JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Feb. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- The Blue Foundation for a Healthy Florida, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida’s (BCBSF) philanthropic affiliate, recently awarded The Women’s Center of Jacksonville (WCJ) a grant for $88,512 to fund two part-time mental health therapist counselors.
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“This grant will allow us to increase the capacity of our Mental Health Counseling Program by 25 percent, from 250 clients now to over 300 by December 2006,” said Gillian Ticehurst, director of development. “These are deserving women we will now be able to serve because of this generous gift.”
In the mid-1990s, a group of women realized that women in Jacksonville did not have a central safe place to find solutions to their problems, so the group founded WCJ in 1995. WCJ initially offered only information and referral services. However, as women’s needs became more apparent, funding increased and WCJ expanded its services. The center now focuses on three areas: counseling, community education and rape recovery. Last year, the Women’s Center of Jacksonville provided services to about 7,500 women and their family members.
The Women’s Center grant is one of 10, totaling $532,112, that The Blue Foundation will present this winter to nonprofit health clinics and community outreach programs across Florida. Through strategic grantmaking, The Blue Foundation supports programs that increase access to quality health-related services for uninsured and underserved Floridians. The Blue Foundation annually awards up to $1 million in grants during two grant cycles. The next Request for Proposals deadline is March 18. For an application, please call 1-800-477-3736, ext. 63215.
The Blue Foundation for a Healthy Florida is a separate, philanthropic affiliate of BCBSF incorporated in the state of Florida. The Blue Foundation for a Healthy Florida, and its parent, BCBSF, are independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, an association of independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies. For more information on The Blue Foundation for a Healthy Florida, please visit its web site at http://www.bluefoundationfl.org/ .
The Blue Foundation for a Healthy Florida and its parent, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, are independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.
Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050112/NEW019LOGOAP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.comThe Blue Foundation for a Healthy Florida
CONTACT: Susan B. Towler, APR, +1-904-905-6803, orSusan.Towler@bcbsfl.com, for The Blue Foundation for a Healthy Florida
Web site: http://www.bcbsfl.com/