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Together...We Make Greater Impact
Our ImpactThe hallmark of our grantmaking program is understanding community needs and targeting our grants to address these needs. One unique need, or theme, is identified for each grant year. To validate such needs, we consult with the Collier and Lee counties’ community foundations, community leaders, and review publications such as "Together we are building a better, stronger Southwest Florida" and the Collier Community Foundation 2024 Community Report and dashboard. Three grantmaking committees--Grant Research, Grant Evaluation, and Grant Monitoring--establish a relevant theme for the next grant cycle, discuss the merits of each grant application and recommend a slate of grantees, and monitor the intended outcomes of each approved grant. This multifaceted process brings a high degree of confidence to our donors. After careful evaluation and WGC membership approval, we are pleased to highlight our eight grant recipients for 2025-2026. |
Focusing on Seniors and Their Wellbeing
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$15,000 | $20,000 | $20,000 | TBD |
The Baker Senior Center Naples will use our $15,000 grant to fund
their Food Security for Older Adult Women Program. This addresses a major issue
for many women living in southwest Florida.
It will provide food insecure and financially challenged older women
access to the Center’s weekly hot lunch program and food pantry. Visit www.naplesseniorcenter.org
| The Community Cooperative will use our $20,000 grant to fund their Senior Women Wellness Project to support and expand their supplemental delivery service of groceries - healthy food, fresh produce and toiletry items - to low income, disadvantaged senior women, ensuring adequate nutrition and help to make ends meet. Their Meals on Wheels program delivers hot meals daily to the homebound, elderly, ill or disabled. Visit https://communitycooperative.com | Collier Senior Center – will use our $20,000 grant for their Seniors Mental Wellness Program. The Collier Senior Center plans to expand the social services they offer to address depression, loneliness, and isolation and help seniors build relationships and engage more socially. They also plans to increase participants’ access to professional individual therapy from once to twice weekly. Visit https://collierseniorcenter.org | Another grant to share soon |
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$25,000 | $20,000 | $14,000 | $20,000 |
The Dubin Center – With our $25,000 grant to their Supporting Seniors with
Dementia and their Family Caregivers Program, the Dubin Center will provide a
comprehensive support system for the family caregivers of those living with
dementia and Alzheimer’s, offering support groups and educational workshops to
improve the well-being and reduce the stress of family caregivers. Visit https://dubincenter.com | Legal Aid Service of Collier County plans to use our $20,000 grant to their Senior Women Legal Project for salary support/personnel costs of the attorneys who run Legal Aid’s Senior Women’s Initiative, a project providing essential, no cost legal services to senior women facing eviction and homelessness, bankruptcy and economic exploitation. In addition, this program advises seniors on how to maintain financial security. Visit https://www.collierlegalaid.org | Senior Friendship Center, located in Lee County, plans to use our $14,000 grant to fund their Friendship at Home Program which supports crisis intervention services, home visits, telephone reassurance, and emergency food assistance to homebound senior women. To learn more about this program, please visit https://friendshipcenters.org | St. Matthew’s House will use our $20,000 grant in their Senior Homelessness
Program to help fund the expenses – food, shelter, clothing, transportation,
hygiene, medical needs, case management for homeless senior women living in St.
Matthew’s three shelter locations in Ft. Myers, Naples, and Immokalee). Visit https://stmatthewshouse.org |
To date, WGC awarded $973,450 in grants to local nonprofit agencies. |
Dear Members of The Women's Giving Circle of SWFL, On behalf of our Board of Directors and Staff at Café of Life, I wish to express our most sincere thanks for your very generous donation of $15,000 for Hurricane Relief. It’s only through the generous support of organizations like yours that we can make a positive difference in the lives of the less fortunate. This donation will go a long way in bringing our services to those impacted by Hurricane Ian. The Café was able to provide nearly 20,000 nutritious meals in 2022 to those struggling with nutritional insecurity while also providing these people in need with take-home food and clothing from our pantries.Thanks for all you do for the less fortunate. Jeff Nichols |
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| Maria was a new mother at 16. She came from a long line of migrant workers, was undocumented and was not attending school. She did not speak English. After two years of assistance from an organization WGC supported, Maria graduated from high school and her son just started to walk. Now, she can carry on a basic conversation in English and dreams of attending Fort Myers Technical Institute to earn an academic certificate in the medical field. Maria has also been taking parenting classes, learning how to budget her money, and enjoying normal teenage activities like going to the beach, shopping at the mall, and going out to eat with her friends. WGC is proud of our collective efforts and the impact we make. |
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The Women's Giving Circle of Southwest Florida is a fund of the Collier Community Foundation.
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