IMPACT awards more than $1 million to local nonprofits


  • October 17, 2016
  • /   Shannon Nickinson
  • /   studer-community-institute
Four people holding large check for $108,200

Studer Community Institute was among 10 nonprofits that received grants from IMPACT 100 Pensacola Bay Area Sunday at the group’s annual meeting.

The grants of $108,200 each meant that the women’s philanthropy group gave out more than $1 million.

The finalists drew from five focus areas: Arts & Culture; Education; Environment, Recreation and Preservation; Family; and Health.

The Institute’s project — IMPACT Brain Bags — will be given to the parents of every newborn in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties. The bags will include print and multimedia tools to help parents nurture their children’s language development by using the guidelines of the University of Chicago’s Thirty Million Words Initiative and other programs at work in the state.

Kindergarten readiness — often used as a guide for a child’s academic prospects — is deeply influenced by how much exposure to reading, language and words a child hears before age 3. It is an idea also related to the work that the Thirty Million Words Initiative does in early literacy.

The bags will contain a “baby book” with developmental milestones for parents to look at 12, 18, 24 months, etc., a picture book to read to their children, a lullaby CD, a letter from the superintendent of schools, small toys and other educational information.

The bags are just the first step of the project, which will include a curriculum and plans for home visits to families with newborns in the neighborhoods surrounding low-graded elementary schools.

It also includes a research provision with University of West Florida Sam Mathews to track the impact that the home visits have on the children and families who receive them.

Since the inception in 2004 of IMPACT 100 Pensacola Bay Area, the organization has awarded 67 grants to 56 different nonprofit agencies totaling $7.236 million. This year’s IMPACT awards will bring the total awarded in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties to 77 grants totaling $8.318 million.

IMPACT 100 Pensacola Bay area 2016 grant winners. Credit: Rachael Gillette

IMPACT 100 Pensacola Bay area 2016 grant winners. Credit: Rachael Gillette

The winning projects were:

ARTS & CULTURE

— The Santa Rosa County Creek Indian Tribe, Inc.

Project: Native American Cultural Center. It will include a multipurpose room, a covered area, an artifact museum and genealogy resources.

— St. John's Cemetery Historical and Educational Foundation, Inc.

Project: The outdoor museum at St. John's Historic Cemetery. The grant will be used to refurbish the gate house, purchase benches and interpretive signage for the cemetery, buy a State of Florida Historical Marker and road signage to direct visitors to the outdoor museum.

EDUCATION

— The ARC Gateway, Inc.

Project:  To reopen Jeff's Corner Garden at The Arc Gateway facility as a hydroponic greenhouse, expanding the existing horticultural education program. The grant will be used to buy equipment including installation, hire a nursery manager and to buy a used refrigerated delivery van.

— Milk and Honey Outreach Ministries, Inc.

Project: The grant will be used to build a classroom facility to house the Girls Embracing a More Excellent Way (GEMS) mentoring and education program from African-American girls, as well as after school and summer programs.

ENVIRONMENT, RECREATION & PRESERVATION

Greater Pensacola Junior Golf Association, Inc. (The First Tee of Northwest Florida)

Project: Converting the former “Goofy Golf” complex on Navy Boulevard into a golf and life skills training facility while restoring the miniature golf holes.

Northwest Florida Marine Education and Discovery of Gulf Ecosystems, Inc. (Navarre Beach Marine Science Station)

Project: The funds will be used to purchase a 24-foot trailer and convert it into a “Discovery Depot” mobile conservation vehicle with exhibits and a touch tank for animals from the Gulf.

FAMILY

Manna Food Bank, Inc. (Manna Food Pantries/MANNA)

Project: The funds will pay for a computer system to better allow Manna to track clients and their needs.

More than $1 million was awarded Oct. 16 by IMPACT 100 Pensacola Bay Area.

More than $1 million was awarded Oct. 16 by IMPACT 100 Pensacola Bay Area.

HEALTH AND WELLNESS

Escambia Search and Rescue, Inc.

Project:  Sea, Air and Land Capabilities Improvement Initiative. The grant will be used to buy a vessel capable of operating in the Gulf of Mexico, exposure suits, personal flotation devices, video and unmanned aerial vehicles, child and infant life preservers to be distributed to the community and Project Lifesaver kits.

PACE Center for Girls, Inc.

Project: This grant will go toward purchase of four brand new vans for the recently launched PACE Reach program, allowing for mobile counseling and support services to even more adolescent girls in need. 

Since its founding in 2004, IMPACT has awarded $8,318,000 to nonprofits in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties in the form of significant grants that make a lasting impact.

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