09 Oct 2018 Community Foundation Launches Immigration Program Grant – Hires Immigration Program Officer to Run New Program
The Southwest Florida Community Foundation is launching its first ever Immigrant Program Grant.
With funding from The Florida Bar Foundation and national funders, the 2019 Immigration Program Grant season opens with a call for projects and programs for services (both established and new) designed to increase the quality of life in sustainable and equitable ways for immigrants and refugees in Southwest Florida. Projects and programs will support equity and empowerment in our region.
The Southwest Florida Community Foundation seeks projects and programs from 501(c)(3) organizations that assist immigrants and refugees in Southwest Florida. Projects and programs must provide to immigrants and/or refugees in Southwest Florida: legal services OR legal services and at least one of the three following: community outreach and education, legal services capacity building and/or technical assistance capacity building, and/or advocacy and organizing.
The grant period is January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2019. Awards will be announced in December 2018. Guidelines, information on dates, deadlines, eligibility requirements, available funding and details on the process are available at http://floridacommunity.com/grants-process/immigration-program-grant/.
Deadline for application is October 26, 2018.
Nirupa Netram, Immigration Program Officer, Southwest Florida Community Foundation
Nirupa Netram has joined the Community Foundation as their Immigration Program Officer. Netram grew up in Southwest Florida and has spent her career in the region. Her experience includes nonprofit, government and private sectors. She earned her Juris Doctor from Stetson University College of Law and her B.B.A. (cum laude) from Stetson University. She was admitted to The Florida Bar in 1998 and has been a Florida certified circuit civil mediator since 2014. Netram is admitted to practice law in the United States District Court, Middle District of Florida, and the United States Supreme Court. Her professional memberships include The Florida Bar, the Lee County Bar Association, and the American Bar Association.
“Immigrants and refugees have long been a part of our state and region, with one in five state residents being foreign-born,” Netram said. “Immigrants and refugees in Florida come from every global region, with most born in Latin America (including the Caribbean), followed by people from Asia and Europe. The human, social, and economic capital they bring contributes to our state’s vitality.”
Netram added that at the same time, immigrant and refugee communities in Southwest Florida continue to recover from the disastrous impact of Hurricane Irma in September 2017. Recent changes in federal immigration law and policies have made recovery and life in general more challenging and complex for noncitizens.
About the Southwest Florida Community Foundation
The Southwest Florida Community Foundation, founded in 1976, cultivates regional change for the common good through collective leadership, social innovation and philanthropy to address the evolving community needs in Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Hendry and Glades counties. The Foundation partners with individuals, families and corporations who have created more than 400 philanthropic funds. Thanks to them, the Foundation invested $6.3 million in grants and programs to the community. With assets of more than $126 million, it has provided $79.9 million in grants and scholarships to the communities it serves since inception. The Foundation is the backbone organization for the regional FutureMakers Coalition and Lee County’s Sustainability Plan. The Southwest Florida Community Foundation’s regional headquarters are now located in the historic ACL Train Depot at Collaboratory in downtown Fort Myers, with satellite offices located on Sanibel Island, in LaBelle (Hendry County). For more information, call 239-274-5900 or visit www.floridacommunity.com