Grant Recipients

2019 Grant Recipients

• ABLE Academy

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  $180,000

  ABLE Academy provides intensive applied behavior analysis and therapy for children with Autism and related disorders. NCEF funding supports the Early Intensive Intervention Institute for Developmentally Delayed Children, ages 1 through 7, who do not qualify for other funding or services elsewhere.

• Avow Hospice

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  $75,000
  Avow’s mission is to bring peace of mind to the individuals, whether they need hospice care, palliative care or grief support services. NCEF funding will support the Avow Kids program, whose purpose is to relieve suffering experienced by children, whether they are living with a life-compromising illness/condition or struggling to cope with a significant loss.

• Better Together

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  $130,500
  Better Together works to prevent child abuse, strengthen families and promote independence through meaningful work by leveraging the power of the local community to support and equip families struggling with poverty and other life crises. NCEF funding will support the Safe Families program which provides families in crisis with a safety net of support to protect children and prevent them from entering the foster care system.

• Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast

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  $100,000

  Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast (BBBSSC) provides community and site-based mentoring for at-risk children. NCEF provides the opportunity for BBBSSC to pair youth with mentors, expand site-based mentoring and the Beyond School Walls mentoring program in Immokalee. This project will target economically needy children living in single parent homes as well as those coping with parental incarceration.

• Boys & Girls Club of Collier County

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  $450,000

  Boys & Girls Club of Collier County provides daily after-school and summer enrichment programs to inspire and enable children throughout Collier County, especially those from disadvantaged circumstances, to reach their full potential. NCEF funding provides academic and youth development summer programming for over 800 at-risk children in Golden Gate and East Naples.

• Brighter Bites

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  $81,000
  Brighter Bites is a nonprofit that creates communities of health by increasing access to fresh produce with the goal of changing behavior among children and their families. NCEF funding will support produce distribution in underserved areas and Nutrition Education in Title I schools. Brighter Bites’ ultimate goal is to help curb the childhood obesity epidemic by increasing the demand for fresh fruits and vegetables, leading to improved family eating habits and health outcomes for those we serve.

• Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation

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  $175,000

  Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation helps to build character and teach critical life lessons to at-risk young people living in America’s most distressed communities through sports-themed programs. NCEF funding will support Badges for Baseball, special needs programming at the Adaptive Field, a College Experience Day for 100 middle school-aged children and allow youth from Collier County the opportunity to attend a week-long overnight summer baseball leadership camp in Aberdeen, Maryland. The grant will also support the construction of the Immokalee Boys & Girls Club Youth Development Park. This park will be the only one in the community to provide free access to play in a safe, clean space for youth and their families.

• Catholic Charities

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  $257,840 

  Catholic Charities seeks to serve and empower ALL in need, regardless of race, nationality or creed. NCEF funding will provide support for bilingual counseling services for sexually abused, neglected and behaviorally impaired children.

• Champions For Learning

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  $138,500
  Champions For Learning, The Education Foundation of Collier County, makes it possible for our community to impact lives by enriching the environment for student learning. NCEF funding will support the Real-World Learning Model: College & Career Prep Program, which will provide underserved students with a college/career readiness curriculum and help students connect to their future.

• Children’s Advocacy Center

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  $500,000
  Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) provides services to the most severely abused and traumatized children in the community. NCEF funding will help pay for medical and social evaluations, case management, trauma-focused therapy and counseling. CAC is the only entity able to provide medical diagnoses of child abuse, child forensic interviews and safe custody exchanges.

• Collier Child Care Resources

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  $152,000

  Collier Child Care Resources (CCCR) supports the needs of Collier County’s children, families and early learning professionals by providing high-quality education, resources and child care services. NCEF funding will provide scholarships for low-income children, ages birth to 5.

• Conservancy of Southwest Florida

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  $35,000

  Conservancy of Southwest Florida’s mission is to protect Southwest Florida’s unique natural environment and quality of life. NCEF funding will provide a summer science camp for at-risk children. Camp will focus on increasing the academic proficiency in science and math through inquiry-based programming that will foster abilities such as critical thinking, collaboration, interpreting scientific information and data.

