12/11/2025
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Hand Up To Victory Receives $10,000 Grant from the Community Foundation of Sarasota County for the Foundations for Freedom and Restoration Program.
Sarasota, FL – November 8th, 2025 – Hand Up To Victory is honored to announce it has been awarded a $10,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Sarasota County, made possible through the William and Clara Vessey Fund II and the Joseph F. Irace and Barbara A. Irace Fund I.
This funding will directly support rapid placement and temporary funding for recovery housing for individuals seeking freedom from substance use disorder. In addition, it will help provide essential material items—including food, hygiene products, clothing, replacement IDs and prepaid cell phones—to ensure stability during the earliest stages of recovery.
The grant will make it possible for 20 individuals to access safe, supportive recovery housing and the critical resources they need to begin their journey toward long-term recovery and family restoration.
Since its founding in 2017, Hand Up To Victory has helped more than 1,199 individuals—675 of them parents—secure recovery housing, essential items, and peer support to rebuild their lives and families. The organization’s mission is to provide stability, resources and peer support to those entering recovery across Sarasota and Manatee Counties.
“We’re incredibly grateful to the Community Foundation of Sarasota County for believing in the life-changing work happening through Hand Up To Victory,” added Yvonne Hawke, Grant Writer. “This partnership extends our reach and ensures more people in our community have a fighting chance at recovery.”
For more information or to support Hand Up To Victory’s mission, visit www.handuptovictory.org or follow us on Facebook.
About Hand Up To Victory
Hand Up To Victory is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization serving Sarasota and Manatee Counties, providing rapid placement and temporary funding for recovery housing, essential stabilization support, and peer-led guidance for individuals seeking recovery from substance use disorder.
About the Community Foundation of Sarasota County: The Community Foundation of Sarasota County is a public charity founded in 1979 by the Southwest Florida Estate Planning Council as a resource for caring individuals and the causes they support, enabling them to make a charitable impact on the community. With assets of $605 million in more than 1,600 charitable funds, the Community Foundation awarded grants and scholarships totaling $49.5 million last year in the areas of education, the arts, health and human services, civic engagement, animal welfare and the environment. Since its founding, the Community Foundation has been able to grant $542 million to nonprofits in our community thanks to the generosity of charitable individuals, families and businesses. For more information, visit cfsrasota.org or call 941-955-3000.
