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ABOUT THE COMMUNITY ACCELERATION PROJECTS!
Brevard Alzheimer's Foundation Inc - The Caregiver Lounge
The Caregiver Lounge is an initiative recognizing caregivers' crucial societal role. Caregiving can be challenging, and caregivers often have little time to care for their own health and well-being. The Caregiver Lounge will provide a space where caregivers can take a break and access various resources tailored to their needs. Some of the benefits of the caregiver lounge include:
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Education: The Caregiver Lounge will offer educational programs designed to help caregivers acquire the necessary skills to provide the best possible care to their loved ones. This will include training on managing medications, understanding medical conditions, and caring for those with disabilities.
- Respite: Caregiving can be demanding, and caregivers often need a break to recharge. The Caregiver Lounge will provide a space where caregivers can relax and take a break from their caregiving duties.
- Resources: The Caregiver Lounge will offer a comprehensive range of resources tailored to caregivers’ needs. This will include access to support groups, counseling services, and information on care assistance programs.
- Socialization: Caregiving can be an isolating experience, and many caregivers feel alone in their struggles. The Caregiver Lounge will provide a space where caregivers can connect with others who are going through similar experiences.
- Support groups: The Caregiver Lounge will offer support groups where caregivers can share their experiences, learn from others, and receive emotional support. The Caregiver Lounge will be open to the public and free of charge. This initiative is a step towards recognizing caregivers’ critical role in our society and providing them with the necessary support to care for their loved ones.
Family Promise of Brevard - Community Asset Mapping
Asset mapping is an approach to community development that seeks to build on a community’s existing resources – rather than focus on its needs – as a means to achieving development goals. Asset mapping refers to a variety of methods that can be used by community members to identify community resources. This project will involve CAP members completing an asset map for zip code 32922. Once community strengths and resources are inventoried and depicted in a map, we can more easily think about how to build on these assets to address community needs and improve health. This exercise of asset mapping will promote community involvement, ownership, and empowerment.
National Veterans Homeless Support (NVHS) - Veteran homelessness prevention strategy and program development
Since 2008 National Veterans Homeless Support (NVHS) has assisted hundreds of homeless veterans and their families in Brevard County off the streets, primarily through our street outreach program Search and Rescue. The program has proven to be effective as it has led a reduction in the homeless veteran population from 1,800 in 2008 to less than 200 today. As a result, in 2020 the organization started assisting imminently at-risk of homelessness veteran households secure financial assistance needed to stop evictions. The prevention program now consists of 30% of the total clients aided in a year, and with costs rising every year, has driven a lot of discussions internally about how to reduce the
possibility of clients finding themselves in these situations in the first place. The project being requested is to assist in the development of a comprehensive homelessness prevention strategy/program for Brevard County veterans and their families that the organization could incorporate into their operations to reduce the likelihood of veterans finding themselves at-risk or actually homeless.
Space Coast Habitat for Humanity - Building A Volunteer Powerhouse
Build a stronger volunteer base. Volunteers are a centerpiece of the Habitat model, but their role is changing and their numbers are shrinking. Post-COVID volunteering data indicates that we are no longer capturing long-term volunteers, and our existing volunteers are dwindling. As the Brevard population evolves, Habitat needs to find new ways to attract varied groups of volunteers that will stay with us to become stewards and advocates of Habitat. Our overall goal of this project is to develop new strategies and understandings on how to attract, retain and sustain volunteers with an assortment of
ages, skills and backgrounds. We want to learn more on Brevard County volunteers; who are they, what keeps them motivated, how do we reach them?
Zonta Club of Melbourne - Educating our Community on the Zonta Club of Melbourne
Bringing awareness and create an understanding on what the Zonta Club of Melbourne (ZCM) provides to our community. ZCM is in the infant stages of marketing drug test coasters to young women in Brevard County so that they do not become victims of date rape. ZCM raises awareness on domestic violence as the numbers are on the rise in Brevard County. ZCM was approved for human trafficking training through the Florida Department of Business & Professional Regulation for the hotel industry. We also provide education to law enforcement and local community groups to raise awareness on the signs of human trafficking. ZCM provides scholarships to young women in Brevard County and need more visibility to have more applicants apply.
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