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COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT:

	November 2006 Asheville Parks and Greenways Foundation Asheville, North Carolina	Awarded: $300,000
	Offering a challenge grant for renovation of the W. C. Reid Center housing the Cultural Renaissance Arts Program, the only cultural arts outreach project in Asheville directly reaching youth in the public housing areas. The program challenges youth to become positive contributors to the community through the production and presentation of social dramas, visual arts, dance, music and literary arts projects. The program was recognized by the National League of Cities in the most innovative municipal program category ..........................................................................................................................................

	November 2006 Nonprofit Leadership Center of Tampa Bay (formerly Management Assistance Program) Tampa, Florida	Awarded: $60,000
	A matching grant to support a college and graduate-level certification program for nonprofit management. To equip the next generation of nonprofit leaders, management training is a necessity for executives to assure they will have the skills to sustain well-managed operations. The Nonprofit Leadership Center and the University of Tampa have collaborated to develop the Certificate in Nonprofit Management and Innovation program. Through this program, the Center has committed to enhance the quality and content of its training and educational offerings to area nonprofit organizations. The grant is restricted to organizations serving children and families. .........................................................................................................................................

	June 2006 Asheville-Buncombe Education Coalition Asheville, North Carolina	Awarded: $70,000
	Supporting the development of a long-term sustainability plan to support ABEC and its community partners. This grant recognizes the impressive work of five years of the coalition in significantly increasing high school graduation rates and in addressing racial disparity issues. .........................................................................................................................................

	February 2006 MANNA FoodBank Asheville, North Carolina	Awarded: $50,000
	Supporting a capital campaign for the purchase and renovation of additional warehouse space for this food bank serving over 9,000 meals a day and 345 nonprofit agencies in 16 counties in Western North Carolina. Clients of the food bank include several EFF grantees and many youth-serving organizations.

COMMUNITY HEALTH CARE:

	June 2006 Morton Plant Mease Foundation Clearwater, Florida	Awarded: $50,000
	Providing a matching grant for the “Earn as You Learn” program for patient care technicians. Six at-risk young adults will continue their education at Pinellas Technical Education Center and gain clinical experience in a hospital environment. The program provides tuition, books, housing and other needs while paying the students a stipend. The program goal is to provide opportunities to at-risk youth in the health care profession.

EARLY CHILD CARE:

	February 2006 Grace Jones Community Center Marathon, Florida	Awarded: $136,500
	Providing matching grant supporting the capital campaign to replace a community center destroyed by multiple hurricanes in 2005. The center provides child care and after-school programming in a predominantly poor neighborhood. Every staff member has the Child Development Associate status. The center has been a model STEPS, Early Learning Program for Head Start in the region and is the only licensed center serving infants in Monroe County.

EDUCATION:

	February 2006 Key West Botanical Garden Society Key West, Florida	Awarded: $600,000
	Funding two years of the Environmental Educational Program to enhance science education for at-risk students in the Monroe County School System. After demonstrating success in the pilot phase, this program will serve 5,000 students and teachers. The elements include in-class mentoring as well as peer-to-peer learning and technical assistance for science teachers. The organization has developed a partnership with Duke University that involves local high school students in the research efforts of Duke’s master’s program. The program goal is to improve graduation rates for youth and involve them in planning for success.

FOSTER CARE:

	November 2006 The Children's Home Tampa, Florida	Awarded: $700,000
	A challenge grant for the renovation and upgrading of Lois Binnicker Hall, the administration building supporting 2,000 children and 600 families annually. This residential treatment program serves children who have been abused, neglected or abandoned with a program designed to provide a nurturing family setting. The Children’s Home works to heal each child and return them to the community, healthy and ready to take their place as a successful participant. The grant also recognizes contributions to The Children’s Home made by Lois Binnicker, a founding member of The Children’s Home, and her daughter, Ruth Binnicker Eckerd, a past board member. .........................................................................................................................................

	November 2006 Camelot Community Care, Connected by 25 Tampa, Florida	Awarded: $275,550
	Supporting development of a statewide technical assistance office for the replication of the Connected by 25 (Cby25) program serving foster care, juvenile justice and other transitioning youth. Cby25 has demonstrated success with specific understandable outcomes. This project and its advocacy efforts have resulted in system changes for youth aging out of foster care across Florida. Program replication demands a thoughtful, strategic process ensuring fidelity to the Cby25 model. This grant will facilitate the process of replication throughout the state. .........................................................................................................................................

	June 2006 Camelot Community Care Tampa, Florida	Awarded: $450,000
	Second-year funding of the “Connected by 25” project for youth transitioning out of foster care. This pilot project provides education, workforce development skills, financial literacy, savings and asset accumulation and entrepreneurship training to foster children aging out of the system. The goal is to prepare foster children to become economically successful and live independently. The grant includes a public policy and advocacy/education component to address needed change in the foster care system within Florida. The project is a collaborative effort among the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative, the Lumina Foundation and the Eckerd Family Foundation. .........................................................................................................................................

