Safe Children Coalition Recognizes 2024 Champions for Children

March 18, 2024 – Sarasota

On March 14, 2024, Safe Children Coalition (SCC) celebrated its 2nd annual Giving Breakfast, presented by Sunset Automotive Group, during which Joan and Bob Geyer, Graci McGillicuddy, and Melissa Larkin Skinner were recognized as the 2024 Champions for Children. The event took place at Michael’s On East.

The program included a welcome by SCC President and CEO Brena Slater and Vice Chair of the Board, Lee Lipton. After enjoying a served breakfast, the guests heard from each honoree about their work in our community to improve the lives of at-risk children and strengthen area families.

A heartfelt part of the event was Lisa Mitchell’s story: the mother of four daughters was without a job and using drugs and alcohol several decades ago when she was approached by Jone Williams, who was trying to get the HIPPY (Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters) program off the ground. Not only did Mitchell participate in the program, she encouraged other families in her neighborhood to do the same.

As Mitchell advocated for the program with her neighbors, the program director hired her as a HIPPY Home Visitor. Mitchell was able to get her life together, even purchasing her first home; she stated that Safe Children Coalition and the HIPPY program saved her life. Now, her daughters and grandchildren are all involved with the HIPPY program, strengthening their own families’ prospects for the future.

Event emcee Joe Girvan of Alpert Enterprises moved the program along and led the paddle raise, which brought in nearly $140,000.

The program ended with an update on SCC’s Youth Shelter campaign. The campaign has raised nearly 65% of what SCC expects the facility to cost. The nearly 9,000-square-foot building will provide safe emergency, temporary housing for youth ages 10-17. It is the only Youth Shelter designated for Sarasota and Desoto counties and serves Manatee County youth as well. It is being designed to reduce the list of youth waiting for safe shelter and will alleviate a waiting list of teens in need of shelter services.

Additional sponsors for the program included Honoree Sponsors Gulf Coast Community Foundation and Graci and Dennis McGillicuddy; and Friend Sponsors Tandem Construction and M.E. Wilson.

Joan and Bob Geyer, the founders of Academy at Glengary (Sarasota) and Academy at Bradenton, have supported our community for many years, personally and professionally. Joan’s longtime support and volunteerism for community-based care/child welfare issues as a Guardian Ad Litem, Family Safety Alliance member, and a volunteer with Safe Children Coalition aligns with her philosophy of “finding felt needs,” which exemplifies a commitment to providing support to those who are experiencing a gap in care, whether the advocacy is for children or adults experiencing mental illness.

Melissa Larkin-Skinner, CEO of Centerstone of Florida, has advocated for children and adults for three decades. What began as a volunteer assignment in the Rape Crisis Center led to work in outpatient, inpatient, crisis intervention, intensive community-based care, and child welfare. She designed and implemented the first children’s Community Action Treatment (CAT) team in 2004, adopted as Florida’s statewide model to serve youth struggling with severe mental health and behavioral disorders and their families. She led the rapid expansion of treatment services in response to the opioid epidemic, including Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) in hospitals, clinics, and jail-based sites.

Graci McGillicuddy has been a committed child advocate since the mid-1980s, when she read an article about a horrific child abuse case. Ending child abuse became her lifelong calling. In 2017, she broke ground on the All Star Children’s Foundation’s Campus of Hope and Healing, which celebrated its grand opening in 2020. All Star is a state-of-the-art, five-acre campus comprising six family-style foster homes as well as an on-site Pediatric Mental Health Treatment and Research Center. She serves as Chair of the Board for the All Star Children’s Foundation and as a 36-year board member for the Child Protection Center, where she previously spearheaded a $6 million capital campaign.

For more about SCC, visit sccfl.org.