The Hub

CHILDREN’S GUARDIAN FUND RECEIVES $15,525 LEVERAGED GRANT TO FUND 2013/14 OPPORTUNITY HUB

700 dependent children in the 12th Judicial Circuit will benefit from The Children’s Guardian Fund’s new Community Resource Opportunity Hub program, thanks to support from the Gulf Coast Community Foundation.

This project was inspired by the realization that very few children removed from their families and living in state care get access to the organizations that support development of children within our community. Dependent children face high barriers to academic and personal success. The goal of this program is to ensure that they are matched with existing resources that can help them overcome those barriers.

“We are especially happy to receive this grant because it allows us to fully utilize the great resources that are already available in this area,” said Jasmine Candlish, president of the Children’s Guardian Fund. “The fact that these organizations already exist is the key. It’s frustrating to see how often children in foster care aren’t connected to the people just waiting to help them.”

The Children’s Guardian Fund will partner with the Guardian ad Litem program to identify children who have fallen behind in school and connect those children with existing tutoring programs. Children’s Guardian Fund will also build the capacity of its Next Step/Bridge to the Future program to increase the availability of New College tutors and will work to develop relationships with other local colleges to increase the availability of tutors in other locations.

Together with its donors, Gulf Coast Community Foundation transforms our region through bold and proactive philanthropy. Gulf Coast is a public charity that was created in 1995 through the sale of the Venice Hospital. Since then, it has welcomed more than 550 charitable funds established by generous donors and invested more than $152 million in the community through grants in the areas of health and human services, education, civic and economic development, arts and culture, and the environment. Learn more at GulfCoastCF.org.