Two FreshMinistries initiatives are award finalists

Two of FreshMinistries initiatives, Women to the Rescue and Beaver Street Enterprise Center, are finalists for the 2006 FASTEN Award.

FASTEN, Faith and Service Technical Education Network, is an organization that devotes itself to helping interfaith-based non-profits improve their programs. Annual awards are made in three categories: emergency response, long-term recovery and addressing deep pockets of poverty. Winners will be announced May 15.

Women to the Rescue, a grassroots disaster response initiative founded in 2006 in response to Hurricane Katrina, has helped over 85 families relocate from New Orleans into the greater Jacksonville area and is now organizing emergency preparedness plans for core-city neighborhoods. Women to the Rescue served as the model program for Volunteer Florida’s Neighbors to the Rescue.

Beaver Street Enterprise Center, a 25,000 square foot business incubator in Jacksonville’s empowerment zone, was built in 2003 to initiate economic redevelopment and bring jobs back into the inner-city. The state of Florida’s only core-city business incubator offers its entrepreneurs techincal assistance, professional mentoring by successful business leaders and business growth management.

Women to the Rescue is a finalist in the long-term recovery category, while Beaver Street Enterprise Center is in the top ten for addressing deep pockets of poverty.

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