Barancik Foundation Awards $5.2 Million in Grants

August 14, 2024 | Sarasota

Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation’s Board of Directors recently approved more than $5.2 million in grants.

Much of the funding aims to bolster nonprofit organizations that help weave the social safety net for vulnerable families and individuals in the region.  The largest grant, at $750,000, will strengthen the workforce that provides critical child-welfare and support services across Sarasota, Manatee, and DeSoto counties.

“Many of these grants will fortify our hard-working nonprofit partners, which have faced ever-growing demand for their services—whether that’s housing with supportive services for homeless adults, therapies for young people with developmental disabilities, or essential programs for child safety, health, and well-being,” said Teri A Hansen, President & CEO of Barancik Foundation.  “Chuck and Margie Barancik believed philanthropy has the power to enrich the lives of all people.  Our Board is honoring that vision by investing in these crucial nonprofits on which our community has come to rely.”

The following grants were awarded in Barancik Foundation’s five impact areas:

Economic Stability

These grants seek to help families and individuals secure the means to meet their basic needs and then achieve more:

Second Heart Homes – $650,000 to expand long-term supportive housing for homeless adults with mental illnesses by buying one new home and providing matching funds toward the purchase of an additional home.

Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce Foundation – $550,000 to support CareerEdge Funders Collaborative and the Opportunities for All program.  CareerEdge is the Chamber’s workforce-development initiative that trains workers for higher-skill, higher-wage jobs at growing local employers, while Opportunities for All assists small and minority-owned businesses and matches aspiring young professionals with meaningful internship experiences.

Suncoast Partnership to End Homelessness – $496,000 to strengthen the organization’s capacity and ability to coordinate the Sarasota-Manatee region’s homeless crisis response system and draw more funding to the area for homeless services.

Project Prosper – $150,000 to enable the Tampa Bay-area organization to expand its financial literacy, coaching, and 0% interest loan programs for refugees and immigrants into Manatee County and, eventually, into Sarasota.

Education Access and Quality

Grants that will expand access to and improve the quality of educational opportunities in the region include:

Take Stock in Children of Sarasota County – $400,000 to expand its services to DeSoto County to help economically disadvantaged students enroll and succeed in postsecondary education.

University of South Florida Foundation – $250,062 for a pilot program at the USF College of Education to equip promising teachers in the Sarasota and Manatee county school districts to serve as teacher leaders and administrators capable of supporting diverse students, especially those with special learning needs.

Sarasota Children’s Museum – $175,000 to enable the organization to launch a state-of-the-art mobile museum that brings high-quality, hands-on STEAM education opportunities to schools and neighborhoods where they’re now lacking.

Healthcare Access and Quality

These grants will help increase access to high-quality healthcare services, including mental health:

Beyond the Spectrum – $300,000 to enable more families to receive specialized education, therapies, and care for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities by keeping services affordable and strengthening its staff.

National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Sarasota and Manatee Counties – $250,000 in capacity-building funds to expand its peer-led mental-health support services for youth, adults, and families amid growing demand in the two-county region.

Social and Community Well-Being

These grants will strengthen social-support systems or expand participation in arts and cultural programming:

Safe Children Coalition – $750,000 for staff capacity-building to provide and expand high-quality child-welfare services for children in Sarasota, Manatee, and DeSoto counties.  SCC is the lead community-based care agency providing foster care, adoptions, prevention, programs, and related services across the three-county area.

Manatee Community Foundation – $350,000 in operational support to help the foundation continue to increase philanthropic funding and initiatives to benefit Manatee County as the area sees major growth in its population and related community needs.

Asolo Repertory Theatre – $300,000 to implement its Big IDEA initiative, which is designed to broaden community participation in live theater and educational programs by reducing economic, accessibility, and language and culture barriers.

Florida Humanities – $125,000 to support and expand its history, literary, and cultural programming in Sarasota, Manatee, and DeSoto counties, including new content focused on the region.

Neighborhood and Environment

This grant will support sustainability of our region’s unique natural surroundings:

Solutions to Avoid Red Tide – $350,000 to expand the successful Healthy Pond Collaborative, which helps communities in Sarasota and Manatee counties enhance and protect their stormwater ponds from environmentally harmful nutrients.

In addition to the grants above, the Barancik Foundation Board approved $131,500 in smaller grants to nine local organizations that Chuck and Margie Barancik regularly supported through their philanthropy.