on girls, and the program was expanded to include girls ages 9-11. Participating agencies were The Bridge of Northeast Florida, Community Connections of Jacksonville, Girls, Incorporated of Jacksonville, PACE Center for Girls of Jacksonville, Planned Parenthood of Jacksonville and the Women’s Center of Jacksonville (2002 only).

Rebuilding Ex-offenders Successfully Through Opportunities Rehabilitation and Education (R.E.S.T.O.R.E.)

• 2022: $50,000
  The grant will support the salary of the house managers for both locations, and to expand the hours of the Executive Director. It will also allow R.E.S.T.O.R.E. to hire a program evaluation consultant to collect quantitative and qualitative data from participants. The current housing serves 9-12 women per year with a second housing location in the works and offerings for additional non-residential participants.

Rethreaded, All Northeast Florida Counties

• 2023: $50,000
  Rethreaded is on a mission to harness the power of business to create choice for five hundred survivors of human trafficking by 2033. They will eliminate barriers head-on through direct employment via the Survivor Development Program. Any survivor who enters this program is offered a salary, paid holidays, health reimbursement, and telehealth. Funds from WGA’s grant will be used to support the Survivor Development Program.
  
• 2020: $110,000
  Rethreaded works directly with survivors of human trafficking to provide mental health services, long-term career training, and employment. The Survivor Development Program provides each woman with access to trauma-specific counseling, weekly life skills classes, and other career development opportunities. This grant from WGA will allow Rethreaded to expand their programming to include the use of a peer support model and individualized case management.

Safety Shelter of St. John’s County/Betty Griffin Center

• 2022: $50,000
  With a vision of Peace at home…then in the world, the Safety Shelter of St. Johns/Betty Griffin Center, offers protection and quality services for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault and their families in St. Johns County. Without the flow of volunteers during the pandemic to support survivors during rape exams, and reduction in revenue from the thrift store and fundraisers, the staff of the Safety Shelter of St. John’s County has experienced additional stress. This grant will fund a Wellness Program for the staff, allow for an increase in hours for the Advocacy Coordinator and provide direct assistance for survivors in the center’s care.

The Bridge of Northeast Florida, Jacksonville

• 2002: $50,000 (partner agency) Taking Our Measure and Finding Our Strength, 2003: $70,000 (partner agency) Renewal
  In its first year, this collaboration among six agencies provided a seven-month girl-centric learning experience to girls ages 12-18. The program helped girls to build their self-esteem, recognize their special talents, respect their bodies, value education and develop leadership skills. In 2002, this grant supported a 12-week program for approximately 36 women to develop creative self-expression, assertiveness and self-esteem. In 2003, the collaboration focused entirely on girls, and the program was expanded to include girls ages 9-11. Participating agencies were The Bridge of Northeast Florida, Community Connections of Jacksonville, Girls, Incorporated of Jacksonville, PACE Center for Girls of Jacksonville, Planned Parenthood of Jacksonville and the Women’s Center of Jacksonville (2002 only).

Women’s Center of Jacksonville, Jacksonville

• 2003: $35,000 for Learning for Leadership, 2004: $ 8,000 Renewal (to package and market curriculum)
  WGA’s grant helped launch a 12-week program to help women to be positive role models and advocate for themselves and their families. During each session, 8-10 participants would reframe negative thoughts, obtain practical life skills and improve and advocate for their families’ health. This project involved participants from Community Connections, PACE Center for Girls of Jacksonville, Hubbard House, Magnolia Project and Sable Palms Apartments.

• 2003: $40,000 Expanded Horizons, 2004: $20,000 Renewal, 2005: $20,000 Renewal, 2006: $25,000 Renewal (2006), 2007: $20,000 Renewal
  Expanded Horizons is a gender-specific literacy program based on 2002 WGA-funded research. The program offers small classes, flexibility, transportation, child care and life skills development to meet the unique needs of women. The 2007 grant funded the salary of a part-time classroom instructor, allowing the program to develop a literacy component and reach more students at the Women’s Center and through partnerships with Head Start and Hubbard House.

