Detailed information about WGA’s 2022 grant recipients:
- Ability Housing: $18,250 (Duval County)
By operating community villages throughout Duval County, Ability Housing provides safe, affordable housing and wrap around support services to people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. Ability partners with area service organizations to support resident independent living skill development including education and employment readiness training. Ability will use the $18,250 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.
- Barnabas Center: $50,000 (Nassau County)
Located in Nassau County, Barnabas provides food, crisis assistance &
medical/dental care to uninsured adults living in poverty. Due to the COVID
induced closure of their resale store, COVID induced dramatic reduction in feefor-service revenue, soaring costs for food and transportation along with
devastating operational challenges presented by COVID, Barnabas will use the
$50,000 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. - Beaches Emergency Assistance Ministry (BEAM): $50,000 (Duval and St Johns
counties)
BEAM serves residents in both Duval and St John’s counties by providing
emergency assistance and a path to economic stability for the Beaches
communities including Jacksonville Beach, Neptune Beach, Atlantic Beach,
Mayport, Ponte Vedra Beach and San Pablo. BEAM will use the $50,000 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. - Delta Research and Educational Foundation: $5,000 (Duval County)
The local chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority provides Black women mentoring
and support services through programs focused on Economic Development,
Educational Development, International Awareness, and Involvement, Physical
and Mental Health, Political Awareness and Involvement. The Delta Sorority sisters
have been disproportionally traumatized by the social isolation brought on by
pandemic and, due to regulations imposed by the governing chapter in
response to COVID, DELTA has only been able to provide their programs virtually.
Delta will use the $5,000 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. - Family Promise of Jacksonville: $50,000 (Duval County)
Since 2006 Family Promise of Jacksonville has been changing outcomes for lowincome mothers at risk of or experiencing homelessness. Leveraging partnerships
with local congregations to provide temporary shelter and holistic, individualized
case management, Family Promise supports mothers transition to affordable
housing, with a goal of doing so within 90 days. The COVID induced increase in
soft evictions heightened demand for client services. In addition, they have
suffered staffing problems. Family Promise will use the $50,000 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. - First Coast No More Homeless Pets: $38,400 (Duval County)
Founded in 2002, First Coast No More Homeless Pets, offers affordable and
accessible veterinary care that keeps dogs and cats in homes and out of
shelters. FCNMHP also offers a unique VET Tech career development and training
program that provides personal development and career readiness targeting atrisk, low-income young adults with the goals of self-sufficiency, employment, and
advanced training. FCNMHP Veterinarians, Vet Techs and support staff were
overwhelmed by the stress of the radically changed work environment due to
mandated COVID protocols, the unique pressures of providing their services and,
staff deaths and suicides. FCNMHP will use the $38,400 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. - Girls Inc. of Jacksonville: $50,000 (Duval County)
Girls Incorporated of Jacksonville is an affiliate of a national organization
founded in 1864 to provide life-changing tools, resources, and support to at-risk
girls from low-income families. Focusing on the development of the whole girl,
Girls Inc has a strong and successful history of encouraging girls to be healthy,
educated, and independent. 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 the
$50,000 to recover a large share of its reach by adding school day programs in
four additional schools in the Duval County area. The anticipate serving two
hundred girls at each additional Duval School, in addition to the six hundred
already being served. - Hubbard House: $50,000 (Duval County)
Hubbard House serves victims of domestic violence and their families by offering
intervention and prevention programs that provide safety, empowerment, and
social change. The priority programs are the emergency shelter, hotline, and
Outreach Center. State regulations require provision of these services, among
others, and state funding does not fully cover program delivery cost. Due to the
COVID induced closure of the thrift shop, Hubbard House lost several months of
much needed revenue. What’s more, supply chain issues and inflationary
pressures squeeze their ability to provide the required necessities to
clients. Hubbard House is also struggling to attract and retain a manager for the
store. Hubbard House will use the $50,000 to 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. - Jewish Family & Community Services: $50,000 (Duval County)
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. Due to the COVID induced 60% increase
in request for services, JFS will use the $50,000 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. - Lutheran Social Services of Northeast Florida, Inc.: $50,000 (Duval County)
Lutheran Social Services has served and cared for people in need in Northeast
Florida since 1979, starting with addressing hunger and expanding services from
there. The pandemic increased the need for emergency food assistance, which
has continued due to the rising food prices and other demands on funds, like the
end of the eviction moratorium. While the need for food increased, donations of
food decreased along with volunteers to help distribute the food. Lutheran
Social Services will use the $50,000 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. - MaliVai Washington Kids Foundation: $32,700 (Duval County)
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 $32,700 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: $9,300 (Nassau County)
The only certified domestic violence center serving Nassau County, Micah’s
Place seeks to empower survivors of domestic violence and their children at any
stage of their journey. Micah’s Place will use the $9,300 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. - Northeast Florida Women Veterans: $50,000 (Duval County)
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 skillbased workshops. During the pandemic, the need for financial assistance and
food doubled. This $50,000 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. Between
65-70 women and their families will be impacted by this grant. - Quigley House: $50,000 (Clay County)
As the only domestic violence shelter in Clay County, Quigley House educates,
equips, and empowers survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. The
pandemic affected donations of food, clothing and personal hygiene items for
clients and the hiring and retention of staff. The $50,000 in 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. - Rebuilding Ex-offenders Successfully Through Opportunities Rehabilitation and
Education (R.E.S.T.O.R.E.) $50,000 (Duval County)
R.E.S.T.O.R.E.’s mission is to reduce the rate of recidivism by providing support
services to female ex-offenders to make their transition back into mainstream
society a success. They provide transitional housing, counseling, education, and
job assistance. The pandemic reduced the number of participants they could
serve and the fundraising opportunities, which has impacted staffing. The $50,000
WGA 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. - Safety Shelter of St. John’s County/Betty Griffin Center: $50,000 (St. Johns County)
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.
The $50,000 grant from the WGA 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.
After funding these sixteen organizations, WGA found themselves with $6,350 remaining.
In a desire to support women and girls in Putnam County and understanding the
overwhelming need for food in our community, the Decision Team recommended a
one-time donation of $6,350 to Epic-Cure.
- Epic-Cure: $6,350 (one-time donation) (St. Johns and Putnam Counties)Following a pledge of dignity, respect and non-discrimination, Epic-Cure focuses on solving food insecurity in St Johns and Putnam Counties. Their model relies on central distribution warehouses in St Augustine and Palatka, which allow for both food pantry organizations to shop and for families to pick up fresh food 1-2 days a week. The operations, driven 100% by volunteers, are efficient, with every $1 of operating costs delivering about $31 worth of food. In Putnam County they partner with eight individual non-profit organizations and serve as Feeding NEFL’s main distribution hub in the county. This grant from the WGA will help Epic-Cure with food procurement and with a new project to develop a mobile distribution model, allowing them to transport refrigerated groceries to more rural parts of Putnam County.