Vanessa Alcantara and I were given the opportunity to participate in the financial sustainability workshop with our following colleagues, Andy Houltberg with the Breakthrough Episcopal Services out of Kansas, Brett Buell with the Gainesville Opportunity Center in North Florida, Lauren Walker with Hope Clubhouse in South Florida, and Richard Lane with Alliance House in Utah. We were able to share the history, governance, current strategies, successes, and challenges related to our community’s financial sustainability.  According to the United Nations, sustainability is defined “as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

Therefore, lasting Academy financial sustainability is a team effort involving members, staff, board members, ambassadors, families, community partners, and volunteers. Members and staff contribute through luncheons, telethons, Academy tours, and in-house produced marketing materials. The Board of Directors, Ambassadors, and family members partake in awareness building within their respective communities by sharing their Academy experiences and inviting guests for member tours, demonstrating our open-door policy.  Community partners and volunteers offer their time and expertise enriching the lives of members in any number of our 8 Dimensions of Wellness.       

We were honored to have the following guest speakers Joan Geyer, President of the Academy Board; Stewie Bitterman founding Academy Ambassador; Matt Sauer, Collaboration and Impact Officer of the Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation; Jeff Steinwachs CEO of the Steinwachs Family Foundation; Robyn Faucy Co-Founder of Results 1^st; and Al and Polly Guiffrida Academy Family Ambassadors, who shared their roles and experience of nonprofit sustainability.  

We would like to share several quotes from participating colleagues:

This was an eye-opening experience for both Vanessa and me, revealing that financial sustainability is a collective effort and the responsibility does not solely rest with any one person or group. 

As we prepared for our recent “Journey to Wellness” Luncheon, we were tasked with choosing a recipient for the highly coveted Academy Award. This time around, selecting a winner was a no-brainer. Given the wellness theme, and the focus on our newly implemented FIT Initiative (an acronym for Fully in Transformation), the winner of the award was none other than the Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation. The Barancik Foundation has been instrumental in our pursuit of holistic health, based on the eight dimensions of wellness (physical, emotional, environmental, social, occupational, spiritual, intellectual and financial) by funding a comprehensive program that allows us to tailor activities to our members’ needs, and includes a research component in collaboration with an assistant research professor at the University of South Florida, Dr. Roxann Taormina. 

This is not the first time that the Barancik Foundation has been a transformational influence on the Academy. Back in 2018, they funded an initiative that facilitated the growth of a burgeoning young adult population. The impact was profound as our community was invigorated by the ideas and creative input from our newest members ages 18-29. They continue to keep us on our toes!

The FIT Initiative has been similarly transformative. With members engaged in wellness-based activities every day, the results have been exciting. Through attending financial workshops with our colleagues at Truist Bank, some members have shared that they are able to maintain a budget for the first time in their lives. Those who are joining us at the gym twice a week report better sleep and eating habits, increased mobility and lower blood pressure. A weekly wellness-themed book club has members branching out to explore new health topics that weren’t previously on their radar. None of this would have been possible without the generosity of the Barancik Foundation.

And so, with all the fanfare of that other Academy Award program, member Ian Churchill welcomed an unsuspecting guest to the stage, Barancik Foundation’s Collaboration and Impact Officer, Matt Sauer. He, along with Ev Bosque, Greg Luberecki, and Daqone Tirene were presented with the golden trophy inscribed with our message of deep gratitude. Matt accepted the award on behalf of the foundation and spoke enthusiastically about the longstanding relationship between our organizations, and the satisfaction of seeing us grow and thrive since our inception. As a rule, we are thoughtful to align ourselves with community partners who share our ideals and values, and when it comes to the Barancik Foundation, we’ve found a perfect FIT.