Catholic Charities is pleased to announce a grant award of $14,250 from the Grand Harbor Community Outreach Program in April 2024 to support the Samaritan Center. Funds specifically assist with the provision of mental health services to residents at the Samaritan Center.
The Samaritan Center is a transitional housing program serving homeless families from Indian River County focusing on “life skills development” (parenting, budgeting, education), with the primary goal of promoting self-sufficiency, healthy family values and structure leading to successful re-entry into independence upon graduation. The center offers a highly structured four-tiered level program to assist residents in progressively moving forward in their self-sufficiency development. Included in each training level are skill areas such as: responsible parenting, conflict resolution, money management, organizational training, domestic skills, role modeling, and short- and long-term goal planning. Specific objective skills are associated with each level. For example, each parental resident is required to: work full-time; open a bank account and save at least 75% of their earnings; participate in all workshops/counseling sessions; and abide by house rules. It is expected that most will enter the top Level IV after five months. Support staff provides (24/7) direct-parenting assistance, supervision, and intervention. Children participate in age-appropriate weekly programs encompassing health and safety, self-esteem, and character values. Adequate completion of all four levels maximizes the success rate of independent living in the community. Length of stay for each family is approximately 6 months.
The mission of the Grand Harbor Outreach Program is to address the unmet needs of groups and individuals in the area of health, education and human services in Indian River County. The Grand Harbor Community Outreach Program is an all-volunteer organization operating as a 501 (C) (3) non-profit charity*, founded in 2001. Through a direct appeal to Grand Harbor members and residents, solicitation of corporate sponsorships and hosting several major events, they raise funds which are distributed to over 30 local charities. Nearly 400 donors and volunteers support the activities of GHCOP. They have an active Board that oversees all their activities and they are always looking for additional volunteers and Board members. GHCOP raised over $575,000 in the 2021-2022 season and since their founding, has raised over $6.6 million. They have no paid employees and 100% of each donor’s contribution goes to support a local charity.
