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Catalysts for Change
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SUPPORTER SPOTLIGHT
Did you know that 96% of the funding for WRC comes from individuals, family trusts, foundations, corporate giving and revenue from the Unique Boutique? We live in a community where people and businesses are committed to making a difference for the people who live and work here. Many of the women we serve are facing an uncertain future and struggling with issues such as poor mental health, grief or an unexpected career change. The support of our donors, volunteers, and staff gives every one of these women access to services and the opportunity to thrive. In the history of WRC, there have been many people who have given their time, energy and financial resources to support our mission. While there have been countless individuals who have contributed to the success of WRC, two of the women we honor as founders are Dr. Elinor Crawford in Sarasota and Janet (Jan) Entwistle in Bradenton. These two women worked tirelessly to bring the vision of WRC to life. Both are no longer with us, but their legacy is felt every day through the work we are doing in our region. While all of our funders are important to us, we wanted to highlight several who have been the catalyst for change for WRC. RALPH S FRENCH FOUNDATION In 2015, we launched Project UpLift. This program focuses specifically on the ALICE population. As a reminder, ALICE is Asset Limited, Income Constrained, and Employed. These people are working hard, but living on the financial edge. Often times, they are working multiple jobs and do not have the time or access to resources that can change their path. The Ralph S. French Foundation was the first to invest in this program, providing the funds to hire our first Case Manager. This gave us the ability to provide services at partner locations targeting the ALICE population, making it easier for the client to connect to programs. We have leveraged this funding and have built a program that served 856 clients last year at the WRC and 4 partner locations. We are proud that the Ralph French Foundation continues to partner with WRC on this program, and their investment is making a difference to women and families.
WILLIAM G AND MARIE SELBY FOUNDATION AND ROBERTA SUDAKOFF FOUNDATION WRC is fortunate to have two facilities that we own, our Manatee Avenue and Tuttle Avenue locations. With the joy of ownership comes the cost of maintenance. The William G and Marie Selby Foundation and Roberta Sudakoff Foundation have been pivotal partners in supporting our efforts to keep our buildings in good shape. The Selby Foundation has been investing in both Manatee and Sarasota for more than 20 years. They are an important partner to so many agencies who need the investment of capital improvement or preventative maintenance. BETTY SCHOENBAUM AND THE SCHOENBAUM FAMILY FOUNDATION Alex and Betty Schoenbaum were one of the first to support the WRC in Sarasota County and after Alex’s death, Betty continued to be a staunch supporter of our scholarship program. She believed that the way out of poverty in life is through education, and education is the most important thing you can give a person. Supporting women through scholarships was important to her and she has provided scholarships through WRC for over 30 years. We lost Betty last year and in a true full-circle moment, when Betty was in Sarasota Memorial Hospital intensive care unit, her nurse Christina Creadon was a threetime Betty Schoenbaum scholarship recipient. The Schoenbaum Family Foundation has continued to support the women of our region through scholarships. On average WRC gives $25,000 in scholarship support annually. Applications will be available in early 2020 and are for women 21 years and older. THE PATTERSON FOUNDATION In 2015, when WRC of Manatee and Sarasota County started talking about the potential of a merger, The Patterson Foundation stepped forward to offer support to facilitate the process. Through the facilitation expertise of Pam Truitt and Betsy Steiner, the WRC Board of Directors and executive leadership of both organizations spent more than 1,400 hours working on the process and including stakeholders, donors, community leaders, and area community foundations, including Community Foundation of Sarasota County, Gulf Coast Community Foundation, Manatee Community Foundation and Selby Foundation, in the process. The result is a regional organization that is growing and serving more women and families in our region. We celebrate the third anniversary of our official merger on January 1st! THE LOUIS AND GLORIA FLANZER PHILANTHROPIC TRUST 2019, has been a banner year for transformational new funding to WRC. In June of this year, WRC received the largest investment in our program to date. The Louis and Gloria Flanzer Philanthropic Trust will be investing recurring dollars over the next three years to support organizational capacity building at WRC. What does organizational capacity mean? Many of you have been with WRC on our journey of merger and focusing on a regional approach to providing services to women. We have been growing in many ways but have not had the funding to hire critical staff to support the growth of our services. The donation from the Flanzer Philanthropic Trust gives us the funding to hire key staff to support the program delivery of our services. Knowing we have consistent funding for these positions gives us the ability to stay focused on the task of building life-changing programs for the women of our region. THE GREENFIELD FOUNDATION AND DR. WILLA BERNHARD Both The Greenfield Foundation and Dr. Willa Bernhard understand the importance of counseling to our career development program. They have made an investment in the growth of these programs in Sarasota County. Access to affordable mental health counseling in Sarasota County has been a wonderful result of the merger. In fact, in this past year, we have seen a 129% increase in counseling clients in the Sarasota Center and a 142% increase in our Venice Center. On pages, 22 and 23, we acknowledge the individuals, companies, foundations and funders that make it possible for us to serve the women of our region. These donations in conjunction with the time and efforts of our volunteers combine to build the foundation of support that make it possible for WRC to operate effectively in every part of our region. THANK YOU!
2020
Please join us in celebrating Legacy Wonder Woman Gloria Milstein Flanzer and the 2020 Wonder Women of Manatee and Sarasota County:
Wednesday, April 15th, 2020 Hyatt Regency 1000 Boulevard of the Arts • Sarasota, FL 34236
For more information, please visit: MyWRC.org/Spring
