Barancik Foundation Awards $5 Million in Grants

November 10, 2023 – Sarasota

Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation’s Board of Directors recently approved over $5 million in grants.

The funding includes 11 grants to regional nonprofit organizations working in education, mental health, humanitarian causes, and arts and culture.  The Barancik Foundation Board also directed significant funding to the Foundation’s First 1,000 Days Suncoast initiative ($700,000) and Affordable Housing initiative ($1.5 million).  The grants and initiative investments were approved at the Board’s quarterly meeting in early November.

“Across many of these grants, we see the difficulties that families in our region face as they try to remain financially stable,” said Teri A Hansen, president and CEO of Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation.  “On the whole, we are investing in everything from early interventions to crisis response, and we are grateful to our nonprofit partners that are doing this innovative and necessary work.

“We also recognized the chance to help launch or grow some innovative and exciting new educational and artistic programs,” Hansen added.  “We can’t wait to see how they impact and enhance our communities.”   

What was funded:

Education

FUNducation, Inc., a nonprofit with a mission to expose, engage, and empower youth—particularly those who are underserved—through STEAM education, received $150,000 to expand its early STEAM programming in Sarasota County.   STEAM stands for science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics.

Manatee Education Foundation was awarded $150,000 to help fund a variety of programs that will support at-risk children and families in partnership with local nonprofit organizations and the School District of Manatee County. 

State College of Florida Foundation will receive $429,445 to expand its baccalaureate degree programs in Elementary Education and Exceptional Student Education as well as its College Reach-Out Program (CROP).  With enrollment in its four-year education degree programs more than doubling in just a year, SCF Manatee-Sarasota is directly addressing the teacher shortage in the region.  CROP, meanwhile, which seeks to increase college admission and success for low-income, educationally disadvantaged students, will be enhanced in several ways, including the addition of North Port High School as a partner and the availability of on-site tutors at all nine participating middle and high schools.

Humanitarian causes

Harvest House will receive $600,000 to make improvements to housing units, increase therapy services, and support a range of other programs for those in need of safe, affordable housing, addiction recovery, and wraparound support.  Harvest House is a longtime collaborator with Barancik Foundation and a key partner in the Foundation’s affordable housing and criminal-justice recidivism initiatives.

Turning Points was awarded $316,000 to expand its navigator program, which helps residents in crisis locate and access community services available to them.  Turning Points is the central organization in Manatee County providing support and services for individuals and families experiencing or at-risk of homelessness.

Women’s Resource Center was awarded $275,000, which includes a $50,000 matching grant, to enhance its programming to help women in Sarasota and Manatee counties break the cycle of poverty.  WRC notes that females are the largest demographic living in poverty in Southwest Florida, with 78% of single female head of households not making a sustainable wage.

Margwine Organization was awarded a $95,000 grant to build its capacity by enabling the all-volunteer organization to hire its first full-time staff member.  Margwine, which provides empowerment programming to young girls, seeks to elevate its fundraising, volunteer management, outreach, and programming. 

Chicago Botanic Garden was awarded a $100,000 grant for Windy City Harvest, which provides nutritious food, job opportunities and training, and access to nature through a network of urban farm sites on Chicago’s South and West Sides.  As part of this grant, Barancik Foundation and several local partners will seek to learn from Windy City Harvest about efforts in nutrition, health equity, and workforce training that could be replicated in Sarasota.

Mental health 

SRQ Strong will receive $250,000 to build its capacity in transitioning from an all-volunteer program to an independent and sustainable nonprofit organization.  SRQ Strong convenes and educates individuals and organizations to promote trauma-informed care and provide opportunities to heal from trauma across the community.   

Arts & culture

Azara Ballet will receive $180,000 for operational support to hire staff and build out its dance company as it continues its inaugural season and prepares for its second performance season.  Azara is a nonprofit professional dance company that emphasizes mental well-being for dancers, promotes body positivity and inclusivity, and offers outreach programming for neurodivergent communities. 

CreArte Latino Cultural Center was awarded $126,000 to build its capacity through staff and operational support and increase revenues to fund its performance and educational programming.  CreArte Latino serves as both a cultural hub for the Latino community in Sarasota and Manatee counties and a channel for learning and connection with the wider community.

Other funding

Barancik Foundation’s Board of Directors also earmarked significant funding for two of the Foundation’s regional initiatives:

$700,000 was approved for the First 1,000 Days Suncoast initiative, to serve as matching funds as Sarasota Memorial Healthcare Foundation raises money to sustain the initiative.  Launched in 2018 by Barancik Foundation and more than 30 partners, First 1,000 Days Suncoast is now housed within Sarasota Memorial Hospital, where it is operated by a dedicated four-person staff team.

$1.5 million was approved for Barancik Foundation’s Affordable Housinginitiative for direct investment in workforce housing units.  The initiative utilizes a variety of tools—from policy advocacy to grants for nonprofit service providers—to ease the region’s affordable housing crisis.   

The Barancik Foundation Board also seeded a new evaluation fund with $200,000 to provide training and resources for nonprofit organizations to increase their program evaluation and fundraising capacity.