• 2002: $50,000 (partner agency) Taking Our Measure and Finding Our Strength, 2003: $70,000 (partner agency) Renewal
  In its first year, this collaboration among six agencies provided a seven-month girl-centric learning experience to girls ages 12-18. The program helped girls to build their self-esteem, recognize their special talents, respect their bodies, value education and develop leadership skills. In 2002, this grant supported a 12-week program for approximately 36 women to develop creative self-expression, assertiveness and self-esteem. In 2003, the collaboration focused entirely on girls, and the program was expanded to include girls ages 9-11. Participating agencies were The Bridge of Northeast Florida, Community Connections of Jacksonville, Girls, Incorporated of Jacksonville, PACE Center for Girls of Jacksonville, Planned Parenthood of Jacksonville and the Women’s Center of Jacksonville (2002 only).

• 2002: $9,520 for Literacy Curriculum Development
  This grant helped the Women’s Center to develop a gender-specific model of literacy education to meet the unique needs of HIV-positive clients. The curriculum combined best practices from national models of literacy training with counseling to address self-esteem and self-efficacy issues prevalent among women living in a constant state of crisis.

Year Up Jacksonville, Duval County

• 2020: $80,000
  Year Up Jacksonville, in partnership with FSCJ, provides women with professional training for livable wage jobs in high-growth sectors. The Workforce Development Program includes six months of classroom-based and professional training in Information Technology and Sales/Customer Support. Following this training, women then earn a six-month internship with one of the agencies corporate partners. This grant from WGA will provide training and support for approximately 160 women.

Barnabas Center, Inc., Fernandina Beach

• 2023: $50,000
  The Barnabas Center’s mission is to provide help and hope to individuals and families in need throughout Nassau County, improving their stability, health, and well-being. Barnabas will use the $50,000 grant to develop and equip a Healthy Women Nassau County program. The funds will ensure that through a holistic, integrated medical home approach, the needs of female patients are addressed.
  
• 2015: $100,000 Women’s Health Initiative in Nassau (WHIN)
  Barnabas Center is Nassau County’s only comprehensive service provider for individuals and families in crisis. The WHIN program will address the mental health needs of women who have experienced trauma from a severe life event. The program’s goal is for these women to move beyond resolving the immediate crisis and to improve their overall health and well-being by focusing on the survivor’s strengths and resilience. WGA’s grant will help fund a project coordinator and trained professionals specializing in journaling and art therapy.

• 2011: $22,500
  State budget cuts significantly reduced women health services provided by the Nassau County Health Department. WGA’s grant increased women’s health services at the Samaritan Medical Clinic from one evening to two each month. Funding also expanded breast and cervical cancer screenings for at-risk women. In 2009, WGA granted $2,985 to staff a Clinic Coordinator and also cover the costs of pap tests and supplies.

Beaches Women’s Partnership, Neptune Beach

• 2008: $5,000: Woman to Woman Mentoring
  This grant supported the design and piloting of a program to assist women with significant life transitions.

Betty Griffin House – Safety Shelter of St. Johns County

• 2016: $100,000 Hope in Recovery Part II
  Services that combine treatment for substance abuse with services related to domestic and sexual abuse. Despite the high incidence of co-occurrence, almost all treatment programs focus on only one of these problems. Betty Griffin Center will partner with an experienced substance and mental health service provider and will adopt a program that has proven successful in Putnam County. The goal is to provide survivors with a unique safety plan that addresses both domestic/sexual abuse and substance abuse.

• 2013: $130,000 C.A.R.E. Program – Counseling, Advocacy, Recovery, Empowerment
  This two-year grant for the C.A.R.E. program increases Betty Griffin’s capacity to provide timely counseling to victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse. It also helps fund outreach to female veterans and their spouses.

Catholic Charities Bureau, Inc., Jacksonville Regional Office, Jacksonville

• 2009: $2,000 (Discretionary Grant)
  This grant funded the Craft Cooperative Project for Female Refugees. It included the design and pilot of a new program to empower Refugee Resettlement’s female clientele.

Children’s Campaign, Inc., Tallahassee

• 2007: $80,000 over two years, 2010 $53,000 Renewal (includes $18,000 partner funding), 2011 $44,500 Renewal
  WGA-funded advocacy and education helped to identify essential services for justice-involved girls, raise community awareness and involve Duval County legislators in policy and appropriations issues. A certification/training program was developed to upgrade the education and skills of practitioners serving girls in law enforcement, juvenile court and provider settings. The work has ushered in a safer and more accountable treatment of girls.

