Catholic Charities

Camp I Am Special
Awarded
$2,000

Camp I am Special offers 7 week-long summer residential camps and at least 1 weekend mini-camp during the year for children with physical, emotional and developmental disabilities and disorders such as Autism, Spina Bifida, Muscular Dystrophy, Quadriplegia, Sensory Disorders, Cerebral Palsy, Epilepsy, and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in a safe, loving environment with one-on-one support. The program offers life-enriching experiences, which have been written into the IEPs (Individual Educational Plans) and ITPs (Individual Treatment Plans) of some of our Campers.

City of Jacksonville Beach

Super Surf Camp
Awarded
$5,000

The Super Surf Camp will provide a fun day in the sun for the children with educated instructors and fun equipment including kayaks, surfboards, boogie boards, catamarans and safety equipment. Come out and ride a wave with the Super Surf Camp!

Girl Scouts of Gateway Council

Smile Camp
Awarded
$2,000

Smile Camp is a weeklong summer day camp for children ages 5 to 11 with autism, cerebral palsy, mental handicaps, spina bifida, visual and hearing impairments, as well as other physical health challenges. Smile camp offers children living with disabilities the chance to experience a week of new friends, outdoor adventures, and a sense of belonging.

Great Strides School

Great Strides Summer Camp
Awarded
$2,000

Great Strides School is a part of Great Strides Rehabilitation, Inc. Great Strides Summer Camp is an 8-week Summer Camp that allows children who would not typically be able to participate in regular summer camps the opportunity to experience a wide range of extracurricular activities while in a safe and highly educational setting under the direct care of individuals trained in dealing specifically with behavior problems in a therapeutic manner. Their mini-camps include: basketball, dance, swim and surf, career exploration, cooking, music and art, and tai chi and yoga. Also the campers will be taking numerous field trips into the community and inviting organizations to our facility to further enhance the student's experience within the camp while experiencing real-life situations.

HUG – Help Us Golf

Junior Golf Program
Awarded
$1,400

HUG- Junior Golf Camp focuses on teaching the game of golf to juniors within the autism spectrum. The HUG Junior Golf Program is hosted at the TOUR Academy at TPC Sawgrass. This program integrates the following into the golf camp; physical fitness, history/rules of the game, environmental stewardship/golf course maintenance and the fundamentals of the golf swing. One of the goals of the program is that it will be a model for other PGA Professionals to use at their facility/community.

Henderson Haven

Camp Possible 2013
Awarded
$5,000

Camp Possible 2013 will provide learning in a fun environment while promoting age-appropriate social skills. Each week Camp Possible will have a different theme, which will relate to an area of living an independent life, such as safety and/or health. Camp Possible will have volunteers and community resources to enhance the experience for each camper.

Hope at Hand, Inc.

The Power of Poetry
Awarded
$1,000

The Power of Poetry will provide funding for Hope at Hand to expand services to children on the Autism Spectrum attending Hope Haven Summer Camp. Hope at Hand programming will incorporate poetry, art, language, creative thinking, focus and concentration. Using creativity, language, and therapeutic approaches, we facilitate healing and personal growth to struggling populations through art and poetry.

Horse Haven Ranch, Inc.

Great Strides Summer
Awarded
$1,500

Primary mission of Haven Horse Ranch: "to assist each child with special needs in reaching their full potential through interaction and therapy with rescued horses." A licensed Spirit Horse Therapeutic Riding Center providing Free Equine Assisted Therapy. It's the only facility in NE Florida providing full time, free, therapy, 6 days per week for those with Autism, MS, MD, Celebral Palsy, Down's Syndrome, Traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries, Learning disabilities, Developmental Delays, and at risk and abused youth. To provide 100 sessions of Equine Therapy along with camp and various "horse shows" (a kind of Special Olympics with horses) for local children diagnosed specifically with an ASD.

Inclusion Solution

Bowling and Fishing programs for families
Awarded
$1,350

Inclusion Solution provides structured programs for families with children with autism and related disorders. They provide trained and experienced adult volunteers to be on site to help with grouping children and starting conversations and wait turns. The fishing program helps the children and parent by providing the materials and assisting with questions.

Jacksonville School for Autism

JSA Summer Camp
Awarded
$3,000

JSA Summer Camp offers campers an experience to integrate the arts into academics and "camping" experiences. Each day campers will experience movement activates, songs, team building activities, artistic expression activities, motor skills practice, etc. that are infused and integrated into science and cultural themed objectives.

