ARTS & CULTURE 

Organization Name: Destin History and Fishing Museum

Project Title: Redesign and Update of DHFM's Main Entrance Room

Our primary mission is to "Preserve Destin's history by stimulating interest in and understanding of the village of Destin, its history, and its fishing and tourism industries, through experiences that educate and inspire." To accomplish this, the museum collects and archives books, manuscripts, photographs, and a large variety of artifacts that span from prehistoric Native American occupation of the region to the advent of the modern fishing and tourist community we know as Destin today.

The overall goal of this project is to have a redesigned and fully functioning space that offers updated and new opportunities for museum visitors. This involves updating the museum's front room (approximately 1/4 of the museum's total 6,000 square feet.),the welcoming point for all guests. It houses the gift shop, and serves as the educational anchor for the rest of the exhibits throughout the museum. Its focus is to educate our visitors on Destin's unique ecosystems and natural history, while fostering a sense of place as they learn about the people and families that shaped the vibrant history of our area, as well as a better understanding of how local history and ecology shaped present-day Destin, the ecological challenges ahead, and environmental stewardship opportunities. Modernizing and updating the existing space will allow staff to work more efficiently and enhance visitor’s experiences. 

Funding will support design and installation of a hands-on learning space, seum's mission and the ever-evolving goal to stay current by providing modern, engaging content.

A well-designed kids' space will allow the museum to better educate younger generations, homeschool groups, school clubs, and other children's groups on the unique history of Destin. It would expand our reach and ability to implement programming geared at both local and out-of-town visiting school groups. The area will have children-friendly softscape, furniture, activities, and information and educational games on touchscreen computers. The goal of the new kid's corner and updated children-friendly exhibits is to support the museum's education mission component with new age-appropriate education opportunities. 

The natural history exhibits will allow the museum to better align to current and future discussions of community growth, pollution awareness, and climate change while inspiring stewardship of our surrounding beaches, waterways, and forests. The exhibits will be updated with new information, text panels, monitors, and historic artifacts in exhibit cases. 

The Museum welcomes approximately 10,000 visitors per year. Admissions and gift shop sales currently make up approximately 50% of the museum's annual operating budget. By redesigning and updating exhibits and educational opportunities, the museum hopes to increase the total number of admissions and gift shop sales. Of the 10,000 visitors per year, approximately 25% are children or students. With no other comparable museum kid's space in the local area, the museum hopes to create a kid's corner to meet the needs of local and visiting students, and to be a trusted resource to teach local history and environmental issues, concerns, and solutions.  We anticipate an increase in sales, along with fundraising opportunities that support operational budgets, will allow the museum to maintain these updates and support future expansion or revision opportunities elsewhere in the museum. The proposed project would be the most impactful step towards modernizing the museum.

EDUCATION

Organization Name: Emerald Coast Autism Center

Project Title: Connecting Every Learner to a Bright Future

The mission of Emerald Coast Autism Center (ECAC), a non -profit school, therapy, and vocational center serving Okaloosa, Walton and surrounding counties, is to improve the lives of individuals with autism and related unique abilities, and their families, by providing effective treatment and education options from early childhood into adulthood.

Globally, 85-90% of adults with autism are unemployed. This staggering statistic inspired us in 2019 to create our Transition to Work (TTW) program in partnership with Northwest Florida State College (NWFSC). This program has three phases, with the ultimate goal of gainful employment. First, we provide our teens and young adults with the training to learn distinct job skills, practicing them onsite at our Emerald Coast Learning Center (ECLC) which houses specialized job training resources, like a commercial kitchen, drive-thru, café laundry facility and car wash. Second, students generalize these skills to actual on-campus jobsites where they are supervised by NWFSC employees. And finally, when these steps are mastered, our students will work at a business in the community with one of our community partners. 

Our students with autism are incredibly capable, they just need the appropriate scaffolding to prepare them for the workforce. To meet our goal of providing these young adults with employment opportunities, we need to logistically get them to jobsites. ECAC currently has one passenger van dedicated to on-campus transportation which shuttles students throughout the day to various NWFSC jobsites. However, we have not been able to get students out into the community due to lack of transportation. Our project entails the purchase of one Ford Transit 15-passenger van dedicated to community employment opportunities, and the operational funds to support the salary of a Community Manager to accompany the students to the jobsites to provide crucial training and advocacy.

