United Way of the Florida Keys

Between July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2008 the American Red Cross of Greater Miami and The Keys provided the following services for residents of Monroe County.

Disaster Preparedness & Relief

• 32 families (a total 61 individuals) received disaster assistance from the Red Cross.
• $17,440 was committed in financial assistance for victims of local disasters for emergency food, clothing, shelter, and other emergency needs.
• 681 community volunteers participated in disaster preparedness and disaster response training, including youth.
• Disaster preparedness promotional information was distributed to 3,251 individuals throughout the community.

Armed Forces Emergency Services

• 26 military personnel, veterans, and civilians received information and referrals relating to military benefits.
• 25 cases opened for NASA Key West and Coast Guard personnel providing services such as information and referral, couselling, and emergency communications.

International Services

• 395 people were reached through International Services courses and presentations

Health and Safety

• The Red Cross hosted a CPR-a-Thon in Marathon in May training 22 students
• 804 people were trained in 141 courses taught in lifesaving CPR, first aid, and Pet first aid.
• 226 individuals received training in 35 courses in Aquatics and Water Safety.
• 1,089 completed First Aid, CPR, Aquatics or Babysitting courses in Health & Safety.

Volunteer Resources

• 136 volunteers throughout the Florida Keys contributed 2,185 hours, totaling $40,570.40 worth of donated hours to The Red Cross

Funding

• The chapter hosts many successful fund raising events in Monroe County. These include the Florence Spottswood Humanitarian of the Year Award and more.
• Contributionss can be made through various venues including direct mail, online donations at floridakeysredcross.org, in-kind donations, matching grants, United Way Designated Payroll Deductions/Matching Gifts programs, planned gifts, individual and corporate gifts, and through grant funding.

The mission of the Boys and Girls Club is "To inspire and enable all young people, especially those from disadvantaged circumstances, to realize their full potential as productive, responsible and caring citizens". This is what we do every day in Monroe County. We are very proud to be able to continue to offer quality low cost part-time after school and full-time summer/holiday care.

Every child who attends the Boys and Girls Club receives some form of financial assistance. This is either from subsidized care administered by Wesley House or directly from the Boys and Girls Club of The Keys. All children who are 13 years or older attend our Clubs free of charge. There are discounts for multiple family members attending our Clubs. Presently, over 80% of the children who attend our Club in Key West are receiving subsidized care, which means that they are living at or below the Monroe County Poverty Level Index level. We also have agreement with the School District,  Samuel's House and other social service agencies that provide services to the homeless, that any child from a homeless family can attend the Boys and Girls Club at no charge.

As we begin 2009 many families in our community are experiencing economic difficulties. Often they are placed in the situation of having to decid what bills they have to be paid, which ones can wait or can't get paid. In response to the needs of ouur community our scholarship program has increased to the point that over 15% of the children who attend our Clubs now are on full scholarships. We are beginning to see additional parents unable to pay their child care bills, these are even paretns who recieving subsidized child care assistance, this often results with them pulling their child out of care and leaving them home unsupervised and in potentially dangerous situations. Our organization is also struggling during this economic downturn and is desperately seeking out all resources to continue to be able to offer thse vital services to the youth and families of Monore County.

This past year our commitment to the youth of Monore County saw us continue to expand and develop our programs and the number of children we provided services to. Our pre and after school program at Stanley Switlik Elementary School in Marathon continues to expand. Now in its 4th year, it has over 149 at risk students receiving academic tutoring, computer calsses, recreation, breakfast/snacks and life skills education daily. Our programs in Key West and Big Pine were open for over 250 days in 2008 and we now have over 490 children enrolled in these two programs. This past summer our summer program in Key West averaged between 120 - 140 children daily. The summer program saw us take over 100 children to see a Marlin's baseball game, trips to Jacob Aquatic Center in Key Largo and a charter boat fishing trip, cookouts, swimming, in addition to our regular programs of local trips, arts and crafts, sports, and recreation programs.