Little Star Center

ABA Intensive Summer Camp
Awarded
$1,732.60

Little Star is offering an 8-week Intensive ABA Summer Camp for up to 20 students that teaches academic, communication, social skills, self-help skills, and community skills. The summer program helps children maintain their acquired skills throughout the summer and also learn more significant social behavior in the community. Fields trips are offered with no additional costs to the summer families. The field trips include places such as: the grocery store, museums, fire and police stations, farmer's market, movie theater, O2B kids and bowling.

Loretto Elementary School

Ms. Karen Thomas' Pre-K CSS Class
Awarded
$150

Ms. Thomas' class at Loretto Elementary aids pre-k children with varying levels of ASD in strengthening their communication and social skills.

Providence School of Jacksonville

Arrowsmith Program
Awarded
$500

The goal of the Arrowsmith Program is to help students strengthen the weak cognitive capacities underlying their learning dysfunctions. The Arrowsmith Program deals with the root causes of the learning disability rather than managing its symptoms. The program is capacity based, in that it changes the capacity of the individual to learn.

Rising Stars Baseball (Ponte Vedra AA)

Rising Stars Baseball
Awarded
$1,200

Trying to serve more special needs kids ages 8-15 from the Jacksonville are by giving them access to sports/baseball. The league was established to allow children to have fun with baseball, build self-confidence, teamwork skills and lasting memories and friendships. Rising Stars Baseball is able to support a range of abilities; from mild coordination concerns to moderate gross motor planning challenges.

The Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens

Camp Cummer Scholarships
Awarded
$2,000

Camp Cummer is a week-long summer camp taught by full-time Museum Educators whose work is supported whose work is supported by the time and talent of dozensf of volunteers. Camp Cummer is a fun summer camp that offers fun, adventurous ways for children to grow by discovering art and person Expression. The Cummer will have six one-week programs for grades 1 through 6. These campers will print, draw, paint, create with clay, and learn new ways to think and talk about art in the galleries and gardens. The Cummer will also offer a one-week session grades 6 through 9. These campers will learn the skills of printmaking, drawing, painting, and clay techniques while being inspired by masterworks in the galleries and the histories gardens. All the children will also spend time exploring Art Connections.

Webster School

Sensory Integration
Awarded
$1,200

The Webster School has a beautiful gymnasium facility for use by the exceptional students they serve. Each ESE teacher has an assigned time in the gym. It is not part of the PE program but a separate program for their students. Two activities are planned and prepared every two weeks.

Westview Elementary School

Autism Wing
Awarded
$350

The Autism Wing at Westview Elementary provides a safe, loving environment for children on the Autism Spectrum to explore and grow on their individual learning paths.

World Arts Film Festival

Awarded
$1,500

World Arts Education is dedicated to providing innovative learning experiences in the arts and filmmaking for all ages and abilities. World Arts Education program offers integrated opportunities for competent development of social skills, vocational job skills in the arts and inspire creativity.

Fall

ACCEPT

Facilitated Communication Training Seminar
Awarded
$2,500

The Facilitated Community Training Seminar will train 12 families (one child and four trainees). The seminar will help non verbal or verbally limited individuals to communicate through typing with a goal of independence.

Best Buddies

Best Buddies School Friendship and Ambassador Project
Awarded
$2,500

This project will directly engage at least 155 high school students with and without Autism and related disabilities as associate members, buddies (students with disabilities) and peer buddies. Students with Autism and related disabilities are paired in one to one mutual mentoring friendships with peers without disabilities. These friendships are maintained for at least one academic year to maintain meaningful friendships to develop. Best Buddies requires that new friends contact each other once per week and spend time together at least twice per month.

Duval County School District

iHEAL- iPads Helping Enrich Autistic Lives
Awarded
$19,408.50

HEAL is striving to place an iPad in every ESE classroom. This will enrich the students' education and help give a voice to the non-verbal students.

Haven Horse Ranch

Equine Therapy
Awarded
$2,000

Haven Horse Ranch is a Licensed SpiritHorse Therapeutic Riding Center and Equine Teaching facility. The grant will be used to provide therapy to children on the Autism Spectrum that can't otherwise afford the therapy.

Henderson Haven

Free 2 Be Me School and After-school Program
Awarded
$2,000

This grant will be used to help fund a playground project, including swings and a safety surface to go under the swings. They will also purchase 5 Kindle Fire devices to use with the students to enhance their learning experiences.

