The Franklin’s Promise Coalition is one of 16 groups in Florida to share 300 thousand dollars in grants from the Duke Energy Foundation

The Franklin’s Promise Coalition is one of 16 groups in Florida to share 300 thousand dollars in grants from the Duke Energy Foundation.

The money will help fund its Conservation Corps of the Forgotten Coast program.

Conservation Corps of the Forgotten Coast is a youth development program for young adults 18-25 years of age who are not engaged in school or a career pathway.

The program provides participants with job training, academic programming, leadership skills, and additional support.

The year-long program opens pathways to careers in land management, environmental restoration, construction, and disaster response.

Crew members earn industry certifications, complete their high school diplomas, gain leadership skills, and build transferable job skills.

Over the past 4 years, dozens of local young people have earned industry certifications and have completed over 50 environmental restoration and park renovation projects as well as responding to numerous natural disasters.

The Duke Energy Foundation s also providing money to the Florida Wild Mammal Association’s Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Program.

The money will help the Wakulla County based group keep its wildlife hospital open year-round.

The Florida Wild Mammal Association provides care to more than 1,000 animals yearly that are sick, orphaned or injured until they are well enough to release. 

Overall Duke Energy Florida is granting more than $300,000 to 16 nonprofit organizations throughout the state.

Other grant recipients include the National Audubon Society's bald eagle conservation program and the Florida Wildflower Foundation’s Big Bend Roadside Surveys to Discover Wildflower Areas as Pollinator Habitat.

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