Funding is part of this year’s $1 million-plus competitive grant cycle which supported 47 nonprofit organizations
Tampa, Fla. (May 23, 2022) — The Community Foundation Tampa Bay has provided over $200K in funding to ten local nonprofits to increase mental well-being among residents.
Mental health is a growing concern in our region. As recently as February 2021, two in every five U.S. adults reported recent symptoms of anxiety or depression. While more people are experiencing mental health challenges, more than one in ten adults has trouble accessing the care they need.
“It’s critical for us to support our nonprofit partners that are working so hard to address the growing mental health crisis in our community,” said Marlene Spalten, President and CEO of the Community Foundation Tampa Bay.
The Community Foundation Tampa Bay focuses on funding trauma-informed care models, programs addressing suicide and addictions, and models for the reduction of mental health stigmas in its competitive grant cycle.
“Our competitive grant cycle makes a significant impact in addressing the needs of our community through the work of our nonprofit partners, particularly those addressing mental health and well-being,” said Jesse Coraggio, Ph.D., Senior Vice President of Community Impact at Community Foundation Tampa Bay.
The ten organizations which received mental well-being funding are:
- Tampa Bay Thrives, Inc. received $50,000 to support its “Let’s Talk: Behavioral Health Navigation and Support Line,” which is a free, confidential 24/7 support line that connects callers in Hillsborough and Pasco Counties to trained counselors.
- Friends of the Children – Tampa Bay, Inc. received $40,000 for its “Helping Children Dream Big: Positive Education Supported by Professional Mentors” program, which pairs a child who has been in foster care, or at-risk of entering foster care, with a professional mentor to support their mental and emotional well-being.
- Healthy Start Coalition of Pinellas received $25,000 to support its “Personal Counseling Services” which provides mental health screening for uninsured Pinellas County women during and after pregnancy to identify their risk for perinatal depression.
- Metropolitan Ministries received $20,000 to support its “Resiliency Center,” which provides free individual, family, and group therapy for people in Hillsborough County who are homeless or at-risk of becoming homeless.
- Petersburg Arts Alliance received $25,000 to support its “Murals in Mind” project, which is working to create opportunities to support mental well-being and reduce stigmas around mental health through 12 public art experiences in St. Petersburg.
- Shirley Proctor Puller Foundation, Inc. received $16,000 to support its “M.A.S.T.R. Kids – Mental Health and Well-being” project, which provides weekly culturally inclusive group therapy sessions to South St. Petersburg children in kindergarten through eighth grade.
- Children’s Home Society of Florida – Suncoast Tampa Bay Area received $14,805 to help support its “Infant Mental Health” program, which teaches infant massage and parent-child interaction therapy to Hillsborough County parents of young children.
- NAMI Citrus County, Inc. received $12,000 to support its “NAMI Citrus Educate 22-23 Plan” to educate Citrus County residents about mental health, recognize signs of mental illness and reduce the stigma around mental health.
- Boley Centers, Inc. received $10,000 for its new “Boley on Broadway” program to provide a creative outlet through theatre productions to people in Pinellas County with severe and persistent mental illness.
- Champions for Children, Inc. received $10,000 to support the continuation of its “Kids on the Block” program, which is a troupe of educational puppets to educate kindergarten and third-grade students to recognize and report abuse and other mistreatment and to seek help, in south Hillsborough County schools.
The funds are part of this year’s competitive grant cycle, which provided $1,041,646 to 47 local nonprofits, a record number.
To learn more about the competitive grant process and how to apply visit: https://cftampabay.org/grants/
About the Community Foundation Tampa Bay
Founded in 1990, the Community Foundation Tampa Bay connects donors, nonprofits, community and business leaders, professional advisors, volunteers and residents to make the maximum positive impact in the Tampa Bay region. For more than 30 years, the Community Foundation Tampa Bay has been dedicated to making giving easy and meaningful for donors as a way to strengthen nonprofit organizations and build a better, more vibrant community. Since its inception, its donors have enabled the Community Foundation Tampa Bay to award more than $345 million in grants to nonprofit organizations across the country.
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