Rotary Club of Coconut Grove awards $4K to Casa Valentina

Rotary Club of Coconut Grove awards $4K to Casa Valentina
Rotary Club of Coconut Grove awards $4K to Casa Valentina
Casa Valentina executive director Wanda Finnie (left) is pictured with Rotarian Dave Snyder.

The Rotary Club of Coconut Grove recently awarded a grant of $4,000 to Casa Valentina, which provides housing accommodations and support services to those who have aged out of foster care.

The check was presented by Rotarian Dave Snyder to Wanda Finnie, executive director of Casa Valentina, during a luncheon at the Coconut Grove Sailing Club.

Rotarian Joe King then presented Finnie with a check for $4,000, a grant from the Thelma Gibson Health Initiative. The grants will help support Casa Valentina’s life skills program.

“On behalf of all of us at Casa Valentina, both residents and staff, I thank you for believing in us. We cannot accomplish what we do without community support,” Finnie said.

In addressing the Club, Finnie stated that Casa Valentina’s life skills program addresses five key areas: education, employment, self care, money management, and daily living. There is a highly qualified team of professionals that meets individually and in groups with all residents several times a week to convey these skills.

Casa Valentina, founded in 2006, provides youth who age out of foster care with up to two years of safe affordable housing, life skills training and the support services they need to become successful independent adults. Most importantly, it provides the security of a caring supportive team.

“Case Valentina becomes their family,” Finnie said.

At the present time, 14 young women reside at Casa Valentina in Coconut Grove, and housing and services for seven young men are provided in partnership with Camillus House and Our Kids.

The Rotary Club of Coconut Grove provides service and financial support to initiatives within the community as well as to various international humanitarian projects. Locally, it has funded after-school programs, youth sports, and health initiatives.

Meetings take place every Thursday at 12:15 p.m. at the Coconut Grove Sailing Club, 2990 S. Bayshore Dr.


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