Continental Societies, Inc. Jacksonville, FL Chapter, Jacksonville

• 2009: $4,000
  This grant funded coaching and counseling for underprivileged girls. Continentals offered tutoring and mentoring outreach programs in youth centers and after-school programs, and served as positive role models.

Delta Research and Educational Foundation, Jacksonville

• 2022: $5,000
  This grant will be used to leverage the learnings from virtual delivery and expand the program model from virtual to a hybrid of virtual and in-person thereby increasing the number of Black females served from 60 to 100. Programs will continue to focus on 1) knowledge/awareness of college 2) self-confidence to attend college and 3) understanding of the importance of fiscal responsibility and 4) enhancement of mental and physical health.

Delores Barr Weaver Policy Center, Jacksonville

• 2016: $100,000 Girl-Centered Practice Collaborative
  Co-creation of a continuity of care model to reduce the use of the juvenile justice system as a mental health provider for girls. The program will establish partnerships with direct service providers, girls and families in Duval, Clay and Nassau counties to develop a strategic plan with a shared vision of how to integrate girl-centered practices into programming and funding strategies, and will increase the capacity of direct service providers to effectively provide girl-centered, trauma-informed mental health services through specialized training with national experts.

• 2013: $100,000 Girl Matters: Giving Girls a Voice
  This two-year grant allows the Center to provide psychoeducational group therapy and family and individual therapy to girls who are in Juvenile Detention in Duval County or at risk of judicial involvement. One hundred girls who have been court-ordered will instead be routed to DBWPC, where they will participate in a tailored version of the five-session SAVVY Sister© and Girl Matters curriculum.

Feeding Northeast Florida

• 2023: $50,000
  Feeding Northeast Florida believes that everyone has the right to the food and resources necessary to live a healthy, productive life. Funds from this grant will be used to provide food to women, primarily mothers, enrolled in two programs: Brighter Beginnings and the Healthy Pantry Network at Sulzbacher Village. They anticipate providing over eight hundred nutrition boxes to Brighter Beginnings and twenty households a week to the Healthy Pantry for one year.

First Coast No More Homeless Pets

• 2022: $38,400
  This grant will be used to expand the successful and well received employee mental health counseling program implemented in response to the pandemic impacts. Eighty-six percent of FCNMHP employees are female.

Gateway Community Services

• 2015: $29,300 Gender Responsive, Trauma-Informed Professional Development
  Gateway provides treatment and recovery services to help people suffering from alcoholism, drug addiction and related mental health issues. WGA’s grant will allow Gateway to provide its counselors with training on evidence-based protocols that integrate gender-specific trauma treatment with substance abuse treatment. Gateway also hopes to expand this training to interested staff of other addiction service providers. The goal of the professional development program is to change the system of care for women and girls entering treatment.

Girl Scouts of Gateway Council, Inc., Jacksonville

• 2010: $20,000 for Get Real! Mentoring, 2011 $20,000 Renewal
  This grant supported a non-troop program to connect at-risk middle school girls with mentors to help them make positive life choices. The grant also funded expansion of the successful middle school program into high schools.

• 2009: $4,000
  This grant helped expand the “Get Real!” program which allowed a group of girls to attend legislative days in Tallahassee.

Girls, Incorporated of Jacksonville, Jacksonville

• 2011: $5,000
  Researched and developed nationally, GirlsTHRIVE is a multi-faceted program to prevent childhood obesity. It exposes girls ages 5-17 to sports, activities, nutrition education and skills development to support healthy minds and bodies. WGA’s grant contributed to the cost of staff and supplies for a summer initiative of the program.

Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition, Jacksonville

• 2008: $5,000
  This grant provided cribs for infants in at-risk families. It also included parent education to improve the safety of babies’ sleep environments.