• Friends of Foster Children Forever

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  $398,190

  Friends of Foster Children Forever provides abused, neglected and abandoned children with the social, educational and financial support the State does not. NCEF funding will support the educational and out-of-school time opportunities for children in foster care and enable thousands of foster children to discover hidden talents, boost their self-esteem, sustain good academic grades and most importantly, begin to realize their individual potential. Funding will also support a liaison to further assist caregivers in navigating through available resources and programs offered.

• Fun Time Early Childhood Academy

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  $159,000

  Fun Time Early Childhood Academy provides safe, quality, affordable education and care for children of low-income working families in the River Park area. NCEF funding will support tuition assistance

• Gargiulo Education Center

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  $85,000

  Gargiulo Education Center supports the academic and social development of North Naples migrant children through a free, safe and structured after-school program. NCEF funding will provide scholarships for 65 children in need of after-school care and will help support their Entrepreneurial Apprenticeship Program available to the high school students.

• Grace Place for Children and Families

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  $379,000

  Grace Place for Children and Families strives to break the cycle of poverty by ensuring students graduate from high school, seek continued higher education and enter the workforce as hard-working, prepared professionals. NCEF funding will provide a service learning and high school leadership program that will serve as a pathway to college for at-risk youth in the Golden Gate area, afterschool services for elementary school-aged children, along with the Bright Beginnings program to help with increasing family literacy.

• Guadalupe Center

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  $524,000

  Guadalupe Center provides educational, social and other support programs and resources to ensure success for disadvantaged children and families of Immokalee. NCEF funding will provide Early Childhood Education for 275 children in addition to 40 children and families with a high-quality, home-based, family-focused curriculum through the SmartStart Program.

• Leadership Collier Foundation

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  $50,000
  Leadership Collier Foundation (LCF) believes that one path to economic prosperity is enhanced workforce training and workforce development opportunities; that’s why the Leadership Collier Foundation is committed to the mission of Future Ready Collier, serving as their team lead for work-based learning. NCEF funding will support the expansion of the youth development programs, focusing on work-based learning experiences. LCF’s goal is to grow our own workforce talent in Collier County through developing students’ soft skills and exposing them to work-related opportunities.

• Legal Aid

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  $514,870

  Legal Aid provides high-quality, free civil legal advice, representation and education to the residents in Collier County. NCEF funding will support the Children’s Legal Services Project to promote stability and well-being in the lives of children in the dependency system and those victimized by exposure to domestic violence, trauma and abuse. Free legal services will be provided for up to 625 at-risk children annually.

• Literacy Volunteers of Collier County

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  $50,000
  Literacy Volunteers of Collier County enhances the lives of our students, families and children by improving their English skills. NCEF funding will support the Children and Parents Reading Together (CPRT) program which supplements and reinforces what the child is learning in class, in addition to educating the parent and promotes parental engagement in their child’s education.

• MusicScores!

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  $50,000

  MusicScores! is a cost-effective program that creates school learners by providing violin instruction that enhances literacy and focus, as well as social and motor skills for preschoolers. Significant research regularly supports that these interventions before age five yield the highest rewards in a child’s future. NCEF funding permits 360 Head Start children to participate in this research-based and data-driven program.

• Naples Therapeutic Riding Center

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  $225,000

  Naples Therapeutic Riding Center improves the lives of children and adults with special needs through therapeutic riding and other equine-related programs. NCEF funding will support therapeutic riding, advanced therapeutic riding, equine-facilitated learning, as well as summer horsemanship camp. The benefits of therapeutic riding and advanced therapeutic riding include, but are not limited to, marked improvement in physical, cognitive, social and emotional development in individuals.

• One by One Leadership Foundation

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  $50,000
  One by One Leadership Foundation’s purpose is to create and maintain projects based on active engagement, assertiveness, belonging and reflection that underserved, at-risk youth can use to give back to their community. NCEF funding will support Taste of Immokalee, a student-run, real-world entrepreneurship program where students learn through a “hands-on” experience approach regarding the operation of a successful business with the purpose of creating social change.

