Never losing sight of a brighter future to be forged, Chuck and Margie envisioned a community in which everyone had opportunities for health, growth, and success. Our community is changing for the better, yet enduring issues still obstruct progress on improving the quality of life in our region. Our initiatives employ data and collaboration to bolster systemic social safety nets.
Our Work
Our Initiatives
We believe bold philanthropy is uniquely positioned to raise the flag on issues that threaten the future of our community. From creating a coordinated network of mental health providers to increasing access to care for mothers and babies, we are catalyzing efforts around systemic issues that require complex and long-term solutions.
Transforming the community
from every angle.
Social and Community Context
Community News Collaborative
Overview
Since 2004, nearly 2,000 newspapers have closed their doors, and since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, more than 6,000 news workers have lost their jobs, according to a tally by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. As community journalism shrinks, so does community networking and quality of life, studies have shown. Local governments receive less scrutiny and, as a result, the cost of living can rise, academic research has shown. So-called “news deserts” undermine the foundations of democracy by reducing civic involvement.
Barancik Foundation and WUSF Public Media are partnering to create the Community News Collaborative to substantially expand coverage of news in Sarasota, Manatee, and DeSoto counties. The CNC will include an editor and four multimedia reporters who will create print, video, and audio content for syndication to more than a dozen news outlets across the Gulf Coast.
CNC will be an independent news-gathering organization overseen by an advisory board of community leaders. Examples of topics likely covered include grassroots school happenings, environmental issues, social justice, and events in underrepresented communities.
Advisory Board
The CNC advisory board is comprised of local and regional professionals with subject-matter expertise involving the intersection of non-profit work and the journalism field. Tim Clarke, William L. “Bill” McComb, and Maria D. Vesperi joined the board in November 2022. Learn more about each by reading their bios here.
Launched
2022
Why
Shrinking resources have limited the news coverage of many of the region’s news organizations, preventing them from engaging with many ongoing stories that they were able to follow in better economic days.
Partners
The Sarasota Herald-Tribune, the Observer Media Group, Venice Gondolier/The Daily Sun, The Bradenton Herald, Tempo News, ABC 7 WWSB, WEDU Public Media, WSLR, iHeart Radio, Solmart Media, Sarasota Magazine, Sarasota Scene Magazine and West Coast Woman.
Family Enrichment
First 1,000 Days Suncoast
Overview
The earlier the investment, the greater the return. This is Barancik Foundation’s philosophy on the life-changing importance of investing in prenatal care and early childhood development. This philosophy is what drove us, alongside 70+ partners, to explore how our community can better provide families with the foundational support they need during babies’ critical early years. Each year, First 1,000 Days Suncoast reviews barriers facing families in Sarasota.
Strengthened by leadership from Sarasota Memorial Hospital, the initiative delivered on its promise to launch a public parent portal to promote the benefits of helping to boost a baby’s brain. Families can also enter themselves into a referral system, powered by Unite Us, if they need parenting assistance or help getting basic needs.
Read more about the history of the First 1,000 Days initiative by following this link and enjoy the team’s 2022 annual summary here.
Launched
2018
Why
The majority of a child’s brain develops within the first 1,000 days of life. Supporting families during this critical early childhood development period has lifelong impacts on health and wellbeing.
Partners
Sarasota Memorial Health Care System and 78 community partners.
Mental Health
Here4YOUth
Overview
The prevalence of mental health challenges among children and youth is increasing. Substance abuse, suicide, and other related problems are also on the rise. While the reasons for these increases are not fully understood, likely factors include stress and trauma, use of technology and social media, and increasing sleep disruptions. Across the country, local mental health systems are struggling to keep up. Sarasota, like many communities, is seeking to improve its mental health system of care to fully meet the needs of children and youth.
Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation and Gulf Coast Community Foundation are convening stakeholders to chart a way forward. Our overall purpose is to identify short-term capacity building and longer-term systemic investments that can create a system of care that responds effectively to the mental health needs of all children, youth, and families in Sarasota County.
Launched
2018
Why
Untreated mental illness in children and young adults can devastate individuals and destroy their families. Its impact also extends throughout our community, costing us all dearly. A new study put that economic cost at $86 million a year here in Sarasota County.
Partners
Gulf Coast Community Foundation and a collaborative consortium of human service organizations.
Student Success
Barancik Early Learning Initiative
Overview
In 2020, everyone became deeply aware of childcare’s relationship to the labor market—you can’t reopen the economy without early learning centers. A fragile system before the pandemic, the industry is now on life support.
Preschools are the converging point of many of our society’s biggest challenges and greatest opportunities. They hold promise to stimulate intergenerational cycles of opportunity.
We have convened key partners and will be working together to create more opportunities for high-quality childcare. We thank the YMCA of Southwest Florida, which has been instrumental in identifying areas that can be improved in our system.
Launched
2022
Why
We believe that by transforming the system of early learning in our community, we can create a more prosperous economy and a more educated workforce.
Partners
Community Foundation of Sarasota County, Local preschool directors and teachers, Sarasota County Schools, United Way of the Suncoast, YMCA of Southwest Florida, and our research partners: Kempton Research and Planning and the University of Florida.
Student Success
Time to Inspire Margie’s Educators – TIME Fellowship
Overview
Chuck and Margie Barancik loved our community’s children and teachers. As a former teacher, Margie knew what research clearly states: a motivated and highly effective classroom teacher is the most important factor for a child’s academic success.