Hubbard House, Jacksonville

• 2016: $100,000 Rise! Program
  Individual and group mental health counseling services to adult female victims of domestic violence who are receiving wrap-around services at its emergency shelter facility and outreach programs in Duval and Baker counties. The counselor will provide direct services and supervise interns and practicum students, will be available after hours to respond to mental health emergencies, will provide at least two workshops annually to mental health service professionals or students and will increase access to substance abuse services and collaborate with substance abuse service providers.

I.M. Sulzbacher Center for the Homeless, Jacksonville

• 2015: $97,020 Trauma-Informed Therapy for Homeless Females
  The Sulzbacher Center is Northeast Florida’s largest provider of comprehensive services to the homeless. This program will provide on-site crisis management and mental health services to resident homeless women and girls. The program will allow staff to more quickly identify women with traumatic histories and develop intensive individualized treatment plans. WGA’s grant will provide funding for a Women and Girls Intensive Mental Health Case Manager whose duties will include training for all staff to promote an organization-wide trauma-informed culture.

• 2012: $91,656
  This two-year grant expanded mental health services for women and girl residents of Sulzbacher. Funding covered two years of salary for an Intensive Mental Health Case Manager to provide on-site crisis management and mental health services. The Manager assessed the needs of resident mothers using evidenced-based practices and tools and established linkages to community resources and wraparound services for the family.

• 2011: $20,000
  This grant funded salary and benefits for the Aftercare Case Manager who helps single women exiting the shelter. Aftercare services are designed to reduce repeat stays at the shelter. They include monthly contact with clients, home visits and progress evaluations (three over 18 months).

• 2010: $5,000
  This grant expanded the aftercare program to 37 single female clients. It provided move-in kitchen kits to single women moving from the shelter into homes of their own.

Jacksonville Women’s Business Center, Jacksonville

• 2010: $5,000
  This grant supported the Center’s efforts to increase the number of participants and volunteers in the Business Women of Color initiative.

Jewish Family & Community Services, Jacksonville

• 2023: $50,000
  Jewish Family & Community Services was founded in 1917 to strengthen the entire community by providing vulnerable families and individuals with holistic and accessible wrap-around services. Since 2020, they have experienced a 60% surge in pantry clients, feeding over 35,000 people. JFCS will use funds to stabilize families, specifically single mothers, in their care.
• 2022: $50,000
  Due to the COVID induced 60% increase in request for services, this grant will be used to help clients with past-due notices, long-term self-neglect, and declining mental health. Funds will also be used for staff training in specialized trauma interventions, PTSD, Survivor mental health and long-term recovery/resilience strategies for clients and staff.
  
• 2016: $100,000 Sliding Fee Scale Mental Health Counseling
  Individual and family mental health counseling to women and girls. The typical client will be a woman caught in the middle – trying to hold down a job and care for children without the support of family or friends and/or often depending on men in abusive, co-dependent relationships, ineligible for Medicaid but without adequate insurance. The sliding fee scale allows the client to afford counseling and take ownership of her treatment. In-home treatment will be offered to reduce barriers. Clients also will be linked to wrap around services offered by JFCS.

Junior Achievement of North Florida, Jacksonville

• 2010: $25,000 for JA Girl$ Program (includes $18,000 partner funding)
  This grant helped continue and expand the JA Girl$ program. JA Girl$ provides comprehensive education in financial literacy, job preparation and entrepreneurship, as well as mentoring to more than 1,000 girls per year.

• 2008: $5,000
  This grant helped fund a multi-faceted evaluation of JA Girl$, an initiative of JANF. JA Girl$ partners with local nonprofits to teach girls about finance, careers and entrepreneurship.

Mental Health America of Northeast Florida

• 2015: $84,000 Women and Girls Training Institute
  Mental Health America of Northeast Florida leads community efforts to raise awareness of mental health, advocates for resources for those dealing with mental illness and connects community partners to improve mental health services. The Women and Girls Training Institute will educate local Mental Health professionals on mental illnesses that disproportionately affect women and girls. MHA will host three evidence-based training conferences each year and also produce the training in a webinar format.