We are licensed as a Preventive agency by DCF. All of our programs offer life skills education programs, and drug and alcohol awareness, along with academic tutoring, recreation, sports, arts and crafts and field trips. This summer we collaborated with the Monore County Department of Health and had a week long program focusing on cigarette smoking cessation program. Activities included an anti-smoking poster contest, picking up cigarette butts on the public beaches and public parks and making an anti-smoking radio commerical. In October we hosted a free community wide event at Bayview Park for Lights on After School. The event included arts and crafts, free snow cones, hot dogs, bounce house, etc. Over 400 children and their parents attended the event. We planted a tree in the park and dedicated it to the Children of Key West and the theme of the evening was clean and green. All biodegradable plates, utensils, cups and garbage bags were used to promote recycling. Over the summer we planted a butterfuly garden at Bayview Park and started a recycling program with the children who attend our Key West Club. With prevention skills and educational opportunities the children who attend our clubs can begin to take the steps to change our community and the world.

This year we were able to contiue our Healthy Smiles dental program to include dental exams and dental treatment. According to the CDC, tooth decay is one of the most common chronic infectious diseases amoung U.S. children. By the age of 11, approximately half of children have experienced tooth decay, and by the age of 19, tooth decay in the permanent teeth affects two-thirds (68%) of adolescents. Low-income children have twice as much untreated decay as children in families with higher incomes. Over 100 children had dental evaluations and 10 children were able to get extensive dental work from local dentists.

All of these opportunities and much more are what we offer children as a direct result of the funding and support we receive from the United Way of Monore County. It is our hope that the United Way of Monore County can continue to support the Boys and Girls Club of The Keys.

Burton Memorial United Methodist Church (BMUMC) services our community in a variety of ways.

An important Upper Keys need we fill is helping feed the hungry. We accomplish this in two ways:

1. Food Pantry
2. God's Kitchen

Other Community Outreach

Additionally, the building space that services the Food Pantry and God's Kitchen also provides space free of charge to other community efforts such as:

• Drivers Education Classes
• Baby Sitting Training
• Health Fair and Health Education
• Life Line Screening
• Counseling Services
• Business and Professional Women's Association
• Recent Keys to Peace Movement

Food pantry recipients per year are 2,100 - 6,480 (varying family sizes).
God's Kitchen Dinners Served per year are 1,020  - 1,800.

Food Pantry

Approximately 40 - 50 people come to the Food Pantry on a weekly basis. Many of these recipients have spouses and children at home. We serve on average 175-540 individuals per month. Our shelves are maintained by monetary donations and donated food items including canned goods, shelf milk, frozen meats, non perishables and personal hygeine items.

We operate our Food Pantry as frugally as possible. Our Pantry is staffed with 15 volunteers. Future plans are to expand our service hours to Monday - Friday. To accommodate that increase, labor, food, and funding would also need to increase proportionally.  Future plans include delivering food to shut-ins.

God's Kitchen

God's Kitchen is a free dinner, prepared by volunteers and served every Thursday night. God's Kitchen provides dinner to any person in need of a meal, friendship or rest. Currrently we serve approx. 85 - 150 per month.

God's Kitchen finanical resources are supplied by donations offered by those who are able to contribute. This typically is sufficient to prepare meals, but does not cover other related costs that we incur. Future plans would include delivery of hot meals to shut-ins.

BMUMC is committed to continued outreach to our community and beyond. It is through the support from larger organizations, such as the United Way, our local businesses and private individuals that we are able to attain our mission goals. Our grant request will help provide food and meals to those that are hungry. Our shelves should never be bare. Hunger happens every day of the week and is not limited to Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

The Domestic Abuse Shelter provides services throughout Monroe County to persons affected by domestic and sexual violence. DAS also conducts extensive community education on domestic abuse and sexual violence awareness as well as prevention. The program has two shelters, one in Marathon and the other in Key West, with outreach offices in Key Largo, Tavernier, Marathon, and Key West. Services included two shelters for victims of domestic and sexual abuse, case management, couseling and other support services. The United Way allocation for 2007-2008 was $16,000.00.

