In a year of enormous need, donors step up
As we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving with family and friends, I want to thank our community for an incredible year of support to the Collier Community Foundation (CCF).
Our area faced enormous challenges of rebuilding after Hurricane Ian, struggling with housing availability, tackling complicated environmental concerns, and other significant issues. To address these challenges, our donors made record-setting commitments, including more than $10 million for CCF's Collier Comes Together Fund, with an impressive number of individuals making significant contributions to this disaster recovery and rebuilding fund. Financial support from generous donors has allowed CCF to distribute more than $62 million in grants this year.
At CCF, we emphasize forward thinking and investing time to provide long-term solutions for our community tomorrow, including planning ahead to prepare for the next storm or disaster. We are raising homes and replacing damaged structures to meet hurricane codes so residents of hard-hit communities — such as River Park East, Moorhead Manor, and Everglades City — no longer feel as vulnerable in the wake of the next storm. Thanks to the advocacy of State Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, we received a state grant of an additional $4.9 million from the Collier Housing Resilience Project. This generous funding has allowed us to allocate at least $1.6 million to lift approximately ten Everglades City homes to mitigate damage from future hurricanes — a proven solution.
We continue our long-established tradition of improving our community by engaging donors, nonprofits, and local leaders in the causes they care about most. In the recently released 2023 Community Needs Assessment, critical issues identified include housing, environment, and growth development infrastructure. Since we prioritize staying in touch with community needs, we have already been working on several projects addressing these vital issues.
Thanks to solid donor support, we have made several grants to focus on solutions to affordable housing, including a $50,000 grant to help create a housing alliance to address this complex issue in a holistic, long-term fashion. The goal is to expand housing opportunities for essential workers, including teachers, law enforcement, and fixed-income seniors. We also provided a $30,000 grant to Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary to expand land management capacity to protect our wildlife and clean water supply and improve our resiliency against future storms. A $30,000 economic development grant is helping to fund a new Empowerment Center at St. Matthew's House. The multifaceted Empowerment Center will give program participants, graduates, and the community increased educational opportunities for long-term stability and self-sufficiency.
When we look at local needs, our team at CCF considers where our community will be in generations to come. If you haven't heard about the significance of the "transfer of wealth," we hope you will soon learn about the intergenerational phenomenon occurring in communities nationwide. If three percent of the $34.8 billion expected to change hands in Collier County over the next ten years is willed to CCF, it could result in a $1 billion endowment that could generate over $50 million in grant-making each year, supporting the programs that benefit our community's needs forever.
On behalf of the CCF board, staff, and volunteers, I can't thank you, our generous community, enough for your ongoing commitment and support as we continue our mission to respond to critical community needs, optimize charitable giving, and make a meaningful difference that will last well into the future.
Eileen Connolly-Keesler is Collier Community Foundation president & CEO.
Collier Community Foundation® is a tax-exempt, public, charitable organization established in 1985 to increase and focus on local private philanthropy. Today, the Collier Community Foundation manages over 850 funds, works with hundreds of nonprofits, and has granted over $328 million to nonprofit organizations, community programs, and scholarships. Informed giving. Powerful results®. Learn more at colliercf.org or call 239-649-5000.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: In a year of enormous need, donors step up
