XO Factor, Inc. (XOF) is a 501(c)(3) organization founded with a mission to create a culture of second chances for returning citizens by assisting men, women, children, and families to rebuild their lives after incarceration. Venture Philanthropy Fund helped create a new website and marketing materials to help them spread their reach to even more […]

By J.A. Jones In 2017, Da’juh Sawyer and Dontriel Fletcher started The Make It Out Foundation, with a mission to enhance the lives of students in the St. Petersburg community by providing financial assistance to those attending Florida A&M University. Venture Philanthropy Fund’s shared services program helped them create their first website and donor portal […]

J.A. Jones Like other cities, St. Pete is struggling with a lack of affordable housing and steadily increasing rents and food prices, but one organization is bringing community-driven solutions to these issues. Venture Philanthropy Fund’s shared services program has helped Judith Turner and Florida CEED (Cooperative Empowered Economic Development Corp) reach more people through website […]

By J.A. Jones Walter Evans’ Shihan School of Survival has led youth and adults to becoming more fit, confident, and self-disciplined for nearly two decades in Pinellas County. Venture Philanthropy Fund’s shared services program has offered Evans administrative and grant-writing support to help continue his mission to bring health and conflict resolution skills to youth […]

By J.A. Jones Faye Watson, Executive Director of Developing and Building Community Services (DAB Community Services, Inc) is working to bring DABCS’ workforce development initiative to St. Pete. Venture Philanthropy Fund’s shared services is helping her spread the word to raise awareness and financing for a new Land Surveying Technician program she developed in partnership […]

By Jake-ann Jones Photos by Todd Bates ST PETERSBURG – At a time when concern for youth violence, arrests, and deaths are mounting in St. Pete, a new project has brought life-transforming art, conversation, and education to youth assigned to the Pinellas Regional Juvenile Detention Center through a grant by Venture Philanthropy Fund. The Justice […]

The roots of The Artists and Writers Group are found in the “Artists and Writers Ball”, an annual event in the late 1970s and 1980s in Tampa’s arts and historical old town of Ybor City. Today, Artists & Writers Group is seeking to reinvent itself, and a new website through Venture Philanthropy Fund offered the […]