• PACE Center for Girls

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  $60,000
  PACE Center for Girls’ mission is to provide girls and young women an opportunity for a better future through education, counseling, training and advocacy. NCEF funding will support the therapeutic counseling services, the overall purpose is to provide early identification, expert diagnosis and effective individual treatment of psychiatric and behavioral disorders that will help prepare girls for academic and social-emotional success and their futures.

• Pathways Early Education Center of Immokalee (formerly known as Immokalee Child Care Center)

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  $202,100
  Pathways Early Education Center of Immokalee serves the Immokalee community by providing exceptional educational programs and the highest quality childcare. Without high quality and subsidized child care, households would lose the ability to work and provide for their family, and children would not be ready for success in kindergarten. NCEF funding will subsidize 100 early learning spots.

• Redlands Christian Migrant Association (RCMA)

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  $160,000

  Redlands Christian Migrant Association (RCMA) provides quality child care and early education for children of migrant farm workers and rural, low-income families throughout Collier County. NCEF funding will help more than 200 children through quality early learning programming.

• Safe & Healthy Children's Coalition

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  $50,000

  Safe & Healthy Children’s Coalition of Collier County focuses on saving children’s lives through injury prevention and health promotion. NCEF funding will fund the drowning prevention/water safety program, Swim Central. This program will provide layers of protection through water safety education for at-risk and underserved families and provide water safety lessons for 1,300 children.

• Special Olympics

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  $85,250

  Special Olympics helps people with intellectual disabilities participate as productive and respected members of society, by offering a fair opportunity to develop and demonstrate their skills and talents through a structured athletic program. NCEF funding will to support the Young Athletes Program and Unified Champion Schools. The funding will also aid in establishing a Camp Shriver in Collier County.

• St. Matthew's House

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  $75,000

  St. Matthew’s House exists to change the lives of vulnerable and hurting individuals and families. NCEF funding will provide the Essential Child Services Program which serves many of the most vulnerable children and families in Collier County. It is meant to ensure the personal well-being, physical health and educational success of at-risk children that attend St. Matthew’s House in crisis situations. Funding will be used for childcare, urgent necessities such as medical and mental health care, tutoring/school-related expenses, extracurricular activities and camp.

• The Greater Marco Family YMCA

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  $365,000
  The Greater Marco Family YMCA has established out-of-school programs that build strong mind, body and spirit for the children of their community. NCEF funding will provide over 600 children in the Manatee and East Naples areas with after-school and summer programs. These programs will have an academic component to help participants maintain their academic skills throughout the summer.

• The Shelter for Abused Women & Children

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  $270,000

  The Shelter for Abused Women & Children provides safety, intervention, education and support to victims and survivors of domestic violence. NCEF funding will support the Primary Prevention program, which creates a learning environment that inspires children and youth to create peaceful and nonviolent environments as well as onsite counseling and advocacy programs to children who have been exposed to domestic violence and abuse.

• United Arts Council of Collier County

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  $50,000

  United Arts Council enriches the lives and strengthen the community through the power of the arts. NCEF funding will permit over 800 children to participate in academic and enrichment services during after-school hours.

• Valerie's House

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  $100,000
  Valerie’s House is devoted to providing children and their families, who have experienced the death of a loved one, a safe place to share and experience support with others who are also grieving, while moving through the healing process. NCEF funding will provide youth in Collier County arts, music and group therapy to help them identify, express and process grief, to become mentally healthy, stable and successful in school and life; in addition to focusing on school outreach through the Valerie’s House School Awareness Program.

• Youth Haven

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  $300,000
  Youth Haven’s mission is to protect and empower children, and to strengthen families in Southwest Florida through comprehensive care and community collaboration. NCEF funding will support the Homeless Teen Transitional Living Program (HTTLP) which provides a safe, reliable and life-changing resource for vulnerable youth.