In the fiscal years ending in June 30, 2008, DAS sheltered 228 women, men and children. A total of 601 victim adults and children received services throughout four outreach offices. DAS staff conducted 17 presentations on domestic violence and sexual assault reaching 769 people, and conducted 17 training sessions for 362 persons. Through our shelter and outreach programs DAS conducted 4670 hours of counseling and responded to 1212 hotline calls.

The mission of the Florida Keys Outreach Coalition (FKOC) is to provide homeless individuals and families with the resources and opportunities by which to attain residential, financial and personal stability, and self-sufficiency. The FKOC further seeks to address the causes of homelessness and work towards eliminations in Monroe County, FL.

The FKOC, established in 1992 as grassroots, 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, remains at the forefront of efforts to address the challenges of homelessness in Monroe County, FL.

For nearly seventeen years, FKOC has provided essential services to many homeless men, women and women with children in the Florida Keys community.

Operating both outreach intervention and residential programs, FKOC has been highlighted by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as one of three model programs. FKOC has demonstrated an impressive success rate transitioning homeless people into permanent housing, far exceeding the HUD national standard.

The FKOC operates five residential programs providing needed housing and assistance to men, women and children who are homeless. The programs are transitionally two-year, three-phase structures that include the assistance needed to overcome not only homelessness, but the underlying causes which lead to homelessness, including addiction, mental illness, domestic violence, job loss, major health care costs and natural disasters. The transitional house module serves a total capacity of 120 beds consisting of 50 beds for single women and women with children and 70 beds for single men.

Learn more at www.FKOC.org

Girl Scouts of the USA, founded in 1912, is the preeminent leadership development organization for girls with 3.6 million girl and adult members worldwide. Girl Scouting is the leading authority on girls’ healthy development, and builds girls courage, confidence and character, to make the world a better place. The organization strives to serve girls from every corner of the United States and its territories. Girls Scouts of the USA also serves American girls and their classmates attending American or international schools overseas in 90 countries.

The Girl Scout Council of Tropical Florida, Inc. is one of 109 councils nationwide chartered by Girl Scouts of the USA to deliver Girl Scout program within specific geographic boundaries. The local council serves more than 20,000 girls and approximately 3,500 adult volunteers in Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties and maintains five campsites each offering unique experiences for girls and adults.

Cooperative learning and Experiential Programs: The Girl Scouts program is open to all girls ages 5 - 17, regardless of race, ethnicity, level of ability, or socio-economic standing Girl Scouting is the world's preeminent leadership development organization for girls. The New Leadership Experience engages girls in discovering self, connecting with others, and taking action to make the world a better place. Discover, Connect, and Take Action are the three keys to leadership.

The Journey, It's Your World Change It! Offers girls a new direction for service and taking action, even as they participate in the time tested values and friendship oriented activities. Discover: Girls understand themselves and their values and use their knowledge and skills to explore the world. Connect: Girls care about, inspire, and team with other locally and globally. Take Action: Girls act to make the world a better place. In Girl Scouting, Discover + Connect + Take Action =  Leadership. All Girl Scout experiences are intentionally designed to tie to one or more of the 15 national leadership outcomes, or benefits, categorized under the three keys to leadership.

Outcomes: Fifteen specific outcomes under grid of program: Girls: develop a strong sense of self; develop positive values; gain practical life skills; seek challenges in the world; develop critical thinking; develop healthy relationships; promote cooperation and team building; resolve conflicts; advance diversity in a multicultural world; feel connected to their communities, locally and globally; can identify community needs; are resourceful problem solvers; advocate for themselves and others, locally and globally; educate and inspire others to act; fell empowered to make a difference in the world.

GOAL 1     MEMBERSHIP/PROPERTY/PROGRAM
The Council will increase the recruitment and retention of girls and adult representatives of our diverse community and deliver a leadership development and values based program that meets and interests of girls with emphasis in under-served populations.

Membership recruitment and promotional events have been held in various locations in the Florida Keys, with the annual Family festival held on West Summerland Key. Programs are offered in carious community locations, schools, religious facilities and State and County Parks as well as the Girl Scout Camp Wesumkee.

