More than $5.2 million in grants approved by our Board of Directors last week will help lift struggling families, build staff capacity at critical nonprofit organizations, expand arts and cultural programming, and more.
Much of the funding aims to bolster nonprofits that help weave the social safety net for vulnerable families and individuals in the Sarasota region. The largest grant, at $750,000, will strengthen the workforce that provides critical child-welfare and support services across Sarasota, Manatee, and DeSoto counties.
Barancik Foundation President & CEO Teri A Hansen said: “Chuck and Margie Barancik believed philanthropy has the power to enrich the lives of all people. Our Board is honoring that vision by investing in crucial nonprofits that our community has increasingly come to rely on.”
The following grants were awarded in Barancik Foundation’s five impact areas:
Economic Stability
Second Heart Homes – $650,000 to buy one new home and provide matching funds toward the purchase of a second home to expand supportive housing for homeless adults with mental illnesses in Sarasota.
Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce Foundation – $550,000 to support the Chamber’s CareerEdge Funders Collaborative initiative and Opportunities for All program.
Suncoast Partnership to End Homelessness – $496,000 to strengthen its ability to coordinate the Sarasota-Manatee region’s homeless crisis response system and draw more funding to the area for homeless services.
Project Prosper – $150,000 to expand its financial literacy, coaching, and 0% interest loan programs for refugees and immigrants into Manatee County and, eventually, into Sarasota.
Top: Second Heart Homes offers long-term housing, support, and dignity to homeless adults with mental illness. Above: CareerEdge provides tuition-free training for in-demand jobs, like skilled HVAC technician.
Education Access and Quality
Take Stock in Children of Sarasota County – $400,000 to expand its services to DeSoto County to help economically disadvantaged students enroll and succeed in postsecondary education.
University of South Florida Foundation – $250,062 for a pilot program at USF College of Education to prepare promising teachers in the Sarasota and Manatee county school districts to serve as teacher leaders and administrators.
Sarasota Children’s Museum – $175,000 to launch a state-of-the-art mobile museum offering high-quality, hands-on STEAM education opportunities.
Take Stock in Children of Sarasota County, which pairs students with volunteer mentors, scholarships, and other resources for postsecondary success, will expand its services to DeSoto County.
Healthcare Access and Quality
Beyond the Spectrum – $300,000 to enable more families to receive specialized education, therapies, and care for their children with intellectual and developmental disabilities by keeping services affordable and strengthening its staff.
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Sarasota and Manatee Counties – $250,000 for capacity building to expand its peer-led mental-health support services for youth, adults, and families.
Beyond the Spectrum will use a Barancik Foundation grant to keep its special education and therapeutic services affordable for families who have children with intellectual or developmental disabilities.
Social and Community Well-Being
Safe Children Coalition – $750,000 for staff capacity building to provide and expand high-quality child-welfare services for children in need in Sarasota, Manatee, and DeSoto counties.
Manatee Community Foundation – $350,000 in operational support to grow philanthropy in Manatee County.
Asolo Repertory Theatre – $300,000 to implement the Big IDEA, an initiative to engage more diverse audiences by reducing economic, accessibility, and language and culture barriers to live theater.
Florida Humanities – $125,000 to support and expand humanities programming in Sarasota, Manatee, and DeSoto counties.
Neighborhood and Environment
Solutions to Avoid Red Tide – $350,000 to expand the Healthy Pond Collaborative in Sarasota and Manatee counties.
The Healthy Pond Collaborative helps neighborhoods enhance their stormwater retention ponds with native Florida plantings and other best practices to improve local water quality.
The Barancik Foundation Board also approved $131,500 in smaller grants to nine local organizations that Chuck and Margie Barancik regularly supported through their philanthropy.
Go deeper: Read the full press release here.
