Beaches Community Fund

The first two grants were made in the fall of 2015:

• $75,000 to Beaches Emergency Assistance Ministry (BEAM) to partner with Feeding Northeast Florida to open a satellite food distribution center
• $10,000 to the Nonprofit Center of Northeast Florida to create the Eleanor Ashby Leadership Series—social and skill-based events to connect and strengthen the nonprofit sector at the Beaches.

Another round of grants was made in Spring 2016:

• $75,000 to 7North II Inc.--including $25,000 outright award and $50,000 challenge grant--to help create the Mental Health Wellness Center
• $35,000 to Lutheran Social Services of Florida for a playground at the Jacksonville Beach Head Start Center
• $20,000 to the Nonprofit Center of Northeast Florida to continue the Eleanor Ashby Leadership Series 

In 2017, a third round of grants was made to bring total giving to more than $350,000. 

• $5,000 to Florida Institute for Education at UNF to study opportunities to improve early childhood education for Beaches children.
• Up to $15,000 to Read USA to conduct book fair(s) during the back-to-school timeframe.
• To three Beaches nonprofits to experiment with low-cost options (including Uber and JTA passes) to help clients access transportation for jobs, health care, and basic services. Data from these pilot grants will be shared with other Beaches–area nonprofits.
  • $10,000 to BEAM
  • $5,000 to Mission House
  • $5,000 to Sulzbacher Clinic
• $13,600 to Nonprofit Center of Northeast Florida to continue the Eleanor Ashby Leadership Series
• $25,000 to Child Guidance Center for start-up costs for a Beaches location
• $10,000 to St. John the Baptist Catholic Church for its Emergency Assistance Ministry
• $20,000 to We Care’s Beaches Health & Wellness Collaboration to add a Community Health Worker for follow-up and home visits
• $25,000 to Mission House to add a part-time housing director in its Rapid Re-Housing program
• $10,000 to Girls Scouts of Gateway Council to create a Community Development Troop serving 100 girls from low income families at the Beaches

Early Learning

• Kids Hope Alliance - $7,500 for Phase I of an early learning project to strengthen early learning at the Beaches.
• Kids Hope Alliance up to $50,250 for Phase II of an early learning project initiated by the Beaches Community Fund to strengthen early learning at the Beaches, with a special focus on the Mayport Road corridor.
• Christ Church Foundation - $75,000 to support the Rhoda Martin Head Start Center in Jacksonville Beach.
• Read USA - $12,000 to hold book fairs to promote literacy and an early love of reading for 800 children at the Back to School with BEAM event and 900 students at Mayport Elementary and Finnegan Elementary.

Transportation

• Beaches Council on Aging (Dial-A-Ride) - $25,000 to add a second vehicle, allowing Dial-A-Ride to expand their service to Mayport and Ponte Vedra, and expand their mission to include employment-related transportation.

Nonprofit Capacity & Collaboration

• Nonprofit Center for Northeast Florida - $20,000 to continue the Eleanor Ashby Leadership Series and Emerging Leader Series.

Hunger & Nutrition

• BEAM - $25,000 to support BEAM’s distribution of food from the Beaches Community Food Bank via mobile pantries.
• St. John the Baptist Catholic Church - $5,000 to provide hygiene buckets for distribution through the church’s food ministry program.

Student Supports & Youth Development

• Beaches Habitat - $10,000 to enhance their afterschool tutoring program.
• Communities in Schools - $15,000 matching grant to fund a Student Enrichment Program at Mayport Coastal Sciences Middle School to work intensively with highest-need students who are most at-risk of dropping out.
• Girl Scouts of Gateway Council - $10,000 to continue community development troops for more than 110 girls at the Gail Baker Center and Boys & Girls Club.

Health & Wellness

• We Care - $20,000 to supplement the Beaches Health & Wellness Collaboration with a Community Health Worker for follow-up and home visits.
• Women’s Center - $35,000 to support victim advocacy and sexual assault prevention and education at the Beaches.

Basic Needs

• $30,000 to BEAM for general operating support.
• $25,000 to Feeding Northeast Florida to partner with the Mayport USO to provide nutritious food and staple items for active-duty military families via the Mayport USO’s food pantry.
• $10,000 to First Coast Blessings in a Backpack to provide a bag of groceries each Friday afternoon to children at Mayport Elementary and Finegan Elementary who qualify for the free & reduced lunch program.
• $23,880 to I.M. Sulzbacher Center for the Homeless to provide partial support for the ARNP position at the Sulzbacher Beaches Clinic.
• $20,000 to Mission House to provide a mental health counselor on-site one day per week to meet with homeless individuals in need of mental health support; and to help homeless veterans at the Beaches with hotel costs while they are locating housing.
• $5,000 to St. John the Baptist Catholic Church: Emergency Assistance Ministry to provide kits with blankets, flashlights, and essential supplies to homeless individuals and families in the Mayport Road corridor.

