In an effort to help community members achieve financial stability, United Way Suncoast has awarded Goodwill Manasota a grant of $165,000 in support of the GoodPartner Coach program, to be distributed over Goodwill’s next three fiscal years.

The money will assist Goodwill team members in lowering their barriers to self-sufficiency and improving employability skills, with a focus on financial literacy skills.

One of the key mission goals of Goodwill Manasota is to provide employment as well as on-the-job educational opportunities and job skills training so that team members who may have barriers to employment can enjoy success on the job, retain their jobs at Goodwill or launch to better-paying jobs elsewhere, and strengthen their families.

The GoodPartner Coach program provides individuals with disabilities and other barriers to employment with case management services and employability skills training.

The grant was provided through the “Financial Stability Investment Stream” of United Way Suncoast’s most recent grant cycle. Funded projects focus on United Way’s priority population, ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed).

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CareerEdge, the workforce development initiative of the Sarasota Chamber of Commerce, will continue its efforts thanks to a $125,000 grant from Gulf Coast Community Foundation. This grant award extends the 11-year-long partnership between CareerEdge and Gulf Coast.

CareerEdge will use the grant money for on-the-job training, internships and salary subsidies for local employers. It will also be used for CareerEdge’s Fast-Track training programs.

Fast-Track training is a way for employers to quickly fill in-demand job openings while offering rapid credentialing and certifications critical within the industry.

Gulf Coast Community Foundation’s cumulative support for CareerEdge now exceeds $1.5 million. The foundation was an inaugural investor when the initiative was launched back in 2009, and it has continued to help steer and fund CareerEdge.

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The Wilson-Wood Foundation has announced its grant distributions for 2022.

Here are the 31 organizations that received grants totaling $475,000.

Academy at Glengary, $20,000; Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast, $15,000; Boys & Girls Clubs of Manatee County, $20,000; Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota and Desoto Counties, $10,000; Child Protection Center, $10,000; Children First, $15,000; Community Assisted and Supported Living, $30,000; Community Coalition on Homelessness, $25,000; Easter Seals Southwest Florida, $25,000; and Epilepsy Services of Southwest Florida, $5,000.

Exchange Club Family Partnership Center of Manatee County, $10,000; Florida Center for Early Childhood, $10,000; Forty Carrots of Sarasota, $5,000; Foundation for Dreams, $10,000; Girls Incorporated of Sarasota County, $15,000; Good Samaritan Pharmacy & Health Services, $20,000; Habitat for Humanity South Sarasota County, $15,000; Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Suncoast, $20,000; Laurel Civic Association, $20,000; Literacy Council of Sarasota, $15,000; and Loveland Center, $25,000.

Mana-Sota Lighthouse for the Blind, $10,000; Meals on Wheels Plus of Manatee; $20,000; Neuro Challenge Foundation, $15,000; Safe Children Coalition, $10,000; Senior Friendship Centers, $15,000; Southeastern Guide Dogs, $10,000; Teen Court of Sarasota, $10,000; Tidewell Hospice, $20,000; Women’s Resource Center of Manatee, $12,500; and YMCA of Southwest Florida, $12,500.

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United Way Suncoast kicked off its new fiscal year by awarding a three-year grant of $315,000 to Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast.

The funds will be used to support the Reading Bigs program for children in Manatee and Sarasota counties.

Within the umbrella of BBBSSC’s One-to-One Mentoring Program, Reading Bigs is designed to foster a love of literature and aid in the development of grade-level reading through a variety of activities that are specific to the child’s reading level and monitored by Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast and the child’s teacher.

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Venice-Nokomis Rotary has awarded $1,750 to Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast for children in South Sarasota County in its One-to-One mentoring programs with a focus on the organization’s continuum of educational mentoring initiatives.

The youth and his/her mentor participate in the One-to-One Mentoring Program as either a community-based match or a school-based match.

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Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast received $3,500 from Annette J. Hagens Memorial Foundation for its Decision to Win program in Manatee County.

The goal of Decisions to Win’s one-to-one mentoring initiative is to help at-risk high school students remain in school, earn promotion to the next grade level and graduate high school. DTW serves students in grades 10-12.

DTW is Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast’s signature high school dropout prevention initiative, joining the agency’s one-to-one mentoring model with a structured course of study.

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Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast received a $5,000 Capacity Building Grant from the Community Foundation of Sarasota County to support the DEI leadership initiative for staff, board and mentors.

All youths served by Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast face diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI) and access barriers — economic, racial, ethnic, LGBTQ, language, disability, educational, ACES (adverse childhood experiences), etc.

Big Brothers Big Sisters is committed to helping the youths (Littles) overcome barriers and achieve equity. Through this capacity-building project, BBBSSC will engage in ongoing expert-led, fully customized DEI Leadership Development training sessions and workshops for staff, board members and mentors.

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Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast was awarded a $1,000 Community Grant from Walmart Store No. 5727 to purchase school supplies for children served in Manatee County.

Each year the organization provides backpacks and school supplies for the Littles in the program. The Littles are prepared with the tools they need to go back to school.

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Donors of Distinction awarded $2,648 to Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast. The funds will purchase 15 Chromebooks and 15 SAT books for Littles in the program who are in need.

Some Littles in the program do not have access to technology at home and some college-bound Littles do not have access to SAT books.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: United Way grant for Goodwill, foundation donation for CareerEdge