The third annual A Swing of Grace golf outing brought in $100,000! The funds raised set a record for the event, surpassing its cumulative total from the first two years. "This year's event was really fantastic. The timing was smooth and kept a good pace. It was well organized and I especially enjoyed hearing from [...]

We are pleased to announce Grace Place recently accepted a $79,000 grant from the Naples Children Education Foundation (NCEF) for its high school AP Leadership program. This is the first year Grace Place has received funds from the Naples Wine Festival.  The AP Leadership program at Grace Place works to break the cycle of poverty [...]

Are you looking for a paid internship that gives you outstanding experience while making a positive impact in our community and its children? You will be part of a team of staff, educators, and volunteers where you can expand your professional, leadership, communication and vocational skills. Real-world experience with children and communities at-risk is invaluable [...]

We may have some budding novelist here at Grace Place!  We want to congratulate our AP Leaders Patricia and Anissa.  These promising young ladies recently accepted their awards for first and second place at the local level of the 2013-2014 Optimist International Essay Contest.  Our AP Leadership Program Coordinator, Mary LeVine, was informed of the [...]

MAKE IT A SUMMER YOU'LL ALWAYS REMEMBER; MAKE AN IMPACT. Two-thirds of the ninth grade reading achievement gap can be explained by unequal access to summer learning opportunities during the elementary school years; nearly one-third of the gap is already present when children begin school (John Hopkins School of Education Journal, 2010). College Mission Interns [...]

Virginia Mendez, one of our Mom and Tot Literacy students, was asked to share her story with the Greater Naples Leadership at an event this morning!  Virginia orated the below speech entirely in English, her second language!   Good morning!  I am honored to be here and to be able to share my story with [...]

Grace Place welcomed the parents of our Academy of Leaders students into the classroom for an open house last week.  We had total 41 families attend! The open house gave parents an opportunity to observe and work with their children during program hours. Substantial evidence exists showing there are many advantages for children when parents [...]

Our Grace Place AP Leader, Arletys, has been awarded the Comcast Leaders & Achievers Scholarship.  Arletys started volunteering at Grace Place three years ago and was selected as an AP Leader last year, her junior year at Golden Gate High School.  Only one student from each high school was allowed to apply for the Scholarship [...]

One of the mothers in our Mom and Tot program, Maria, was recently selected to speak at the “Reception to Present the Current Success, Programs and Innovations of The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy in Southwest Florida.”  She was asked to write and present a brief speech about her story and how Grace Place [...]

The AP Leadership program recently took a team-building trip to Riverside Retreat Center in LaBelle, FL. The group of 22 high school students worked together to complete  C.O.P.E. (Challenging Outdoor Personal Experience) courses focusing on core lessons in teamwork, communication, trust, leadership, decision making, problem solving and self-esteem. Working as a team, the students were [...]