Student Supports

• $10,000 to Beaches Habitat to provide enhanced learning materials and stipends for its afterschool tutoring and enrichment programs at the Gail Baker Community Center and Jordan Park Community Center.
• $15,000 to Beaches Boys & Girls Club to provide equipment and software for the Music, Mixing & Mastery program, which incorporates reading, writing, performing arts and music technology.
• $15,000 matching grant to Communities in Schools to continue the Student Enrichment Program at Mayport Coastal Sciences Middle School.
• $8,750 to Girl Scouts of Gateway Council to create Daisy troops for four-year-olds at the two Beaches Head Start centers, to strengthen socialization skills and kindergarten readiness.
• $8,500 to Outreach Ministries Inc., International to provide evening enrichment programming, including cultural performing arts, martial arts, and STEM, for students at the Gail Baker Community Center.

Transportation

• $3,000 to Beaches Emergency Assistance Ministry (BEAM) to assist clients with transportation to the food pantry, nutrition counseling, medical care, job interviews, work, or school.
• $3,000 to Goodwill Industries of America to assist participants from BEAM’s Single Parent Program who are employed through Goodwill’s A-STEP program with transportation to and from school and work.
• $3,000 to Mission House to assist clients with transportation to job interviews, to specialty medical appointments that the Mission House clinic cannot resolve, and to apartments to meet landlords and obtain applications for housing.
• $1,500 to Elderly Housing Management Corporation to assist Pablo Hamlet and Pablo Towers residents with transportation to medical appointments and other essential services.

Early Childhood Learning

• $17,390 to READ USA to hold book fairs at Mayport Elementary, Finegan Elementary, and the Back to School with BEAM event, through which 1739 students will select 3 books of their own choosing.

Nonprofit Capacity

• Up to $20,000 to the Nonprofit Center for Northeast Florida to continue the Eleanor Ashby Beaches Leadership Series, which strengthens Beaches nonprofits and promotes collaboration.

• $65,000 to BEAM for general operating support and to address needs arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.
• $50,000 to Feeding Northeast Florida to serve the Beaches communities.
• $20,000 to St. John the Baptist Catholic Church for the Emergency Assistance Ministry.
• $37,600 to I.M. Sulzbacher Center for the Homeless for the Sulzbacher Beaches Clinic and Beaches HOPE Outreach Expansion.
• $25,000 to Mission House for general operating support.
• $7,017 to Beaches Council on Aging to provide matching funds toward the purchase of a new vehicle for Beaches Dial-A-Ride
• $15,000 to First Coast Blessings in a Backpack to serve students at Beaches elementary schools.
• $30,000 to the Greater Jacksonville Area USO for the Healthy Military Families Initiative.
• $14,490 to READ USA to provide books to students at Mayport and Finegan Elementary Schools and to host book fairs at the Rhoda Martin Head Start Center and the Back to School with BEAM event
• $19,000 to the Nonprofit Center for Northeast Florida for the Eleanor Ashby Leadership Series and to provide customized support for Beaches nonprofits.
• $20,000 to Beaches Habitat for Humanity for the Beaches Habitat Education Program and the Senior Home Repair & Rehabilitation Program.
• $20,000 to Communities in Schools for the Student Enrichment Program at Mayport Coastal Sciences Middle School.
• $26,776 to Baptist Health Foundation for the Tipping the Scales mentoring and employment program at the Beaches.
• $5,500 to the Shimberg Center for Housing Studies to research the affordability of workforce housing at the Beaches.
• $8,000 to the Florida Housing Coalition to create a Housing Affordability Analysis and provide recommended action steps for the Beaches communities.
• $3,000 to BEAM to assist clients with transportation to food pantries, nutrition counseling, medical care, job interviews, work, or school.
• $3,000 to Mission House to assist clients with transportation to job interviews, to specialty medical appointments that the Mission House clinic cannot resolve, and to apartments to meet landlords and obtain applications for housing.

