The turning of the seasons has always given me pause. As Summer gave way to Fall, I reflected on the year, my mind drifting back to Spring, when it seemed...
The time-honored axiom that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure has never been more valid than when applied to our health. The prospects for an enhanced...
Walls may form barriers between the rooms in a home, but sometimes walls and barriers take on new meaning when thoughts turn to independent residential living options for Southwest Floridians...
It’s no secret that COVID-19 has changed everything. From the way we greet each other, to the way we organize our lives around new realities, to the way we gather...
The ability to navigate life with language that communicates complex thoughts, ideas and emotions makes us uniquely human. But our capacity to connect with and understand each other extends far...
When COVID-19 closed schools in the spring, it also shut down a primary food distribution channel for Brighter Bites, a nonprofit organization that stocks elementary school pantries with nutritious food...
It’s been said that seeing is believing. But it also takes believing in a shared mission among caring Southwest Floridians to make seeing a reality for thousands of adults and...
One of the earliest health concerns for children is visible with every smile. Teeth. From their earliest days as infants and toddlers, when dental-health treatment and family knowledge surrounding oral...
When the COVID-19 crisis closed schools throughout Southwest Florida, grade school students and their families were suddenly thrust into the unknown as they followed social-distancing guidelines and sheltered at home. But...
Cone of uncertainty. The term crossed my mind as I watched reports on Tropical Storm Arthur, which flared up before hurricane season even officially began. We’ve grown accustomed to hearing...
When the service missions end for local military veterans and their families, the mission of the nonprofit Home Base Southwest Florida begins. With the latest figures from the U.S. Department of...
This article is part of a summer series that highlights the vital work of regional recipients of 2020 Community Impact Grants from the Southwest Florida Community Foundation. Even during the...
This article is part of a summer series that will highlight the vital work of regional recipients of 2020 Community Impact Grants from the Southwest Florida Community Foundation. COVID-19 has caused...
Like so many Southwest Floridians, I’ve been remotely working from home, as the Southwest Florida Community Foundation stands with all those striving to balance health and safety while remaining efficient...
There is a great deal of talk these days around adaptability. Personal, professional, business, government and healthcare adaptability are top of mind as we navigate the pandemic in all aspects...
Strengths and vulnerabilities across and within systems are magnified during times like these. Our systems – healthcare, education, and the economy - are struggling under the weight of a virus...
I spend a good portion of my time these days virtually connecting with people who desperately want to do something to help those suffering as a result of the pandemic. ...
The subject line of the email proclaimed “This Event is NOT Cancelled” and for obvious reasons it caught a lot of attention. I’ve learned that some people felt a momentary flash...
These are anxious times. COVID-19 has impacted global and local communities and disrupted our everyday lives in ways large and small. As we work together to adjust to quickly changing...
Naples, FL (March 16, 2020) - The Community Foundation of Collier County and the Southwest Florida Community Foundation have each activated emergency relief funds: CFCC's Collier Comes Together Fund and...
This column is difficult for me to write as it hits close to home. My birth year of 1963 places me on the cusp of the baby boomer generation, and...
When we envisioned the design of Collaboratory as a regional resource to champion the social, economic and environmental sustainability of Southwest Florida, we were very intentional that it be much...
by Sam Lewis, Wear the Fund, and member of the SecondMuse Cohort Since starting WearTheFund (WTF) nearly 8 years ago in my hometown garage, the hills and valleys of being an...
An estimated 36,000 adults in Southwest Florida, 3.4% of the population, identifies as LGBT, according to a new regional analysis by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law funded...
by Armando Hernandez, SWFL Program Director, Home Base On the battlefield service members are placed in unimaginable situations. Many returning veterans find solace in avoiding these traumatic memories which only exacerbates the intensity, frequency...
Rose is pictured with her Big Sister Alex. My name is Rose and I am a graduating senior. I am a happy, healthy, well adjusted, young woman who excels in school...
The low hum of homework grumbling has been a backdrop of my life for a least 20 years. On the journey of raising three kids, there are bound to be...
by Caroline Ridgway, Special to Florida Weekly You know it’s a worthy celebration if both cake and social good are on the agenda, and the Southwest Florida Community Foundation knows how...
By Abby Schultz May 1, 2019 5:39 p.m. ET As seen in Barron's, click here to read the online version. After the U.N. developed its Sustainable Development Goals in 2015, corporations and investors began...
I have always been perplexed by people who become upset with inanimate objects. Someone who stubs their toe and is mad at the table, or unattended burned cookies become the...
The Southwest Florida Community Foundation has awarded $596,923 to both established and new programs that are designed to increase the quality of life in sustainable and equitable ways for Southwest...
The Southwest Florida Community Foundation recently announced the promotion of Luis Leon to Chief Financial Officer for the Foundation. Leon joined the Foundation as accountant in 2012, was named controller in...
The woman sat awkwardly on the folding chair outside the dark office of a small business, continually checking the posted hours of operation and the calendar housed on her phone. Without...
The Southwest Florida Community Foundation recently hosted more than 60 local nonprofit leaders, their board and team members for a holiday party at Collaboratory. The event included a presentation on the...
On one of our many corporate transfers, my family found themselves in Daytona Beach for a few years. Anyone who has lived the life of moving every couple of calendar...
I just returned from a series of meetings and a conference in New York City. I was traveling solo most of the week which provided me plenty of alone time...
I knew it wouldn’t be long before someone asked me about ghosts. When the Southwest Florida Community Foundation recently moved into our new home, Collaboratory, we were following in the...
Dear Readers, I have been writing this column for seven years, but this week feels as if I am reaching out to you for the first time. I always take the summer...
by Trish Fancher, Executive Director, Keep Lee County Beautiful, Inc. Mangroves are critical to the health of our waterways and ecosystems. As they grow they strengthen the shoreline decreasing the chance...
20-year-old graduate of Evangelical Christian School and a junior at Florida State University, was killed two years ago in a car accident Four local nonprofits, a church mission trip and a high school senior were this year’s recipients of funds from the...
The sights and sounds of commencements are all around us this time of year. I remember my own graduations and the sense that the whole world had stopped and noted...
Last week I ran into now former Fort Myers city councilman, Mike Flanders in a downtown coffee shop. I flagged him down on his way out the door to introduce...
When I was a kid, I fell in love with the band REM. It was the album Out of Time that changed the way I thought about music and made...
Plastics. This one word is actually ranked number 63 in the American Film Institute’s list of the top 100 movie quotations in American Cinema. It appears in the 1967 movie...
The Southwest Florida Community Foundation has launched an Earth Day campaign to raise awareness and funds for the environment in Southwest Florida. The “Earth Day the SWFL Way” campaign is meant...
Recently I was enjoying a cup of coffee with a new acquaintance who had reached out to learn more giving and philanthropy in Southwest Florida. When he asked me about myself...
Sometimes I feel like I am living in a commercial for Southwest Florida complete with soundbites, video clips, campaign themes and headlines. I see it all around me as I...
As expected this time of year the line to valet at the Naples resort seemed to stretch out endlessly. Experienced Southwest Floridian’s have grown to expect this during season and...
The plates of cookies and pitchers of fruit-infused water went untouched for weeks. This surprised me as I thought the smell of warm chocolate chip wonders and refreshing thirst quenchers...
The Southwest Florida Community Foundation has awarded $539,582.58 to both established and new programs that are designed to increase the quality of life in sustainable and equitable ways for Southwest...