	June 2006 Florida Guardian ad Litem Association Glen St. Mary, Florida	Awarded: $150,000
	A three-year grant supporting statewide planning work, development of a strategic plan and the capacity to implement the plan and the supports needed by the regional GAL offices. The goal is to increase Guardian ad Litem services for youth in the foster care system throughout Florida. .........................................................................................................................................

	February 2006 National Governors Association Center for Best Practices Washington, DC	Awarded: $50,000
	Providing a matching grant to support a national Policy Academy, an intensive workshop that helps states design and implement action plans promoting large scale policy initiatives. The activities would support the foundation’s interest in youth policy and especially youth in and emerging from foster care. A strategic plan for assisting foster care youth will be developed.

JUVENILE JUSTICE:

	June 2006 American Stage St. Petersburg, Florida	Awarded: $10,000
	Supporting a pilot program in Pinellas County Juvenile Detention Center supporting an Artist in Residence program working with incarcerated girls to help them express their feelings in a positive way, define and implement goals and expand their world view. The curriculum will focus on character building, making healthy choices, defining positive relationships, problem solving, strategies for success and personal empowerment. .........................................................................................................................................

	June 2006 Boy Scouts of America, Gulf Ridge Council Tampa, Florida	Awarded: $150,000
	A three-year grant for the implementation of a juvenile diversion program, JAKE, that will work with 600 first-time, nonviolent youth. The Juveniles Achieving Knowledge and Experience program provides an alternative to formal court proceedings, keeping the youth out of the juvenile justice system, and offers a second chance for those who are willing to accept responsibility. The program is a local collaborative effort among the Boy Scouts, law enforcement, the state attorney, public defender and the judiciary. The program is unique in that youth do not enter the juvenile justice system in the first instance and will be operated in the context of the civil citation option, as provided in Chapter 985, Florida Statutes.

YOUTH DEVELOPMENT:

	June 2006 Big Brothers Big Sisters of Tampa Bay Tampa, Florida	Awarded: $50,000
	Supporting the Mentoring Children of Prisoners Program, an initiative focused on providing mentors to children of incarcerated parents, who are one of the highest-risk groups in the United States. Based on the Amachi Project, the program is a partnership of secular and faith-based organizations working together to mentor children. This program coordinates mentoring services and creates partnerships with the faith-based community. .........................................................................................................................................

	June 2006 Great Explorations St. Petersburg, Florida	Awarded: $75,000
	Supporting outreach services of The Children’s Museum to at-risk youth in the community. This program includes adding ten additional participants to the Youth Apprentice Program, free memberships to 500 foster families and group homes, summer camp scholarships as well as fostering at-risk you to take advantage of other educational, career and leadership development opportunities at the museum. .........................................................................................................................................

	February 2006 The Hospice of the Florida Suncoast Largo, Florida	Awarded: $50,356
	Second-year funding supporting the Hospice Youth Providing Encouragement (HYPE) program in St. Petersburg in which at-risk youth engage their peers in service projects that give purpose and meaning to life. The project is a collaboration addressing underutilization of Hospice services in the St. Petersburg community through involvement of youth in the faith-based community. This model is evidence-based and driven by youth leadership who develop specific program goals. In addition to addressing end of life issues, the program also provides guidance on issues touching violence and suicide. The project has involved several high schools and continues to expand with youth visiting nursing homes, speaking at churches, visiting patients’ homes and creating leadership opportunities.

CHILD PROTECTION AND PREVENTION:

	November 2006 Help A Child, Inc. Pinellas Park, Florida	Awarded: $45,000
	This is an emergency support grant to address a funding gap to support the Parent Aide Program, a child abuse prevention program that works with families before child abuse occurs. Community volunteers serve as aides to parents seeking supportive guidance. This proven intervention program helps parents achieve success in raising their children by helping develop a supportive environment and offering knowledge to guide parents to successfully raise healthy, emotionally stable children.

YOUTH IN TRANSITION:

	November 2006 Presbyterian Home for Children of Black Mountain, NC, Inc. Black Mountain, North Carolina	Awarded: $160,000
	Funding a challenge grant of $100,000 for the construction of an eight-unit apartment building for foster youth completing high school or GED requirements and housing the independent living program for youth transitioning from foster care to young adulthood. An additional amount of $60,000 is awarded for operation of the transitional living training program designed to promote a successful transition to adult living by offering physical, emotional, financial and career-guidance support to the young adults housed in the new building. Each youth enrolled in the program must be actively pursuing a trade, technical or college education.