Basic Needs

• $50,000 to BEAM for general operating support.
• $50,000 to Feeding Northeast Florida to support distribution of food via Beaches nonprofit and
  faith partners.
• $15,000 to First Coast Blessings in a Backpack to provide weekend food for low-income Beaches students.
• $10,000 to Here Tomorrow to help with the launch of their suicide prevention efforts.
• $2,500 to Safe Future Foundation for mobile food pantries at Portside Mobile Home Community and in Mayport.
• $30,000 to United Service Organizations, Inc. (the USO) to enhance the Healthy Military Families Initiative at Mayport USO.
• $20,000 to We Care Jacksonville, Inc. to fund a Community Health Worker to complement the Beaches Health & Wellness Collaboration

Student Supports

• $25,000 to Baptist Health Foundation for Tipping the Scales program at Baptist Beaches
• $20,000 to Communities in Schools (CIS) to continue providing an embedded case manager/site coordinator at Mayport Coastal Sciences Middle School
• $5,000 to Fitness and Character Education to support the FACE4Kids program for at-risk students at Seabreeze Elementary School and Atlantic Beach Elementary School
• $20,000 to READ USA for book fairs at the Rhoda Martin Center and the Back to School with BEAM event and supporting book fairs and literacy programming at all Beaches elementary schools

Transportation

• $7,500 to Beaches Council on Aging (Dial-A-Ride) to add Saturday transportation services
• $15,000 to Goodwill Industries to provide transportation for Goodwill’s Beaches clients to employment sites in Duval, Flagler, and St. Johns counties and for A-STEP program participants to FSCJ for education and training

Early Learning & Literacy

• $16,348 to Episcopal Children’s Services for new technology to encourage language development in young children at the Rhoda Martin Early Head Start Center
• $10,000 to Girl Scouts to promote kindergarten readiness in Beaches-area VPK programs and elementary schools

Affordable Housing

• $20,000 to Beaches Habitat for Humanity to assist low-income seniors with home repair and rehabilitation that will enable them to stay safely in their homes

Nonprofit Capacity

• $14,000 to the Nonprofit Center for Northeast Florida to continue the Eleanor Ashby Beaches Leadership Series, which strengthens Beaches nonprofits and promotes collaboration.

Pandemic-Related (awarded in fall 2020)

• $7,500 to Beaches Emergency Assistance Ministry (BEAM) to hire temporary staff for five months to assist with client intake, enabling current staff to focus on case management for BEAM’s extraordinarily high caseload due to financial hardships associated with the pandemic
• $17,880 to Duval County Public Schools to provide internet access via hotspot devices to DCPS students living at the Beaches

Basic Needs

• $40,000 to BEAM for food assistance, emergency financial assistance, and case management programs.
• $30,000 to the Regional Food Bank of Northeast Florida, Inc. (Feeding Northeast Florida) to support food distribution at the Beaches.
• $15,000 to First Coast Blessings in a Backpack to provide weekend food for low-income Beaches students.
• $18,000 to We Care Jacksonville, Inc. to provide a Community Health Worker who will support patients with chronic diseases through the Beaches Health & Wellness Collaboration.
• $33,000 to I.M. Sulzbacher Center for the Homeless to add a dental assistant to stabilize and enhance the availability of dental care services for uninsured and underinsured patients at the Sulzbacher Beaches Clinic.
• $22,000 to Mission House to expand its crisis care case management team to enhance staff capacity in Mission House’s Crisis Care team.
• $15,000 to St. John the Baptist Catholic Church Emergency Assistance Ministry to provide emergency financial assistance to residents during times of need in the West Atlantic Beach/Mayport area.

Student Supports

• $25,000 to Baptist Health Foundation to fund a third year of the Tipping the Scales mentoring and employment program at Baptist Beaches
• $18,000 to Communities in Schools to continue the Student Enrichment Program at Mayport Middle School.
• $5,000 to Fitness and Character Education to support the FACE4Kids program for at-risk students at at two Beaches-area elementary schools in the 2022-2023 school year.
• $5,000 to PossAbilities Plus to begin a drama program for teens and adults with developmental disabilities and autism to build and practice verbal and non-verbal communication and social skills.

Early Learning & Literacy

• $5,000 to Ferst Readers of Duval County to send age-appropriate books and monthly parent engagement newsletters to children from birth to age 5 (already awarded).

Affordable Housing

• $15,000 to Beaches Habitat for Humanity to assist low-income seniors with home repair and rehabilitation.

Nonprofit Capacity

• $17,000 to the Nonprofit Center for Northeast Florida for the Eleanor Ashby Beaches Leadership Series and customized consulting services for Beaches nonprofits.