A current emphasis is the Girl Scout/Dove Esteem Program, established to foster positive self-esteem in girls. A recent study by the Girl Scout Research Iinstitue, The New Normal? What Girls Say about Healthy Living, found that girls define their health in holistic terms, and consider emtional and physical well-being equally important. The Council aims to help girls become the best they can be, in order to make the community a better place.

GOAL 2     FINANCE AND FUND DEVELOPMENT
The Council will ensure its fiscal security by effectively managing its fiscal and physical resources to ensure long-term stability through diversified and increased levels of funding.

Girls participated in the Annual Cookie Program, enhancing their skills as entrepreneurs, while earning resources for their own troop activities as well as those of the broader Council.

GOAL 3     COMMUNICATION
The Council will expand internal communications and enhance public awareness of Girl Scouting as the preeminent organization for girls.

Promotional literature and outreach to local print media and local radio stations, as well as electronic networking have been added to demonstrate to the public the benefits of the Girl Scout Program in helping girls to develop values and high standards of excellence as they move through adolescence.

Service projects enhance the public awareness of the meaningful contributions girls make to the life of a community and allow girls to exercise good will and respect for those around them. Numerous projects were implemented by Monroe County Girl Scouts during the year, including environmental, helping the needy and service to other agencies.

GOAL 4     ADULT DEVELOPMENT AND HUMAN RESOURCES
The Council will enhance its overall effectiveness by responding to the needs of staff and volunteers through training, resources, support and recognition.

Over 233 adult volunteers and affiliated parents serve the organization in four distinct geographic areas of Monroe County, holding monthly meetings to review, strategize, and plan ahead to meet the needs of girls. Two full time staff members support and serve Monroe County exclusively, maintaining Camp Wesumkee, a facility available to Girl Scouts Council wide, and to the community for meetings and events. These staff members support the volunteers consistently and serve the community in a variety of capacities, including those of Fire Rescue, American Red Cross Trainers, and Lifeguards. Additional support services are provided from the Council headquarters in Miami. Train the Trainer was held at Camp Wesumkee as part of a Council wide Hispanic Initiative designed to recruit and train a new audience of members.

HELPLINE, Inc. is Monroe County's only confidential telephone crisis and information hot line, providing 24-hour crisis intervention, education, information, referral, and telephone reassurance services. HELPLINE was founded as a nonprofit agency by the Zonta Club of Key West, a service organization of executive women who saw a need for a crisis hot line in the community. The phones became operational on June 15, 1982, and in its first year of service there were 3,033 telephone contacts. The telephone reassurance program for elderly and home bound residents was started in 1983.

HELPLINE's official mission is: Provide confidential and anonymous crisis intervention, education, and informational and referral services to the residents and visitors of Monroe County and the homeless. Provide telephone reassurance to the elderly and disabled.

HELPLINE was awarded a grant from Alliance for Aging in October 2001 to provide Family Caregiver Training and Support Group services to the residents of Monroe County. This funding from the Florida Department of Elder Affairs allows us to offer these services free of charge to all qualifying residents throughout the Florida Keys.

HELPLINE's services are free and confidential. Phones are answered by volunteers who undergo intensive classroom education and on the job training. HELPLINE serves as the answering service for NAMI, the Lower Keys Inter-agency Council, Zonta, Alcoholics Anonymous and Alanon, and provides referrals to the County Mental Health Programs, Domestic Abuse Shelters and The Florida Keys Outreach Coalition.

HELPLINE is monitored by the Department of Children & Families, The Florida Attorney General's Office, and the Florida Department of Elder Affairs through the Alliance for Again, Maimi-Dade and Monroe Counties. In our Senior Telephone Reassurance Program we depend on referrals from other social service organizations and current clients, as well as general community outreach to our elder population.

HELPLINE's services are made possible by the dedication and commitment of our volunteers and the support of people like you. But nothing remains constant for long and as the needs of our diverse community change so must we. One thing, however, will always remain: HELPLINE's commitment to make life better for all people and provide the best service possible to those in need.

The Marathon Recreation offers a safe and drug-free environment for the youth of the Middle Keys. The recreational activities provided throughout the school year and summer months offer many students a positive place to engage in different activities.

