Sunshine Health Awards $90,000 in Community Connections Grants to Address Homelessness, Food Insecurity, Mental Health and More

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Nov. 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Sunshine Health recently awarded $90,000 in Community Connections grants to 18 nonprofit organizations across Florida to address homelessness, food insecurity, mental health, health literacy and more. This is the health plan's third round of Community Connections grants to address social determinants of health (SDoH) in 2022, bringing the total to $300,000.

The grants come at a difficult time for Floridians and nonprofits, as many are still recovering from Hurricane Ian.

"Like many of our partners, the Sunshine Health team has been in the community assisting with Hurricane Ian relief efforts," said Nathan Landsbaum, Sunshine Health President and CEO. "These groups applied for this round of grants before the storm. We are proud to support them in the aftermath to strengthen the social safety net that keeps our communities strong and healthy."

Sunshine Health is committed to improving access to food, jobs, education, housing and other SDoH for all Floridians. Community Connections grants of $5,000 each were awarded to the following community partners:

• Caring Place, Miami and Broward
• Catholic Charities of Northwest Florida
• Clay County Rescue Mission
• Family Promise of Greater Orlando
• Girls Place Inc., Alachua County
• Healthy Living United Center, Lee County
• HANDY, Helping Abused Disadvantaged Youth, Broward County
• HOMES, Housing Opportunities, Mortgage Assistance, & Effective Neighborhood Solutions, Broward
• NAMI, National Alliance on Mental Illness, Marion County
• New Image Youth Center, Orlando
• New Life Village, Tampa
• NCI, Northside Community Involvement, Jacksonville
• Parent to Parent of Miami
• Pasco Kids First
• Pensacola High School Football Boosters Club/Tiger Football Food Program
• VCOYA, Village Coalition of Youth Activities, Fort Pierce
• Volunteer Way, Pasco County
• VISTE, Volunteers in Service to the Elderly, Polk County

"The youth athletes we serve rely on the meals we provide before and after the game. It's been a journey to feed them this summer," said Tractice Bright, Pensacola High School Football Booster Club. "We are so grateful that this grant will provide pre-game and post-game meals and snacks twice a week for the kids. They will be so happy."

"I'm so happy, I want to cry. So many need so much. We want to give them hope, and when we say we don't have the money, it's devastating," said Amy Houston, President, Clay City Rescue Mission. "This grant will help us provide hotel stays and food for the homeless and displaced populations that we serve while we locate more permanent housing. We are so thankful."

"Thank you so much for this amazing gift of support that will help us serve 2,000 meals to our Tallahassee neighbors in need of food. We are so very grateful and will be excellent stewards of this gift to assist those that come to Catholic Charities for help," said Bambi Provost, Director of Fund Development, Catholic Charities of Northwest Florida.

"These funds will help support the work that our Trauma Therapy team does to heal children from abuse. Your support is invaluable to Pasco Kids First by helping us turning victims into survivors," said Maria Hixon, Director of Development, Pasco Kids First.

"Receiving the $5,000 grant from Sunshine Health is giving some of our youth a place to call home.  It's providing comfort, stability and love during a difficult time," said Shanta Barton-Stubbs, CEO, New Image Youth Center, Orlando. "This is truly the unity we need in our community."

Organizations interested in applying for 2023 Community Connections grants can find details in the Sunshine Health Newsroom beginning in spring 2023, or follow the health plan on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook.

Sunshine Health offers many programs and benefits to reduce the impact of SDoH for its 2.3 million members across Florida, including partnerships with more than 600 community groups.

Sunshine Health's Community Resource Database also connects anyone in needed with community resources and support programs. Floridians also can call the Community Connections Help Line at 1-866-775-2192 to be connected with local resources.

Headquartered in Broward County and with offices across the state, Sunshine Health is among the largest healthcare plans in Florida. Offering coordinated care and a network of support for our members, Sunshine Health is transforming the health of the community, one person at a time. Sunshine Health is a wholly owned subsidiary of Centene Corporation, a diversified, multi-national healthcare enterprise. We offer government-sponsored managed care through Medicaid, Long Term Care, the Health Insurance Marketplace (Ambetter), and Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug Plans (Wellcare). Our specialty plans include the Child Welfare Specialty Plan serving children in or adopted from the state's Child Welfare system; the Serious Mental Illness Specialty Plan for people living with serious mental illness; and the Children's Medical Services Health Plan, operated by Sunshine Health on behalf of the Florida Department of Health for children and adolescents with special healthcare needs.  

For more information, visit SunshineHealth.com or follow us on Facebook and Twitter @SunHealthFL.

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SOURCE Sunshine Health