Once a child with special needs ages out of the educational system at age 22, there is a severe lack of services offered for specialized job skills training. Most of our students are not independent enough to safely stay at home without adult supervision. The result is that a parent must quit his or her job and stay home with the adult child. This is detrimental for the parents, the young adults, and our community. The reality is that these young adults have forty plus years of potential working life ahead of them after aging out of the school system. However, in the state of Florida, only 8.4% of adults with autism are employed. Imagine waking up day after day and not having anywhere to go, anyone depending on you, or anyone happy to see you when you arrive at work. One of our TTW parents said it best In my son’s case, with the training he’s receiving currently, he sees how much he’s improving, and it also gives him an opportunity to hopefully have a future just like everybody else. Our TTW program and specialized facilities will give these students opportunities to have a job just like everybody else. 

We have already been approached by and are in partnership with employers in Walton and Okaloosa Counties who want to give our students an opportunity to be productive, providing them with job placement. Often our students are uniquely qualified for niche jobs that tend to see a lot of employee turnover, so these individuals will be filling a need in the community. All we need is a way to get these amazing young adults to their jobs!

ENVIRONMENT, RECREATION & PRESERVATION

Organization Name: Gulfarium C.A.R.E Foundation

Project Title: Gulfarium CARE Center Expansion Design

The Gulfarium CARE Foundation’s mission is to conserve marine life through rescue, rehabilitation, and education, focusing on protecting and sustaining vulnerable species. Our programs foster public awareness and provide opportunities for active participation in marine conservation.

Our proposed project is to design a new animal hospital at the Gulfarium CARE Center. The facility will expand our ability to care for sea turtles, Florida Manatees, and other marine animals. The Impact100 grant will fund the architectural design phase, which is the critical first step toward building the hospital. This will enable us to increase our capacity for marine animal care, improve treatment outcomes, and further our mission of conservation.

The project will have a direct impact on Okaloosa and Walton Counties by enhancing our capacity to care for local marine wildlife, particularly endangered species. In 2023, we treated 133 sea turtles, but due to facility limitations, many more could not receive care. The new facility will allow us to meet the increasing demand for marine animal rehabilitation. Additionally, the expanded hospital will serve as a hub for educational programs, reaching over 300,000 individuals annually and deepening community involvement in conservation efforts.

Specific Objectives

1. Design Phase Completion: Successfully complete the architectural design of the new Gulfarium CARE Animal Hospital, ensuring all functional and regulatory requirements are met for a state-of-the-art rehabilitation facility.
2. Increased Rehabilitation Capacity: Expand our space and treatment capabilities, allowing us to care for more sea turtles, Florida Manatees, and other marine species.
3. Improved Treatment Efficiency: Modernize our facilities and equipment to enhance the efficiency of our rehabilitation processes, leading to better outcomes for animals.
4. Broadened Geographic Reach: Extend our capacity to respond to marine animal emergencies beyond the local area, accommodating animals from broader geographic regions.
5. Strengthened Conservation Efforts: Support marine conservation by providing top-tier care and rehabilitation services, aiding in the recovery of endangered species.
6. Enhanced Public Education: Use the new hospital to host educational initiatives, raising public awareness and engagement in marine conservation.

To ensure long-term sustainability, we will continue to rely on diverse funding sources, including annual fundraising events, corporate partnerships, and grants. With the Gulfarium CARE Center’s robust volunteer program and ongoing community support, we are confident this project will have lasting benefits for marine wildlife and conservation efforts in the region

FAMILY

Organization Name: The Arc of the Emerald Coast

Project Title: Bear Rd. Group Home Renovations

Our mission is to provide a path from disability to capability. We exist to provide the best possible life experiences for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The Arc of the Emerald Coast operates four group homes in Okaloosa County. 

These licensed group homes, which hold up to 9 residents in each home living with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities, two of our group homes are in dire need of home renovations. The homes were originally constructed in 1986 and have not had extensive updates since. This grant will ensure the safety and standards of group home life, required by licensing, are met for years to come for our adult clients. Equally important, it will provide an environment where our clients can thrive living together with comfort and peace and free from the stressors of an aging home. We have seen a direct, adverse effect that sub-standard living conditions can have on our clients. Whenever their physical environment creates stress, for example hot temperatures due to our current inadequate air conditioning, poor outside grounds limiting free play, and crowded living space, aggressive behaviors and/or reclusive lifestyles may result. 

