Prior Grant Requests
| Organization Name | Grant Year | Cycle | Request Amount | Grant Awarded | Awarded Amount | Matching Funds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suncoast Therapeutic Equine Partners (STEP) | 2026 |
2026-1 |
$4,800.00 |
Organization Name: Suncoast Therapeutic Equine Partners (STEP)
Organization Website: https://stepsuncoast.org
Year Established: 2025Â
Mission Statement:
Our mission is to open the door to life changing moments, where time with horses awakens courage, connection and possibility.
Contact Name: Ilee Finocchiaro Years in Position: since inception – approximately 1 year
Contact Email: ilee@stepsuncoast.org
Contact Phone: 267-228-8718
Address: 1615 Verna Rd
Sarasota
FL, Sarasota Florida
34240
Have you previously received a grant? No If yes, please indicate the year(s): N/AÂ
How did you hear about our organization?
STEP has volunteers who live in the Lake Club community
What do you believe we can provide your organization?
Suncoast Therapeutic Equine Partners (STEP) is an all-volunteer nonprofit dedicated to expanding access to equine-assisted services for children, adults, and veterans with various challenges. Many of the individuals we serve face financial hardship, making scholarships and sponsored community outreach support essential to ensuring equitable access. Funding from this grant will provide need-based scholarships and sponsored community outreach for participant sessions, allowing individuals to attend and receive the full physical, cognitive, and emotional benefits of our programs without financial strain.
STEP’s individualized, goal-focused sessions help participants build strength, coordination, and confidence while improving emotional well-being and social connection. Our programs also offer veterans and individuals experiencing trauma or grief a safe, supportive environment where they can rebuild trust, rediscover their strengths, and make meaningful progress in their healing journey. By removing financial barriers through providing scholarships, STEP ensures that those who can benefit most are not excluded due to their circumstances.
This grant will also strengthen STEP’s capacity to expand programming via community outreach and support more participants in neighboring communities who currently lack access to these services.
With both scholarships and community outreach support, STEP will continue to open doors for individuals and families in need, providing life-changing opportunities for growth, healing, and connection.
What will the grant be used for?
This grant will fund three types of sessions for children, adults with disabilities, and veterans removing the burden of financial strain:
1. A series of mounted riding sessions for individuals in need.
2. A series of trauma-informed, un-mounted equine sessions for individuals who are not in mounted sessions.
3. Community outreach visits to small groups of individuals who otherwise would not have access to equine support.
Financial-need scholarships for a series of mounted and/or unmounted sessions will allow participants to attend a well-planned series of sessions and receive the full therapeutic benefit without financial strain at STEP’s facilities.
Financial-need scholarships for community outreach support will allow STEP to bring our horses and our team to people in our surrounding area who do not have the opportunity to travel to our facility.
As an all-volunteer organization, every dollar goes directly to participant sessions, with no paid administrative staff, maximizing the impact of every contribution. All sessions will be led by instructors certified through the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship (PATH) International, providing safe, structured, and high-quality programming tailored to each participant’s goals.
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Provide the grant amount you are seeking: $4,800.00
Do you provide services to Sarasota and/or Manatee County? Yes
What is the financial impact per individual/program this grant will provide?
1. A series of mounted riding sessions for individuals in need. 6 individuals for 6 sessions each = $2,340
2. A series of trauma-informed un-mounted equine sessions for individuals who are not in mounted sessions: 6 individuals for 3 sessions = $1,440
3. Community outreach visits to small groups of individuals who otherwise would not have access to equine support. 2 outreach sessions, up to 8 people per session = $1,100
Total = $4,880
The grant will fully support participants who cannot afford the program with 100% of funds going directly to the participant. STEP is a fully volunteer-run organization.
Please provide the estimated number of women, children and families impacted.
This project is expected to directly serve 28 people including women, children, and/or families, through six-session and three-session on site scholarships and two sessions of community outreach
Is there a matching grant? No If yes, indicate donation source:
May we tour your facility? Yes
What reciprocal benefit can you provide our organization:
If awarded this grant, we will ensure The Lake Club Women’s Giving Circle’s support is visible to our participants and the broader community. We will share the news on our website and social media, include updates in our newsletters, and/or events. We are also excited to get to know The Lake Club Women’s Giving Circle better, and would value any insight or event suggestions you may want to share.
Proof of Non-Profit Status https://tlcwcf.org/wp-content/uploads/formidable/15/STEP-Florida-Tax-Certificate-Exempt.pdf
Organization’s Logo https://tlcwcf.org/wp-content/uploads/formidable/15/STEP-Logo.pdf [110 show_image=1]
Project/Program-specific budget: https://tlcwcf.org/wp-content/uploads/formidable/15/Lake-Club-Budget-Sheet.xlsx
Guide Star Profile/Rating (if applicable): https://tlcwcf.org/wp-content/uploads/formidable/15/STEP-2025-Candid-Gold-Seal-Email-Confirmation-Dec-2025.docx
Anything else you would like to share with us?
Measuring outcomes for this grant will include tracking the number of mounted, ground and community outreach events, as well as the number of participants. Satisfaction will be reviewed for participants, caregivers, organizers and STEP volunteers.
We will track feedback in two ways. First, we will use a consistent feedback form to measure participant and caregiver feedback. We will be able to benchmark our progress once we have gathered initial data which will result in a regular improvement cycle. Second, we will internally seek feedback from our STEP team in the form of debrief sessions after each event with a view toward operational excellence and participant satisfaction.
We’d like to say a very sincere Thank You for your consideration of STEP and our Participants!