NCCD Center for Girls and Young Women, Jacksonville

• 2011: $29,500 Girl Matters: It’s Elementary!
  WGA-funded research found that more than 800 elementary-age girls were given out-of-school suspensions each year. This grant provided a portion of the local match required for a four-year grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The project was designed to provide culturally competent and gender-responsive interventions for girls at risk of out-of-school suspension and/or expulsion. The program aimed to provide positive alternatives in order to keep girls in school and increase school connectedness and academic and social success. Partnering with Duval County Schools, NCCD implemented the program at North Shores K-8 and at George Washington Carver Elementary School.

Nonprofit Center of Northeast Florida, Jacksonville

• 2016: $10,000 Impact Grant
  Pilot project to support grantees and extend the impact of the grants that WGA has made during its five-year focus on mental health. Baptist Health is matching WGA funding at $10,000 for this work. This grant will fund research regarding the status of evaluation and the tools available to WGA Mental Health grantees. The grant will conclude with a proposal for a two-year project which will assist grantees in evaluating the effectiveness and communicating the success of their mental health counseling services. WGA will leave open the possibility that WGA could fund, in whole or in part, a continuation of this project in subsequent years.

Northeast Florida AIDS Network (NFAN), Jacksonville

• 2011: $5,000 (Discretionary Grant)
  Established in 1989 as a regional community-based organization, NFAN plans and coordinates HIV/AIDS services and provides compassionate leadership, services and advocacy to meet prevention, health, spiritual and social needs of individuals, families and communities. WGA’s grant supported The Princess Club, a program designed to educate and empower HIV negative girls ages 5-15.

Northeast Florida Healthy Start Coalition, Jacksonville

• 2010: $5,000
  WGA funding was used to train adult women in New Town to take pictures with donated cameras to document conditions in their community. The goal was to develop “photo voices” and help women acquire confidence and skills to become effective community advocates.

Northeast Florida Women Veterans, Inc.

• 2023: $27,100
  The mission of Northeast Florida Women Veterans is to provide women veterans with skill sets that will lead to self-sufficiency. The veterans receive financial assistance, case management, emergency and transitional housing, and skill-based workshops. This grant will allow them to meet a growing need in our community related to unprecedented increases in homelessness and suicide for female veterans.

PACE Center for Girls, Jacksonville, Jacksonville

• 2012: $115,000
  Funding integrated mental health access at the Center with a pilot to expand the depth of psychological services offered, increase services documentation and develop a model to be implemented in other centers. The two-year grant increased on-site treatment from an additional Licensed Counselor for 25 more girls. The service was supervised by a consultant to serve as a pilot for 17 other PACE Centers throughout the state. Prior WGA program grants in 2008, 2009 and 2010 total $113,000.

• 2008: $30,000 (PACEWorks), 2009: $45,000 Renewal, 2010: $38,000 Renewal, 2011 $37,000 Renewal
  In 2008, WGA identified the need to locate and engage PACE alumnae ages 16-25 who had been in foster care. This intensive program of life skills, individual therapy and career exploration and preparation helped young women to develop credentials and on-the-job experience. Key to the program’s success were transition counselors who built relationships of trust with each girl.

Quigley House

• 2022: $50,000
  WGA funding will be utilized for health and wellness for both clients and for staff of the Quigley House in the form of food, hygiene items and child-care for clients and a healthcare initiative for employees. This initiative will increase retention of current employees by providing them with counseling, healthcare costs and self-care needs. Eighty percent of the survivors and 96% of staff at Quigley house are women.

Rethreaded, All Northeast Florida Counties

• 2015: $74,680 Survivor Advocate Program
  Rethreaded is a social entrepreneurship that breaks the cycle of the sex trade by offering viable, creative, safe and supportive work to those affected by the sex trade. The Survivor Advocate Program will provide a trauma-informed work environment, psychoeducational groups and advocacy and support in accessing and navigating the system of care in Jacksonville for mental health and other health related issues. The program will include daily therapy group sessions so that employees can experience continued healing through community while learning a new skill.

Starting Point Behavioral Healthcare, Yulee

• 2013: $110,000 Needs of Women-Today (NOW-Today)
  NOW-Today is a collaboration between Starting Point, Barnabas Center and Micah’s Place. This two-year grant allows 170 women who seek crisis assistance to receive ongoing behavioral health prevention and intervention services. NOW-Today will also address parenting education by providing ongoing parenting classes for 60 women.