Hope Haven

Autism Evaluation
Awarded
$2,500

Hope Haven provides diagnostic evaluations for the purpose of confirming whether or not a child meets the criteria for an autism diagnosis. The grant will be used to offset the costs of the evaluations for low-income families.

Jacksonville School for Autism

JSA Enrichment Program
Awarded
$2,500

The grant will be used to help support the schools enrichment program, which includes piano/music, karate and yoga. Remarkably, many Autistic children have been found to have extraordinary musical and artistic talents.

Jericho School

Teacher Training Program
Awarded
$1,000

The Jericho School is one of the longest serving schools in Florida that works exclusively with children with Autism and other developmental disabilities. They will use the grant to provide ongoing training both out in the community and in the classroom for instructors who work on a daily basis with Autistic children.

Little Star Center

New Sensory Room
Awarded
$2,500

There is much anecdotal support for the use of sensory equipment to produce positive effects on behavior. The grant will be used to purchase equipment for the Center's new Sensory Room.

May Institute Inc.

Recreational Enhancement and Education Project
Awarded
$2,000

The May Institute serves primarily moderate to severe Autistic individuals with severe behavioral problems in residential living facilities. In order to increase levels of independence for the adults they provide skills training. The grant will be used for recreational and outdoor living equipment as well as educational and vocational training.

Neptune Beach Elemmentary

Multi-Sensory Environment
Awarded
$2,500

The grant will be used to provide a Multi Sensory Environment for the special needs children. A Snoezelen projector will be purchased. This will be used to help the children relax and can benefit the children by allowing them to control and enjoyable variety of sensory experiences. They will also purchase a Bubble Tube and a Bubbling Water Panel, both will aid provide the children on the Autism Spectrum the opportunities for bridging the barriers these students deal with daily.

Ponte Vedra/Rawlings Elementary School

Student First Programming; Sensory Integration
Awarded
$700

The funds will be used to supply the sensory room rotations with a wide variety of activities that support students' sensory needs. These activities include both fine and gross motor skills. Technology apps will be purchased to augment the iPads and apps already donated by HEAL and Project Autism.

Ponte Vedra/Rawlings Elementary School

Apps for Autism
Awarded
$300

The grant will be used to purchase apps for existing iPads. The occupational therapists will purchase apps based on the needs of each Autism Spectrum Disorder child. These apps will enhance and support curriculum and social needs of the students.

Ponte Vedra/Rawlings Elementary School

Pre-K ESE
Awarded
$977.70

Two iPads, cases and apps will be purchased and used in the Pre K class for the use of the teachers and students to support learning and behavioral modifications.

Project Chance

Autism Service Dogs
Awarded
$65,500

Project Chance trains puppies to work with families who have a member with Autism. These funds will go to train service dogs. Autistic children can become nervous or anxious in public situations. Service dogs become another set of eyes and a calming factor for the autistic child.

Reach Academy

Multi-Sensory Room
Awarded
$2,000

A multi-sensory room offers a safe, controlled environment that will encourage sensory simulation. This often results in students being more motivated to complete educational tasks. The room can also calm and sooth regulatory systems which results in reduced anxiety and disruptive behavior. Funds will be used purchase equipment for the Academy's new room.

Special Nation at CRC

Accessible Playground for Special Nation
Awarded
$2,500

Special Nation Ministry would like to expand their services to children and adults with special needs. They are implementing a Buddy Break Program to assist families that are overlooked and underserved. The grant will be used to help fund accessible playground equipment.

Special Olympics Florida - Duval

Athletic Leadership Programs
Awarded
$2,000

The grant will be used for to help with the recruitment of eligible athletes and training for both the athletes and Leaders. The Leaders are required to attend two seminars a year in Clermont, Florida. The funds will offset these cost as the athletes and Leaders are not charged for any training.

The Cummer Museum

2015 VSA Festival
Awarded
$5,000

The VSA Festival provides unique museum-based, hands on opportunities for more than 2,200 children, teachers and families over a four day period. Public students from the surrounding five county Exceptional Education Student Services program rotate through eight art stops in the in the Museum's galleries and gardens to create art, view the Cummer's collection, listen to live musicians and storytellers, and learn about art appreciation. The grant will be used to help fund this event.

Transition School

ASD/IS/LD Classrooms
Awarded
$933.86

Transition School is an alternative public school in St Johns County serving a variety of high-need exceptionalities. The grant will be used to purchase iPads and apps. These will enhance the learning experiences for the mainly non-verbal students.