Rotary Club of The Villages Collaborations
Networking with resources in the community helps us have a sustainable impact.

Forward Paths

Our club contributed funds to Forward Path after they presented their mission to our club.  Children aging out of foster care homes.
https://forwardpaths.org

​

LifeStream Behavioral Center 

Geriatric Residential Treatment Systems- is a residential treatment facility serving primarily seniors who are severely mentally ill. The treatment focus is on providing a therapeutic and supportive living environment with programs offering rehabilitative services, wellness and recovery planning and activities in a safe, nurturing, supportive environment geared toward the special needs of the elderly.  Our club has helped with personal care products and sets of towels.

Puerto Plata Rotary
& Project Las Americas

This collaboration allowed our club members to travel to the Dominican Republic in 2018 & 2919 to learn first hand the challenges of a Rotary Club in a developing country. Members on the first trip saw the home above.  The night before they were to return this home collapsed during a hard storm.  The family was homeless...our traveling Rotarians pledged funds and several weeks later the community with guidance from project Las Americas had built a sturdy home. These trips have formed an ongoing relationship to assist  Puerto Plata Rotary Club in meeting unique or needs resulting in a crisis ie Covid-19 Pandemic   We have donated $800 to  an effort by local & North American Rotarians and Project Las Americas to provide basic food items to 300+ families for several weeks.

Goodwill-Suncoast
​BookWorks

Goodwill Industries-Suncoast serves 8 counties Tampa and north including Sumter Co and Marion Co.  Members inquired about their unique BookWorks program and found that Harbour View Elementary could receive two delivers of approximately 500 books each during each school year.  They needed a link to the school, volunteers to deliver and our club agreed to be the liaison.  IF our  volunteers read to the PRE-K students each month we could present each student with a book to keep and take home.  BookkWorks program has resulted in over 2000 nearly new books for their library, classroom libraries & student gifts.
Goodwill Suncoast has worked with our club on bringing other benefits to the families of HVES.  This collaboration has been extremely helpful to our work at the school.

Florida Dept of  Health in Marion

In developing countries, Community Development is an activity that often has involvement from Rotarians but with the end goal that the community members learn to organize and tackle their needs.  The poverty level in the area that students of Harbour View Elementary live is high.  The needs are wide ranging and their is no organized voice....YET.  Members of our club have been helping Florida Dept. of Health in Marion County assess the need as voiced by the residents.  FDHM has already completed one survey and is working toward focus groups.  Our club is in the second year of a three year commitment to assist in ways that are appropriate.  This collaboration could positively impact the families and students of HVES is a group voice develops and begins advocating for solutions. 

Sophisticated Gents

Harbour View Elementary School needed to find ways to positively impact education of their minority students.  Our club facilitated introduction to the Sophisticated Gents, a service club that has many members with a depth of education leadership prior to retiring to Central Florida.
​Our club continues to explore collaborations in the Latino community of Central Florida.

Advent Hospital Foundation & International Projects

Rotary International,  Inc encourages each club to reach out and meet a need in another country.  This is a difficult challenge unless you have a partner like Advent Hospital Foundation Important to the success of an international service project is working with the local people and having boots on the ground at the site of the project.  This collaboration makes it possible for our club to serve internationally.  We have helped bring safe water to a hospital in Haiti through this collaboration.  Sometimes this collaboration includes other Rotary Clubs in our district.
In Spring 2020 our club joined 7 other Rotary clubs to do a food drive at different locations on the same day.  This was in response to increased unemployment and Covid 19 related causes.  It was very successful.

On July 18 a second collaboration grew the the number of clubs involved to 8 Rotary clubs.  The commitment has continued quarterly.  We had a good turnout for Oct 18 and we are currently planning for Jan 8 2021.

In each case collaborating on the use of media increased the impact.  Our club supported two pantries in Summerfield FL because they serve the families of Harbour View Elementary School.

Art in Paradise Club

 
The We presented the need for restoring or updating Harbour View Elementary's 25 yr old mural to ART IN PARADISE, an art club that meets weekly in The Villages.  They created a wonderful dynamic mural and presented it to the school.  Art in Paradise is exploring others ways to enhance the art program at HVES.

Tutors for Kids

Tutors for Kids is a volunteer organization that trains and places tutors in schools around The Villages area.  HVES is one of those schools. Two of our members have become liaisons with Tutors for Kids and that has prompted several of our members and also their friends to volunteer to tutor 1 or more students........many more are needed.  However, in the current Covid-19 situation, we will be working with the school administration and  our members to tutor via the internet.  ZOOM and other platforms are becoming very common at all ages and this may be a benefit....stay tuned.