The Way Free Medical Clinic, Green Cove Springs

• 2011: $5,000 (Discretionary Grant)
  Grant funding supported “My Baby and Me”, a pilot program to provide education, support and direct services to teen mothers in Clay County. The funds contributed to the cost of curriculum material, instructor salary, bus vouchers and infant supplies.

UF Health Jacksonville

• 2021: $100,000
  Through its Urban Health Alliance program, UF Health focuses on leveraging social services, education, research and policy resources, and activities to improve the lives of fellow Jacksonville residents. This grant will allow the Community Health Worker program to train 20 lay members who share ethnicity, language, socioeconomic status, and life experiences with the community members they serve, providing frontline agents of change to build community healthcare capacity and self-sufficiency.

Volunteers in Medicine, Jacksonville

• 2023: $50,000
  For 20 years, Volunteers in Medicine has remained on mission to advance the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of the working uninsured. Nearly 70% of VIM’s clients are female. Volunteers in Medicine will use the WGA grant funds to partially offset the cost of well-women exams, which can be the difference between life and death. Patients who take a Well Woman exam have an excellent chance of identifying problems early enough to prevent serious lifethreatening complications from delayed diagnosis. These exams include a variety of tests and screenings for everything from high cholesterol to cancer.
• 2019: $72,092: Women’s Health and Wellness Program
  This program provides free health care and screenings to women who earn too much to qualify for public assistance, yet struggle to afford basic cost of living needs. This grant will help provide breast exams, PAP, HPV, and pregnancy tests, reproductive counseling and contraception, if desired, screenings for high cholesterol, diabetes, and hypertension, as well as screenings for depression and domestic violence. The Women’s Health and Wellness Program provides a “medical home” for these women that helps them remain healthy, employed, out of expensive hospital emergency rooms, and home with their families.

• 2016: $22,000 Healing the Mind, Body, Heart and Soul
  Mental health screening, counseling, medication and psychiatric services to working, uninsured women who live or work in Duval County. All direct services will be provided by volunteers at the VIM facility in downtown Jacksonville; WGA funds will be used to offset indirect costs and the cost of medications. Mental health services will be integrated with other health services offered by VIM.

• 2012: $10,000
  Through its volunteer medical professionals, VIM provides free primary healthcare for qualified low-income, working, uninsured people in the Jacksonville area. The center offers pap smears, mammograms, mental health screening and counseling one day each week. The two-year grant supported the cost of a complete patient clinical appointment with a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Licensed Clinical Social Worker or a Psychiatrist at the center for 133 women over two years. In 2011, VIM provided 211 women with these appointments at a cost of $75 each.

We Care Jacksonville, Inc.

• 2023: $49,500
  Since 1993, We Care Jax has provided compassionate specialty care to the uninsured in Duval County. This past year, 82% of the new cancer patients were female. The WGA grant will help support the Cancer Care Cohort, a unique program that ensures our most vulnerable neighbors have access to nutritious food, stable housing, a strong connection to charitable health services as well as the wrap-around services that are vital during a medical crisis.

Women’s Center of Jacksonville, Jacksonville

• 2012: $100,000
  This two-year grant allowed the Center to hire two more counselors, add an unpaid counseling intern, utilize a contract counselor and support additional staff and clients. Funding expanded “no cost” counseling services to an additional 130 women, doubling the number of low-income women receiving no-cost therapy in Duval, Clay and St. Johns Counties. The number of requests has increased over the years from an average of 30 per month in 2008 to a high of 75 in July 2011.

Youth Crisis Center, Jacksonville

• 2009: $2,000 (Discretionary Grant)
  This grant was used to develop a gender-specific curriculum for “Touchstone Village”, a new residential center to serve approximately 30 young women. The program included life coaches and therapists to provide skills for transition to adulthood and independent living.

BEAM (Beaches Emergency Assistance Ministry), Inc., Duval & St. Johns Counties

• 2014: $100,000: Single Parent Project
  For 29 years, BEAM has fought hunger and homelessness in Jacksonville’s beaches communities. This two-year grant allows BEAM to provide intensive wraparound services to low-income single mothers to achieve long-term family self-sufficiency. BEAM will collaborate with the Sulzbacher Center to provide mental health counseling, and partner with other agencies to offer financial planning, job training, GED prep and college academic support.

