In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month this May, more than $200,000 has now been distributed to 10 Tampa Bay non-profits aimed at increasing mental well-being among residents. The announcement from Community Foundation Tampa Bay came as part of this year’s $1 million-plus competitive grant cycle, which supported 47 nonprofit organizations.

Among the double-digit nonprofits on the receiving end of this round of funding, the Burg-based St. Pete Arts Alliance was presented with $25,000 to support its “Murals in Mind” project. The initiative works to create opportunities to support mental well-being and reduce stigmas around mental health through 12 public art experiences in St. Petersburg.

“It’s critical for us to support our nonprofit partners that are working so hard to address the growing mental health crisis in our community,” said Marlene Spalten, President and CEO of the Community Foundation Tampa Bay.

Exacerbated by the pandemic, explosive inflation, and the rise in living costs, mental health is a growing concern in our region. Even as recently as February 2021, two in every five U.S. adults reported recent symptoms of anxiety or depression. While more people are experiencing mental health challenges, more than one in ten adults has trouble accessing the care they need.

The Community Foundation Tampa Bay focuses on funding trauma-informed care models, programs addressing suicide and addictions, and models for the reduction of mental health stigmas in its competitive grant cycle.

10 area non-profits received life-changing support

“Our competitive grant cycle makes a significant impact in addressing the needs of our community through the work of our nonprofit partners, particularly those addressing mental health and well-being,” said Jesse Coraggio, Ph.D., Senior Vice President of Community
Impact at Community Foundation Tampa Bay.

All told, this year’s competitive grant cycle provided $1,041,646 to 47 local nonprofits, a record number. To learn more about the competitive grant process and how to apply visit cftampabay.org/grants. Check out the full list below to see the local non-profits on the receiving end of the most recent round of funding.

• Tampa Bay Thrives, Inc. received $50,000 to support its “Let’s Talk: Behavioral
  Health Navigation and Support Line,” which is a free, confidential 24/7 support line
  that connects callers in Hillsborough and Pasco Counties to trained counselors.
• Friends of the Children – Tampa Bay, Inc. received $40,000 for its “Helping Children
  Dream Big: Positive Education Supported by Professional Mentors” program, which
  pairs a child who has been in foster care, or at-risk of entering foster care, with a
  professional mentor to support their mental and emotional well-being.
• Healthy Start Coalition of Pinellas received $25,000 to support its “Personal
  Counseling Services” which provides mental health screening for uninsured Pinellas
  County women during and after pregnancy to identify their risk for perinatal
  depression.
• Metropolitan Ministries received $20,000 to support its “Resiliency Center,” which
  provides free individual, family, and group therapy for people in Hillsborough County
  who are homeless or at-risk of becoming homeless.
• St. Petersburg Arts Alliance received $25,000 to support its “Murals in Mind” project,
  which is working to create opportunities to support mental well-being and reduce
  stigmas around mental health through 12 public art experiences in St. Petersburg.
• Shirley Proctor Puller Foundation, Inc. received $16,000 to support its “M.A.S.T.R.
  Kids – Mental Health and Well-being” project, which provides weekly culturally
  inclusive group therapy sessions to South St. Petersburg children in kindergarten
  through eighth grade.
• Children’s Home Society of Florida – Suncoast Tampa Bay Area received $14,805 to
  help support its “Infant Mental Health” program, which teaches infant massage and
  parent-child interaction therapy to Hillsborough County parents of young children.
• NAMI Citrus County, Inc. received $12,000 to support its “NAMI Citrus Educate
  22-23 Plan” to educate Citrus County residents about mental health, recognize signs
  of mental illness and reduce the stigma around mental health.
• Boley Centers, Inc. received $10,000 for its new “Boley on Broadway” program to
  provide a creative outlet through theatre productions to people in Pinellas County
  with severe and persistent mental illness.
• Champions for Children, Inc. received $10,000 to support the continuation of its
  “Kids on the Block” program, which is a troupe of educational puppets to educate
  kindergarten and third-grade students to recognize and report abuse and other
  mistreatment and to seek help, in south Hillsborough County schools.

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