The center's programs include basketball, kickball, flag football, dodge ball and volleyball. The after-school program offers homework assistance, book clubs, computer research and games along with open activities at the center. Other activities include billiards/pool, board games, arts-n-crafts, video games, movies, ping-pong, and table hockey.

Dances are held on weekends for teens age 13 and up, along with Friday Fun Night for grades third through sixth. Special events such as talent shows, skits and youth seminars are also hosted by the center. Cultural and educational activities include ballet, jazz and hip hop dance, tumbling aerobics and field trips to museums and zoos.

Community members provide valuable information as guest speakers on topics concerning safety, health and careers. The center also sponsors a competition cheer and dance team. New programs offered at the center are a Debate Club and Fashion and Interior Design Club.

The Recreation Center programs successfully provide members the opportunity to improve their physical fitness, and the confidence to assume leadership roles in school and in their community. The center strives to reach the vulnerable  youth of the community, helping them to meet the challenges of adolescence and adulthood.

The programs are vital to the youth and community of the Middle Keys. The center continues to provide service to all economic classes, races and genders; and receives referrals from both public and private schools along with Wesley House clients and Domestic Abuse Shelter residents.

MARC has entered its 43rd year of service to Monroe County and the Key West Community.

MARC serves people from high school transition through adulthood that have developmental disabilities. Those disabilities include mental retardation, cerebral palsy, spina bifida, Prader-Wili Syndrome and traumatic brain injury sustained prior to age 18. Our current clients range in age from 16 - 80. We have served people with other disabilities in alliance with other supporting agencies.

Service MARC Provides:

Adult Day Training (ADT/Workshop)
We instruct clients 5 days a week a minimum of 6 hours a day in two locations within The Keys. We provide training in Key West at the Old Harris School and have 63 clients from Big Pine and below attending. We also provide training at the Coral Isle Church in Tavernier, next to Coral Shores High for 33 clients from Marathon and above. We have approximately 11 Middle Keys clients who generally go to our program in Tavernier but one or two do attend the Key West program. The instruction at both programs involves important daily routines in the community emphasizing vocational (horticulture, janitorial, and food preparation), financial, self-help, adaptive, and social skills.

Supported Employment
We extend training and long term support to individuals in order for them to obtain and sustain paid employment in the community at minimum wage or above. We manage this program out of both the Lower and Upper Keys ADT/Workshops.

High School Transition
We provide transition services between 2 and 6 hours daily to Key West, Marathon and Coral Shores High School students who need vocational training, financial, self-help and social skills in order to prepare for life after graduation.

Community Inclusion
We offer social training through activities in community-integrated settings throughout the entire Keys. This program was eliminated for funding by the State of Florida in October 2007. We have continued to operate this program so as to not keep people isolated in their homes. With continued funding cuts this program will be severely reduced

Residential Long Term Care and Training
We operate a 15 person group home and 6 person group home in Key West with 24 hour a day supervision and training in self-care, daily living, chores, and social skills. Staffing an added expense because a problem during hurricane's or mandatory evacuations.

Supported Living
We provide hands-on training and support in activities of daily living to clients living semi-independently in their own apartments scattered throughout Key West. This includes our homeless program for 12 clients at the Don Moore Apartments in Pionciana Plaza. Here again, staffing for hurricanes is an issues each year.

Transportation
We transport people to and from MARC Adult Day Training Centers, Community Inclusion Activities, Supported Living programs, Residential Care Program, Family Homes, as well as medical, dental, and other therapeutic appointments.

Medical and Therapeutic Supervision
We arrange for a staff-person to be on call 24 hours a day to handle emergency situations and monitor Residential and Supported Living clients' medical, dental, and other therapeutic care.

Respite
We make space available in our Group Homes and at the  Don Moore apartments in Poinciana for people whose families need temporary emergency housing for their loved one.

Vocational Rehabilitation
We have added a component of employment training to our list of services that we can offer through the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation.

No other program in the State of Florida has sustained such across-the-board budget cuts, which equal a loss of $270,000 in just one year.