Upgrading the condition of these homes is two-fold: it provides an upgrade of living spaces ensuring we follow licensing requirements, allowing us to continue offering these vital services and provides an upgrade towards the well-being of our clients who live there, providing a space where they can thrive and live with comfort over conflict. Our residents live and engage in this community through our efforts at inclusivity. As we’ve seen adverse behavior of our residents with disabilities are linked to their detrimental living environments, we believe the upgrades will limit the number of extreme incidents that could occur resulting in less of a burden to our community. These improvements will also allow our staff to focus on supporting the personal growth of our clients, helping them thrive as valued members of our community. 

We have a total of 18 group home residents, men and women from ages 35-70 with mixed races that will be directly impacted by these upgrades, allowing for greater positive interaction and fellowship inside and outside the homes with free play in the newly landscaped grounds and socialization together in the projected patio area. Adding renovations to the playground, basketball goals, and patio area will allow our clients the space, environment and the inclusive touch and morale for family gatherings.

Our agency’s reliable revenue stream supports the continuity of our group home programs thanks to the generosity of private donations, corporate fundraisers, and our strong funding partnerships. We’re proud of the enduring relationships we’ve built over time. Every year, we thoughtfully budget for necessary repairs and small upgrades to our facilities, ensuring they are safe, comfortable, and well-maintained.

With additional Impact funding, we can continue addressing these needs and keep our buildings insurable. This will ensure we’re able to offer secure, nurturing spaces for years to come. By upgrading our group home’s property, we can positively impact even more lives beyond the residents we currently support.

HEALTH & WELLNESS

Organization Name: Children's Volunteer Health Network, Inc.

Project Title: Rolling Smiles: Impacting Healthier Futures for our Children

CVHN’s mission is to eliminate barriers to accessible and affordable healthcare for children in need through mobile solutions and community partnerships so all God’s children have the greatest opportunity to reach their full potential.

This program, Rolling Smiles, is dedicated to delivering early intervention care to our children at PreK, preschool programs through a mobile health clinic housed in a fully stocked sprinter van. This van will allow us to see the children in a privacy setting, have access to internet allowing the use of an intra-oral camera to track progress for results and to have supplies readily available without the hassle of toting everything through the school. We will allocate funds for van acquisition, customization, staffing, supplies, educational materials and program evaluation. This budget is designed to support the sustainability of the sprinter van and the ability to deliver high quality early intervention services to kiddos all around Okaloosa and Walton Counties.  

Our proposed project, Rolling Smiles, is poised to make significant impact in Okaloosa and Walton Counties by addressing the critical issue of early intervention dental care health. Currently CVHN serves over ten schools in these two counties, and we have treated more than 243 children at the start of the 2024-2025 school year alone -a remarkable 176% increase from last year, when we reached only 46 children across six schools.

Tooth decay is the most prevalent chronic disease among children, particularly affecting those in low-income communities. Nationwide, 40% of children entering kindergarten experience tooth decay, a statistic that highlights the urgent need for early intervention. In Florida, our state ranks last in the nation for pediatric dental health visits in the past year, which underscores the disparities in access to essential dental care.

Rolling Smiles aims to reduce these alarming figures by providing accessible dental treatments, including the application of an over the counter proven dental treatment in a school setting. This approach not only enhances privacy and ease for the children but also allows us to potentially expand our reach to more schools and learning centers. The at-risk children we target are twice as likely to have untreated cavities compared to their peers, making our early intervention program crucial for improving their dental health outcomes.

By focusing on preventative care and education, Rolling Smiles aligns with our commitment to dismantling dental care disparities among vulnerable populations. Supporting this initiative will not only alleviate pain and infection for countless children but will also foster a healthier future for our community, as a whole. 

Following the initial two-year funding period. we will actively seek additional grants and pursue sponsorships from local businesses, as well as continue to foster partnerships with other non-profits. Collaborating with schools and community organizations will help us maintain access to essential facilities and resources. We aim to establish a strong foundation for long-term impact on children's oral health outcomes. Together we can make a meaningful difference in the lives of these children, ensuring they have the healthy smiles they deserve.