Forty Carrots Family Center Receives Funding from the Community Foundation of Sarasota County

July 14, 2023 – Sarasota

Community Foundation of Sarasota County awarded Forty Carrots $25,000 to fund a new van for community outreach and travel for its Mental Health Program. Part of the Foundation’s Equity and Access initiative, this grant is made possible through the Leslie and Margaret Weller Fund, Arthur T. Esslinger Memorial Fund, James Franklin Warnell & Dorothy J. Warnell Fund, and the Two-Generation Approach Fund. 

“To ensure our community’s most vulnerable clients have access to high-quality mental health services, Forty Carrots utilizes its five vans to travel thousands of miles each year to provide life-changing mental health therapy. Vans are key in eliminating barriers to accessing mental health treatment, as services are brought directly to clients, offered at no cost, and with no eligibility requirements. As we cope with a growing mental health crisis for our youth, high-quality mental health services must be a top priority.” said Michelle Kapreilian, Forty Carrots’ CEO. 

The new therapy van is equipped with every kind of therapeutic tool, supply, and resource necessary for therapists to create mobile treatment room for clients at Forty Carrots’ partner locations. This model of service delivery is highly effective and efficient by providing services to clients where they are already receiving partner agency services (i.e., families in shelters, parents in residential treatment programs, students in elementary schools, or teen parents at their high school) and speaks directly to the nature of the Community Foundation of Sarasota County’s Equity and Access initiative in increasing clients access to mental health treatment for child and families. 

Since 1993, Forty Carrots Family Center has served families in Sarasota & Manatee counties, ensuring good beginnings that last a lifetime for children through its expertise in Parenting Education, Mental Health Services, and Early Childhood Education. Rated 4-Stars by Charity Navigator, Forty Carrots serves families from all walks of life, with 94 percent of families receiving services free of charge. Visit www.fortycarrots.org  for more information.