Initiatives
The Florida BrAIve Fund

Year One: Grants Made to Date

Updated 2/22/10

Improving Access to Information

1. Florida Alliance of Information & Referral Specialists (211)

• Grant Amount: $152,990
• Counties Served: All Counties in Florida
• Grant Period: 7/1/09 to 6/30/10
• Purpose: To establish the BrAIve Helpline, a single 1-800 number accessible throughout the state of Florida and operated through regional 211 call centers, which will offer streamlined information and referral services for active military personnel and veterans serving or who have served in Iraq and/or Afghanistan and their families. The focus will be on supporting and connecting these military families to services to help them cope with the challenges of daily life prior to, during, and after their deployment, including the often stressful transition back to military life. These military personnel and their families will also be able to search for services in their area via a BrAIve Helpline Online Resource Database.

Emergency Financial Assistance

1. National Guard Foundation

• Grant Amount: $425,956
• Counties Served: All Counties in Florida
• Grant period: 4/1/09 to 8/1/2010
• Purpose: To establish the Florida National Guard Emergency Relief Fund to assist eligible Florida National Guardsmen and families impacted by deployments to Iraq and/or Afghanistan with financial emergencies, as well as reintegration assistance following a deployment. The Emergency Relief Fund will ultimately provide $685,000 over a two-year period statewide, including $425,956 for financial assistance in North Florida.
• Contact: Roger Williams, e-mail address: roger.williams@fl.ngb.army.mil, phone number: 904/827-8519

2. American Red Cross of Northwest Florida

• Grant Amount: $150,000
• Counties Served:  Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Holmes, Washington, Jackson, Calhoun, Bay, and Gulf Counties
• Grant Period: 4/1/09-8/1/2010
• Purpose: To make available an emergency financial assistance fund to meet the unmet needs of military personnel, veterans, and families affected by deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, to fill gaps beyond what is currently available through the Red Cross, existing relief funds, military and government sources, and community-based organizations. Needs to be met include emergency financial needs, housing & mortgage assistance, funds for mental health/counseling visits, and care for dependents.
• Contact: Sheri Frost, e-mail address: frostsh@usa.redcross.org, contact phone number: 850/682-3356

3. American Red Cross of Northeast Florida Chapter

• Grant Amount: $607,256
• Counties Served: Hamilton, Suwanee, Lafayette, Dixie, Columbia, Levy, Gilchrist, Union, Bradford, Alachua, Baker, Nassau, Duval, Clay, St.Johns, Putnam, Volusia, Flagler 
• Grant Period: 4/1/09 to 8/1/2010
• Purpose: To make available an emergency financial assistance fund to meet the unmet needs of military personnel, veterans, and families affected by deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, to fill gaps beyond what is currently available through the Red Cross, existing relief funds, military and government sources, and community-based organizations. Needs to be met include emergency financial needs, housing & mortgage assistance, funds for mental health/counseling visits, and care for dependents.
• Contact: Liz Brown, e-mail address: brownl@nefloridaredcross.org, contact phone number: 904/246-1395

4. American Red Cross, Capital Area Chapter

• Grant Amount: $150,000 
• Counties Served: Franklin, Gadsden, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Taylor, Wakulla
• Grant Period: 5/1/09 to 4/30/2011
• Purpose: To make available an emergency financial assistance fund to meet the unmet needs of military personnel, veterans, and families affected by deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, to fill gaps beyond what is currently available through the Red Cross, existing relief funds, military and government sources, and community-based organizations. Needs to be met include emergency financial needs, housing & mortgage assistance, funds for mental health/counseling visits, and care for dependents. This grant will also provide supplementary transportation services to injured veterans who are unable to access other means of transportation to VA hospitals. 
• Contact: David Chayer, e-mail address: david.chayer@tallyredcross.org, contact phone number: 850-878-6080

Access to Medical Services

1. American Red Cross, Capital Area Chapter (see description above)

5. Milton Elks Lodge

• Grant Amount:Counties Served: Escambia
• Grant Period: 11/09 - 11/2010
• Purpose:  to support its Operation Connect-Vet program which provides transportation for veterans to the Veteran Administration Joint Ambulatory Care Center (JACC) and Pensacola Navy Hospital in Escambia County.  This service provides door to door service to veterans with limited or no transportation.
• Contact: W.D. "Bill" Allen.  Contact phone number: 850.623.5874