Betty Griffin Center

• 2023: $50,000
  Betty Griffin Center offers protection and quality services for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault and their families throughout St. John’s County. Most survivors live paycheck to paycheck or have no source of income whatsoever. This grant will help the Betty Griffin Center provide options for survivors to live independently and safely rather than returning to abusive partners because of financial strains by addressing basic needs such as food, childcare, transportation, cost of living, and affordable housing.

Center for Children’s Rights

• 2019: $50,000: Hope Pipeline Project
  The Hope Pipeline Project will work to disrupt the school-to prison-pipeline by using wrap around legal advocacy for girls who are at risk of involvement or who are involved with the juvenile justice system. This program will empower the girl and parent to identify and speak up about the girl’s educational needs as well as create trauma responsive environments at school, home, and within the juvenile justice system.

Delores Barr Weaver Policy Center, Jacksonville

• 2018: $68,696 Breaking the Cycle (BTC) (All Counties)
  DBWPC will work to identify and change policies, practices, obstacles and barriers in the areas of court costs and housing that lead to intergenerational poverty for girls impacted by the justice system, and those who identify as females living in NE Florida. These changes will result in strategic recommendations and solutions, responses, policies and practices that break the inter and multi-generational cycle of poverty for justice-involved girls and their families.

Emergency Services Homeless Coalition, Jacksonville

• 2014: $120,000: ReStorHER
  ReStorHer is a two-year project with two phases: research and analysis to identify the needs of women veterans and barriers to service, and the development of a research-based, gender-specific system of care. ESHC is working in collaboration with the North Florida Women Veteran’s Association (WVA) to address systematic inequalities facing female veterans in Duval County.

Hubbard House (confidential address)

• 2014: $98,000 for RISE
  This two-year grant will fund the RISE program for victims of domestic violence in Baker and Duval Counties. A new manager has been hired to recruit, train, supervise and utilize three to five Master’s level interns and practicum students to provide 1,600 individual and group counseling hours annually to shelter and outreach clients. The program is designed to increase personal empowerment and coping skills, reduce trauma symptoms, enhance knowledge about mental health resources and augment safety strategies.

Micah’s Place

• 2023: $30,000
  Micah’s Place is the only domestic violence center based in Nassau County. Micah’s Place provides safety and support for individuals who have experienced domestic violence and works tirelessly to raise awareness regarding its cause, prevalence, and impact. Micah’s Place will use grant funding for its Breaking the Barrier program. This program focuses on survivors of domestic violence who are experiencing poverty and works to provide survivors with the best opportunity to break through the barriers that keep them in the vicious cycle of poverty.

Rebuilding Ex-Offenders Successfully Through Opportunities Rehabilitation & Education (R.E.S.T.O.R.E.)

• 2023: $50,000
  R.E.S.T.O.R.E.’s mission is to reduce recidivism by providing support services to female ex-offenders making their transition back into mainstream society a successful one. RESTORE provides transitional housing, counseling, education, and job assistance. RESTORE will use the money to fund an established program providing affordable housing and wrap-around services at two transitional homes for recently incarcerated women in Duval County, FL.
  
• 2021: $75,000
  R.E.S.T.O.R.E. is dedicated to reducing the rate of recidivism by providing services and resources to formerly incarcerated women to successfully transition into mainstream society. Optimism to the Future provides safe housing and addresses the trauma the women have endured before, during, and after incarceration through educational support and mental health, substance abuse, and resiliency programs and treatment to promote stable emotional health, sober living, and enhanced individual resiliency. This grant will allow 18 to 24 women to access this program.

The Way Free Medical Clinic, Green Cove Springs

• 2014: $20,000
  With this two-year grant, WFMC will expand its mental health services to help women who may be struggling with depression or other mental illnesses and who otherwise may not access assistance.

Women’s Center of Jacksonville, Jacksonville

• 2014: $135,000
  This two-year grant will fund a full-time Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) to see clients and provide required clinical supervision for up to three Master’s-level or Registered Interns who will collectively provide gender-responsive, trauma-informed mental health services to approximately 360 additional low income and other clients.