The Florida Center for Early Childhood Receives Wilson-Wood Foundation Grant to Support Critical Therapies for Young Children

The $10,000 grant ensures access to speech-language and occupational therapies for children with no insurance or ability to pay.

(August 20, 2025) The Florida Center for Early Childhood has received a $10,000 grant from the Wilson-Wood Foundation to provide speech-language and occupational therapy to children who are uninsured, underinsured, or unable to pay for services.

This gift continues a trusted partnership more than two decades in the making. Over the years, Wilson-Wood Foundation and The Florida Center have worked together to improve the lives of young children and families through developmental therapies, multi-generational mental health counseling, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) evaluation and prevention, and training for childcare providers.

“Wilson-Wood has stood with us for years,” says Dr. Kristie Skoglund, CEO of The Florida Center. “Their support helps ensure that even the most vulnerable children get the services they need to thrive.”

The therapies funded by this grant are part of The Florida Center’s developmental therapy program, which serves children from birth through age 12 at locations in Sarasota and North Port. Services address delays in communication, motor skills, and sensory processing—issues that can affect a child’s ability to succeed athome, in school, and socially. Without early intervention, these challenges can lead to low self-esteem, behavioral struggles, and long-term academic difficulties.

Skoglund explains that more than 85% of the families served by The Florida Center are ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) or living at or below the poverty line. The agency remains committed to providing life-changing care to every child who needs it, regardless of their family’s ability to pay.

“Every child deserves the chance to thrive, no matter their family’s circumstances,” says Skoglund. “This grant helps us deliver that promise.”

Photo captions:

• Children at The Florida Center for Early Childhood benefit from developmental therapies that build communication and motor skills, which are critical foundations for learning and social success.
• With support from generous partners like the Wilson-Wood Foundation, The Florida Center helps children grow with confidence, joy, and the tools they need to thrive.

About Wilson-Wood Foundation

The Wilson-Wood Foundation is a private family foundation based in Nokomis, with a mission to improve lives through strategic philanthropic investments in education, health, and human services. Its founders’ legacy of hard work and community-minded generosity lives on through ongoing support of local nonprofits serving children and families in Sarasota and Manatee counties.

About The Florida Center for Early Childhood

For more than 45 years, The Florida Center for Early Childhood has been the leading provider of therapeutic services, early education, and healthy development for young children in southwest Florida, offering a seamless delivery of services for the whole child and their family. Today, the agency is nationally recognized for its early childhood expertise in various specialties. The Florida Center provides developmental therapies, mental health counseling, Starfish Academy preschool, the Healthy Families home-visiting program, and the state’s only Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Clinic, with locations in Sarasota, Orlando and Pensacola.