To honor Margie’s chosen profession, the TIME Fellowship (Time to Inspire Margie’s Educators) will support as many as 25 fellowships to Sarasota County School District educators, each awarded up to $12,000, to help refresh and renew their commitment to teaching.
Project proposals from both individual applicants and collaborative groups of two or more may be submitted. Each project idea should be intellectually revitalizing and personally renewing. The idea proposed should also seek to creatively expand an educator’s experiences through projects that are of a unique quality and provide opportunities for personal fulfillment that might otherwise not be available.
Launched
2022
Why
A motivated and highly effective classroom teacher is the most important factor for a child’s academic success. This effort will help rejuvenate educators’ passion for education and teaching.
Partners
Sarasota County School District
Student Success
Teacher Recruitment|Retention
Overview
Everyone remembers their favorite teacher. Outside of family, teachers have the greatest influence on a child’s academic performance and future success. They can make all the difference in the world. That’s why we want to keep good teachers and attract new ones. Knowing their vital role and that teachers create all other professions, Barancik Foundation has invested more than $7 million in funding for Sarasota County Schools professional development. In partnership with our school district, we launched a Teacher Retention | Recruitment initiative to explore ways to ensure the need was met.
The program identifies volunteers, parents and district employees, already with their college degree, who demonstrate characteristics of a future teacher. The program helps with certification costs, provides career guidance, and helps future teachers navigate the application process. Cohorts dubbed “Emerging Educators” ensure that no new educator enters the classroom without a network of peer support.
Launched
2017
Why
Many factors contribute to a student’s academic performance, including individual characteristics and family and neighborhood experiences. But research suggests that, among school-related factors, teachers matter most.
Partners
Sarasota County School District and State College of Florida
Financial Empowerment
Affordable Housing
Overview
Imagine the work that could be accomplished – the families saved from homelessness and the mental well-being of workers who no longer would have to worry about meeting their rent requirements – if there were a recurring funding source that could support such a workforce housing lift each year. It would not be sufficient to meet all the demand for housing, but it would ease the problem.
A coalition of foundations and community and business leaders convinced the Sarasota County Commission to add $20 million to a $5 million allocation of American Rescue Plan Act dollars for workforce housing. That money would be used for leveraging $137 million in projects creating 623 workforce housing units.
Together with our partners, we are exploring more ways to address this issue and bring more funding to the table.
Launched
2022
Why
Sarasota County has not kept pace with the demand for workforce housing. Now the county and region find themselves with a crisis in both rental housing and single-family availability.
Partners
Gulf Coast Community Foundation
Environmental Stewardship
Partners for Green Places
Overview
Partners for Green Places is an initiative forged to inspire organizations to play an active and engaged role in the adoption of sustainable practices. The goal is to empower and showcase organizations that have adopted sustainable practices to deliver meaningful results and share those stories so any organization can understand how they, too, can be a part of forging a more sustainable future. Nonprofits also harness Florida’s year-round sunshine with solar arrays, shining a light on sustainable design and its savings.
The City of Sarasota and Sarasota County sustainability staff approached Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation and Gulf Coast Community Foundation to pilot a water and energy efficiency program for nonprofits. This created an alliance of nonprofit organizations that motivate and inspire the for-profit sector with their commitment to sustainability and healthier, greener practices through their work and within their communities.
Launched
2018
Why
Investing in energy and water efficiency improvements at nonprofits is good for the environment. Improvements reduce water and utility bills, allowing more money to go toward programming.
Partners
Sarasota County and City Sustainability Departments, Gulf Coast Community Foundation, Community Foundation of Sarasota County, William G. and Marie Selby Foundation and other community partners.
Student Success
Reading Recovery
Overview
Drawing on decades of results, Reading Recovery is a proven formula to help catch up elementary students who struggle the most with reading and writing. In 2015, Sarasota County School District officials and philanthropist Keith Monda were strategizing ways to address the 35% of third-grade students who were not reading on grade level. Monda, who supported the national implementation of Reading Recovery through the Ohio State University, had the vision to introduce our region to the program.
Partnering with Barancik Foundation and Gulf Coast Community Foundation, a pilot was launched at three Title 1 elementary schools. The first year saw incredible success, seeing 85% of participating students reach average grade level following the series of lessons. Fast forward to today and all 23 elementary schools have at least one Reading Recovery teacher on staff—all covered through Title 1 funding.
Launched
2015
Why
Up until third grade, children are learning to read. After that, they read to learn. So what happens when a child reaches elementary school but is already not making progress at their grade level?
Partners
Sarasota County Schools, Keith Monda, and Gulf Coast Community Foundation.
Social Wellness
COVID-19 Response Fund
Overview
Overlapping crises have laid bare deeply rooted problems with our health care, educational and human service systems. Now is the time for our community to be bonded, partnerships strengthened, and social safety nets tightened. Fortunately for us, our nonprofit community has demonstrated just that. When the pandemic struck, our nonprofits acted boldly on behalf of the community.
Just as our partners have unified to carry our community through this, we have unified to support them. We are providing flexible grants and partnered with Gulf Coast Community Foundation on a joint philanthropic initiative to ensure the well-being and flexibility of our vital nonprofits. We aren’t only reacting to needs created by COVID, but also addressing systemic inequities the pandemic has exposed.
Launched
2020
Why
Our nonprofit partners need flexible and immediate funding to address the emerging issues that have come out of the pandemic and economic shutdowns.
Partners
Gulf Coast Community Foundation
“Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation—a major catalyst for improving
the lives of the less fortunate in the community.”
– Sarasota Herald-Tribune