Florida’s Walton County has received a great deal of attention from The St. Joe Community Foundation in the past few years, particularly because of the area’s need for specific infrastructure improvements. The many grants to date include conserving the environment through Sea Turtle and Coastal Dune Lake monitoring; building upon the education system with scholarships, literacy programs, books for a new school library, learning and teaching initiatives; and enhancing cultural and arts delivery to the schools in cooperation with other foundations and the Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra. We continue to support existing arts organizations. We are particularly proud of a partnership that includes Sacred Heart Foundation, The St. Joe Company, STJCF and the citizens of Walton County, which made Sacred Heart Hospital on the Emerald Coast a reality.
Opened in early 2003, Sacred Heart Hospital on the Emerald Coast features a state-of-the-art 50-bed hospital, Cardiac Center, Trauma Center, a Women's Center and an Outpatient Facility. Located in south Walton County on a 34-acre site donated by The St. Joe Company, the hospital is supported by generous community funding, including $1.6 million from STJCF. This success represents the start of an emerging alliance to bring improved health care to communities across the region.
In 2009, a $50,000 grant was awarded to FSU – College of Motion Picture, Television and Recording Arts – The 30A Film School Initiative. This grant was made in honor of Chris Corr founder and long time member and officer of the STJCF Board of Trustees.
Home to Panama City, Panama City Beach, the Tyndall Air Force Base and Mexico Beach, Bay County is a special place to raise a family. That’s why The St. Joe Community Foundation focused its initial attention on helping the education system through teaching and learning grants for area teachers, supporting literacy programs and providing scholarship funds for students at local colleges. Our outreach into the community has expanded to include some of the more challenged of our community members through grants providing transportation for disabled adults, sponsorship of Special Olympics Athletes, and renovations at a local children’s home. In addition, several arts and nature programs, including an exhibit at St. Andrews State Park were funded through STJCF.
The Foundation most recently awarded Audubon of Florida a grant focused on educating residents and visitors on the important natural features of St. Andrews Bay, the richest estuary in Florida in terms of species diversity. The grant also included funding for the research and promotion of conservation buffers along the Bay and its tributaries.
In 2008 a $100,000 grant was awarded in Pam Selton Ingram’s honor for her service as the first executive director of the Foundation. Pam chose the Junior Museum of Bay County as the recipient for the expansion of their facility.
The final payment of a $250,000 grant was made in 2009 to the FSU Panama City Campus for the STJCF Endowed Scholarship Fund.
Steeped in a rich, cultural heritage, Gulf County’s history in agriculture, timber, beekeeping and riverboats is just as important to the region today as it was yesterday. Preserving and celebrating this history is an integral part of preserving Northwest Florida’s special quality of life. Recognizing this, The St. Joe Community Foundation invested in the new Wewahitchka library, which remembers and shares the region’s unique history through a “Northwest Florida Heritage Center”. The Port St. Joe Library was expanded to include a Florida History and Genealogy room thanks to support from many community partners and an STJCF grant providing more space for the community’s family literacy program.
The Foundation has contributed to teaching and learning grants, cultural enrichment initiatives and mentoring programs. We are partnering with other foundations to provide one-on-one mentoring to Wewahitchka High School and a mentoring program for children at most risk of not completing high school. We have made a special effort to support programs that keep communities strong, like Senior Citizens initiatives, Housing Rehabilitation, and a Community Concession Trailer that will be used by locals to raise dollars for charities, strengthening community ties. Also, STJCF partnered with the school board, the county commission, the City of Port St. Joe and local engineers, contractors and businesses to create two regulation-size soccer fields at Lamar Faison Fields. Similar alliances have led to the creation of the Highland View Recreational Complex in Port St. Joe and enhanced facilities at Lake Alice Park in Wewahitchka.
In 2006, The St Joe Community Foundation made its first $500,000 payment of a $ 5 million grant. Opened in March 2010, the Sacred Heart Hospital on the Gulf provides access to high quality, compassionate healthcare to residents and visitors of Gulf, Franklin and Bay Counties. The new 25-bed hospital features a 24-hour emergency department, inpatient services, surgical services, a full complement of diagnostic and laboratory services, and a helipad to provide rapid transport for trauma or critically ill patients. STJCF was a key supporter, a 20 acre site was donated by the St Joe Company, and the public and residents voted for a ½ cent sales tax increase to support the provision of indigent care at the new hospital. With all the assistance, this badly needed healthcare facility was realized.
Franklin County is recognized for its abundant natural resources, and its distinct coastal communities. Residents and guests alike find solace in birding, hiking nature trails, fishing and more. Opportunities abound to protect and enhance this unique natural environment. Our first order of business was supporting the Helping Hands Ministries, helping offset the cost of food distributed to unemployed Franklin County fishermen during a red tide outbreak. Since then we’ve provided a capacity building grant to the Apalachicola Bay and Riverkeeper, Inc. for their important stewardship of the Bay and River.
STJCF initiatives include education funding for Teaching and Learning grants, Take Stock in Children scholarship, the Challenger Learning Program that benefit 6th graders and support for a county-wide after-school program through the Boys and Girls Club and providing support toThe Senior Citizen’s Council reaching out to homebound senior citizens in rural areas received support from the Foundation. We’ve assisted Franklin’s Promise’s work to rally community support for a Food Pantry and helped the landmark Dixie Theatre restructure to help “Save the Dixie.” We’ve worked toward building community through support to counseling programs and to the fledgling Habitat for Humanity of Franklin County.