Mental Health

1. Hurlburt Field Airman & Family Readiness Activities Council

• Grant Amount: $40,000
• Counties Served: Okaloosa, Escambia, Santa Rosa and Walton
• Grant Period: 7/1/09 to 6/30/11
• Purpose: To provide reintegration retreats and activities for returning military personnel and their families and a deployed spouse and returning families dining program for military personnel and families affected by deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.  Reintegration activities will be facilitated by professionals who will empower families and individuals to adjust to “the new normal” and to provide child care and other supports to enable families to attend and participate. Deployed spouse and reintegration activities will provide an opportunity for peer-to-peer networking and support, as well as an opportunity for the Family Readiness Activities Council to keep families informed about other supports available to them in a trusting and familiar environment (financial assistance programs, mental health supports, etc.).
• Contact: L. Kelly Childs, e-mail address: Kelly.childs@hurlburt.af.mil, contact phone number: 850-884-4751

2. Workforce Board of Okaloosa/Walton Counties

• Grant Amount: $50,000
• Counties: Okaloosa and Walton
• Grant Period: 7/1/09 to 6/30/11
• Purpose: To provide specialized training for school guidance counselors and local community support organizations (including nonprofit and government agencies, substance abuse and mental health providers, and others) to enable these professionals to better understand and provide support to military personnel and families affected by deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.
• Contact: Mary Lou Reed, e-mail address: mlreed@jobspluss02.com, contact phone number: 850/651-2315

3. Eglin AFB Support Center Activities Council

• Grant Amount: $20,000
• Counties Served: Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Escambia and Walton
• Grant Period:  6/1/09 to 6/1/11
• Purpose: To provide a monthly Deployed Spouse dining program and special events for families affiliated with Eglin Air Force Base while their loved ones are deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, and to offer emergency assistance to fill gaps beyond services currently available for these families. Activities for these “deployed families” will provide an opportunity for peer-to-peer networking and support, as well as an opportunity for the Activities Council to keep families informed about other support programs available to them in a trusting and familiar environment.
• Contact:  Barbara Turney, Phone: 850-882-7237, or Mary Davis, Phone: 850-882-402, e-mail address: mary.davis@eglin.af.mil

4. United Way of Volusia-Flagler Counties

• Grant Amount: $240,000
• Counties Served: Flagler and Volusia Counties
• Grant Period: 9/1/09 to 8/1/2010
• Purpose: To increase the community’s capacity to care for OEF/OIF military personnel, veterans, and families who need access to quality, culturally competent, and timely mental health support services. This grant will provide: cultural competency training for nonprofit, school-based, and government agencies; individual, family, and group therapy services; and substance abuse treatment for veterans who are in need of these services but have been denied services through the Veterans Administration.
• Contact: Renee Gay, e-mail address: rgay@unitedwayvfc.org, contact phone number386/366-9060

5. JCCI, Inc.

• Grant Amount: $74,692
• Counties Served: Duval, Baker, Nassau, Clay and St. Johns Counties
• Grant Period: 8/5/09 – 3/31/09
• Purpose: To research and develop a training model that will be used to educate non-profit service organizations/mental health counselors on culturally appropriate approaches in working with military personnel and their families. This will include training on the unique military culture, the impact of OIF and OEF and also best practices that provide unique clinical approaches in working with this population. The training and research will take place in the First Coast region (Duval, Baker, Nassau, Clay and St. Johns counties). The project will conduct a needs assessment and asset mapping to better identify mental health services available as well as gaps in services. Four pilot training programs will be implemented and evaluated.
• Contact: Charles R. “Skip” Crammer, e-mail address: Skip@jcci.org, contact phone number: 904/396-3052

6. University of North Florida

• Grant Amount: $217,046
• Counties Served: Duval
• Grant Period: 11/09 - 5/2011
• Purpose:  to establish a Veteran Resource Center on campus;  to provide mental health and disability counseling on campus; and to expand the miitary competency and capacity on campus and within the community through the development of a military counseling curriculum and expansion of the counseling student interns working with active duty military and veteran students.   
• Contact: Cynthia Alderson, e-mail: cindy.alderson@unf.edu, contact phone: 620-2655

7.  Life Management Center

• Grant Amount: $72,420
• Counties Served: Holmes, Washington, Jackson, Calhoun, Gulf, and Bay Counties
• Grant Period: 11/09 - 11/2010
• Purpose:  to provide specialized behavioral health services and supported employment services to Iraq and Afghanistan military veterans and their families.
• Contact: Deborah Mobley, e-mail: dmobley@lifemanagementcenter.org, contact phone: 850-547-5114