We already have a working Plant Store and Horticulture Program at the Key West Adult Day Training. We have recently added the Rainbow Cafe at our Key West Adult Day Training in order to increase job skills needed in the community while increasing income for our programs. We have also added a Thrift Store at our Upper Keys site in Tavernier, again to increase job skills while trying to increase income.

MARC is still serving several clients for free. These folks have such great needs and can so quickly slip back in their learning when not in program that we feel the need to provide whatever is necessary, so long as we are able to do so. Our United Way allocation helps to meet part of the local portion of our Agency for People with Disabilities required match of 12.5% and toward other matching grants, such as HUD Supportive Housing at the Don Moore Apartments. We have tried over the years to rely on the County and Cities to meet these matches but we have never been able to get them to meet all of it. This forces us to rely on United Way and our own fundraiser such as our Christmas tree sale to make up the difference. (We did have to mulch 140 trees, 65 wreaths and 650 poinsettias, this past year due to the economy).

Diana Flenard
Executive Director.

Wesley House Family Services promotes and enhances the safety, well being and development of children by educating, supporting and meeting the needs of families.

Wesley House Family Services, Inc. is multifaceted, nationally accredited, not-for-profit agency working with children and families throughout Monroe County, Florida.

The agency has offices in Key West 1304 Truman Avenue, 3114 Flagler Avenue, 623 Spadling Court (Healthy Families-Monroe) and two child development centers (Inez Martin Child Development Center and the temporary closed Frederick Douglass Child Development Center).  In Marathon, Wesley House offices are located at 2796 Overseas Highway and 3010 Overseas Highway. The Wesley House office in Tavernier is located 175 Wrenn Street.

History of Wesley House Family Services

Wesley House Family Services was founded in the early part of the last century by the Methodist Church as a settlement program for Key West’s Cuban community.  This included a kindergarten to teach English to Cuban children and ease their transition into public school. Over the years, our organization has continued to grow geographically and in responsibility to meet the multitude of needs in the community.

In the mid-1940’s, Wesley House became a stand-alone 501 (c) 3, not-for-profit organization.  In 1971, in response to an overwhelming need for professional child care in Key West, the agency instituted the area’s first full-time child care center for working parents.  An infant care program was established in 1983.

By 1989, the need for quality, affordable child care had become critical throughout Monroe County.  Wesley House was asked to become the coordinating agency for all of Monroe County’s licensed child care services and, in 2005, began administering the Voluntary Prekindergarten program throughout the County.

Wesley House was selected and accepted responsibility for the child dependency care system throughout the Florida Keys when the program was privatized in 2005.  Agency programs encompass all aspects of the dependency care system including family support and prevention services for troubled families experiencing challenges and discord; full case management services when there is risk of harm to a child; foster and adoptive family recruitment, training and support services when it is necessary to remove a child from his or her family and the Healthy Families-Monroe program promoting positive parent-child relationships for expectant and new families.

Wesley House is one of only 1,300 social service organizations accredited by the prestigious international Council on Accreditation (COA).

Description of Programs and Services

Wesley House has an enduring commitment to quality and adheres to the "Best Practice" concept of developing and implementing the most efficient and effective way of delivering our services. Wesley House is one of the only 1,500 social service organizations accredited by the prestigious international Council on Accreditation (COA)

Wesley House operates on a fiscal year July 1 through June 30. The agency's programs and services are broken into three major program service areas; Child Care Services, Directly-Operated Child Development Centers and Community Based Care. As of January 2009, these services are as follows:

• Child Care Services
  • School Readiness
  • Resource and Referrals
  • Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten
  • Child Care Provider Education Services
  • Child Care Provider Assistance
  • Teen Parent Program
• Directly-Operated Child Development Centers
• Community Based Care
  • Case Management
  • Supervised Visitations
  • Prevention/Intervention Services
  • Crisis Intervention
  • Neighborhood Center
    • Parenting Classes
    • Divorce Workshops
    • Foster Care to Independent Living Transition Services
  • Foster Care Services
  • Adoptive Services
  • Healthy Families - Monroe

For more information please visit our website

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