The board of directors of the Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation recently approved $8 million in grant awards to help improve access to educational opportunities, connect vulnerable residents to vital services for their health and well-being, expand water quality monitoring along the coast and more.
Education grants include:
- $420,000 to Sarasota Housing Authority to provide more educational opportunities directly on its public housing campuses, including a new, full-day early elementary program at the Janie’s Garden complex and expanded after-school tutoring at its Orange Avenue site.
- $650,000 to UnidosNow to strengthen its work of elevating the quality of life of the Latino and Hispanic community through education, integration and civic engagement.
- $1.2 million to Sarasota County Schools to design and implement continuous, district-wide professional learning for teachers, school leaders and staff.
- $300,000 for the Foundation’s TIME Fellowship program, which will provide 25 Sarasota County Schools educators with grants up to $12,000 each to complete personal projects designed to renew them professionally and personally.
Grants to connect vulnerable residents with services for their health and well-being include:
- $367,190 to Senior Friendship Centers to expand its Friendship at Home program, which provides social connection, crisis intervention and food security to homebound seniors.
- $218,000 to MCR Health to connect more patients in Sarasota and Manatee counties to the nonprofit health system’s no-cost and low-cost healthcare services.
Additional grants include
- $475,000 to Project 180 Sarasota to support housing infrastructure and staff capacity to help more former inmates reintegrate into the community.
- $265,000 to Parenting Matters to strengthen its in-home parenting education program and boost its organizational capacity to meet the increasing demand for its services.
- $400,000 to The Salvation Army of Sarasota County to support programs for families facing homelessness, financial struggles and addiction issues.
- $995,000 for Marie Selby Botanical Gardens to relocate temporarily and care for its collection of living plants during Phase 2 construction of the Master Plan for its downtown Sarasota campus.
- $400,000 for Suncoast Waterkeepers to expand its environmental water quality monitoring southward to Lemon Bay in Englewood, enhance mangrove monitoring in vulnerable areas, and educate North Port residents about harmful forever chemicals.
The board approved $2.185 million in grants to nearly 30 organizations whose programs Chuck and Margery Barancik supported on a regular basis, plus $75,000 to seed a Leadership Development Fund.