8.  Santa Fe College

• Grant Amount:  $75,000
• Counties Served: Alachua
• Grant Period: 1/2010 - 12/2010
• Purpose: to support its "Current War Student Veteran Leadership Initiative."  This initiative will lead to the development of a stable network of student veteran organizations in North Florida's post secondary institutions.  Funds will be used to create a two-day peer mentoring conference hosted by Sante Fe College Collegiate Veteran Society in partnership with the University of Florida Collegiate Veterans Society and the Office of Veteran Affairs on both campuses.
• Contact: John Gebhart, e-mail address john.gebhardt@sfcollege.edu, contact phone number: 352-395-5505

9.  Jewish Family Community Services

• Grant Amount: $75,000
• Counties Served: Duval, Nassau, St. Johns, Clay, Baker
• Grant Period:  1/2010 - 12/1010
• Purpose:  to provide individual, couples, family and group counseling services to military veterans and families affected by deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan.
• Contact: Rachel Weinstein-Abrams, e-mail rabrams@jfcsjax.org, contact phone number: 904-394-5761

10.  Greater Jacksonville Area USO, Inc.

• Grant Amount: $75,000
• Counties Served: Alachua, Bradford, Baker, Clay, Columbia, Duval, Flagler, Nassau, Putnam, Union and St. Johns
• Grant Period:  11/1/09 - 11/1/2010
• Purpose:  to provide mental health professionals, at its family support group meetings, to make appropriate referrals to clinical mental health services.
• Contact: John Shockley, e-mail: jshockley@usojax.com, contact phone: 904-778-2821

11.  Marion County Veterans Helping Veterans

• Grant Amount: $31,000
• Counties Served: Marion and Levy
• Grant Period: 11/2010 - 12/2010
• Purpose:  to provide counseling, advocacy and integration into the VA system and to individually walk veterans and their families through the menu of community and government services and benefits available.  Also, to provide financial assistance.
• Contact: Henry Whittier, contact phone: 352-401-9788

12.  Zero to Three

• Grant Amount: $130,000
• Counties Served: All North Florida Counties
• Grant Period: 1/2010 - 12/2010
• Purpose:  to develop and provide three 45-60 minute training models for medical professionals, which will assist them in identifying and caring for children who are suffering emotional or physical stress as a result of a family member's deployment.
• Contact: Lynette Fraga, PhD., e-mail: lfraga@zerotothree.org, contact phone: 202-638-1144

13. Florida State College at Jacksonville (FSCJ)

• Grant Amount:$79,623
• Counties Served: Duval
• Grant Period: 1/2010 - 12/2010
• Purpose:  to support its AI Veterans-2 Students (AI-V2S) Project.  The project includes conducting a campus needs assessment, to inform programming, in order to improve services for Iraq/Afghanistan Student Veterans on campus.  Also, two pilot programs:  implementation of a Student Life Skills course designed to meet the unique needs of Iraq/Afghanistan veterans; and professional development workshops for campus faculty/instructors, financial aid representatives, advisors and other non-instructional staff, aimed at increasing their awareness of the unique needs of Iraq/Afghanistan veteran students.
• Contact: Dr. Phyllis Renninger, e-mail: prenning@fscj.edu, contact phone: 904-632-3327

Reintegration

1. National Guard Foundation – See previous description under Emergency Financial Assistance

2. Workforce Plus

• Grant Amount: $150,000
• Counties Served: Leon, Gadsden and Wakulla
• Grant Period: 7/1/09 to 6/30/11
• Purpose: To add a staff member, the OIF/OEF Navigator, to the Veterans Services department of WORKFORCE Plus, the regional workforce board serving Gadsden, Leon, and Wakulla Counties. This Navigator will provide job referral and counseling services to OEF/OIF veterans, with a focus on helping OEF/OIF veterans translate and market their military experience in a civilian employment environment and locate relevant job openings. 
• Contact: Debby Tharpe, e-mail address: Debra.tharpe@wfplus.org, phone number: 850-617-4606 or Kimberly Moore, phone: 850-617-4601, e-mail address: kimberly.moore@wfplus.org

3.  Military Spouse Corporate Career Network (MSCCN)

• Grant Amount: $107,000
• Counties Served: All counties in North Florida
• Grant Period:  1/2010 - 12/2010
• Purpose: . to provide intensive support to OEF/OIF military spouses in North Florida who are seeking employment.  Services include employment seminars, training to use their online job database, individual employment counseling, job placement with MSCCN's partner employers and a network among military spouses.
• Contact: Deb Kloeppel, email: k_midden@msccn.org, contact phone:  321-757-7484

Back to BrAIve Fund Main Page

 

Other Initiatives:

• Community Safety Net Fund
• Eartha M.M. White
• Florida BrAIve Fund
• Other Initiatives
• Quality Education for All
• Seniors Initiative
• Women's Giving Alliance