Every year, but this year especially, Florida Insurance Trust has been pleased to host its annual Holiday Miracle Contest, which allows three Florida nonprofits the opportunity to win extra money for their organization. This year, we asked our nonprofit members to answer one question: What does the Holiday Season mean to your organization?
We received over 100 wonderful responses but ultimately, three winners were randomly chosen. Below are our three winners and their definition of what the Holiday Season means.
Grand Prize Winner: Capstone Adaptive Learning & Therapy Centers
“Christmas at Capstone means we are blessed to help make the season brighter for the infants, children, and adults who rely on us to provide them a better quality of life. We help our students draw holiday pictures, hand out Christmas cards, and bake special treats to share with one another. Staff and students alike look forward to a new year in anticipation of new beginnings and better days ahead, pretty much like everyone else. The holidays are special because we have each other.”
Capstone Adaptive Learning & Therapy Centers
Second Prize Winner: Starting Point Behavioral Healthcare
For [Starting Point Behavioral Healthcare], the holiday season is about being available to our clients to spread hope, share support and acknowledge that while holidays can be a time of joy, it can also be a time of stress. We know that holidays can [also] be a reminder of those who are no longer here to celebrate with us. With that in mind, we continue our crisis and therapeutic services throughout the holidays while also ensuring that staff has an opportunity to be with their families. At Starting Point, we are here to walk with our clients at high points, low points and everywhere in between.
Starting Point Behavioral Healthcare
Third Prize Winner: Children’s Place at HomeSafe
“The Holidays mean a great deal for the youth as well as the staff at HomeSafe, especially during these trying times with the pandemic. The children who reside at HomeSafe are unable to be with their families and some do not have contact with any family members. Therefore, seeing other children from their school excited during these times, spending time with their families, is very difficult for them. Sometimes, we will see their behaviors escalate as they do not always know the appropriate way to express their feelings. In addition, staff who come and work with these children everyday are emotionally attached to the youth we serve and therefore their heart aches for the children during the holidays. Meanwhile, our staff have also been suffering from pandemic-related issues, how it is affecting their families during this time. At Homesafe, we attempt to teach the children about more than just Christmas and we are working with them to decorate their homes with Hanukkah Decorations, Kwanzaa Decorations and Three-Kings Day decorations. These efforts are challenging, nevertheless very rewarding. HomeSafe reaches out to community partners, friends, families and others who can assist us during these times. HomeSafe Administration really works hard to make this time of year nice for the youth and the staff. This time of year is super special for everyone the staff and children alike. We share each others ups and downs and sometimes, struggles.
Children’s Place at HomeSafe
Congratulations to them and thank you to everyone who entered. We will be sharing 8 of our favorite entries over on Facebook. Check out our Facebook page and give us a like!
Happy Holidays!
