All Faiths Food Bank Supports Safe Children Coalition

September 21 – Sarasota

With up to 20 youths ages 10-17 being housed at any given time, Safe Children Coalition’s Youth Shelter is a safe place for children who are homeless, have run away, are ungovernable, truant, or at risk of becoming homeless. However, an aging and unreliable freezer finally broke down and the remaining freezer – at just 6 cubic feet – made it difficult for the shelter staff to keep a sufficient supply of food on hand without having to shop frequently.

To increase food storage capacity at the Youth Shelter, All Faiths Food Bank has awarded Safe Children Coalition (SCC) a Capacity Building Grant of $2,000 to help purchase a new, large-capacity freezer. At 47 cubic feet, the new freezer will make it possible to purchase items in bulk and reduce staff time dedicated to shopping for the youths staying at the shelter. It will also enable SCC to accept more meats and perishable items, such as fresh produce, during the twice-monthly distributions of food from All Faiths Food Bank.

While staying in the shelter, children are provided three meals and two snacks daily. 

The shelter serves approximately 200 youth annually – thousands have been served over the past 30 years. Youth typically stay at the Shelter for 10-14 days; approximately 93% who are discharged from shelter services are reunited with their families or are placed in safe and stable living arrangements. The facility is the only community emergency shelter in Sarasota and DeSoto counties serving runaway, homeless, ungovernable, truant, respite, foster care, and any other youth in need of emergency services. All services are provided free of charge to every youth in need.

“We are so grateful to All Faiths Food Bank for this funding, which will help us to feed the youths in our care,” said Brena Slater, president, and CEO of Safe Children Coalition. “With the purchase of the new freezer, we will be able to provide a greater variety of healthy meal options while saving the Youth Shelter money on food costs and staff time spent grocery shopping.” 

The Capacity Building Grant program is a competitive process that awards funds and/or equipment to member agencies of All Faiths Food Bank that seek to make improvements to their program, allowing them to serve individuals more effectively in their communities.

For more about Safe Children Coalition, visit sccfl.org.