NAPLES AND IMMOKALEE, Fla. – (Nov. 3, 2023) – Immokalee Fair Housing Alliance has received a $25,000 grant from the Collier Community Foundation. The funds will be used to purchase energy-efficient outdoor lighting for the nonprofit’s new affordable apartment rental community currently under construction in Immokalee.

The Collier Community Foundation awards annual grants through a competitive application and review process. Selected organizations receive grant dollars from the Community Impact Fund. This Fund is made up of donors who believe in the Community Foundation’s ability to identify and grant the community’s most current needs.

“We are extremely grateful to the Collier Community Foundation for this generous grant that will be used by the Immokalee Fair Housing Alliance to purchase and install outdoor lighting to ensure the safety of future residents,” said Arol Buntzman, chairman of the Immokalee Fair Housing Alliance. “As we near the completion of construction on the first building, we are finalizing many of the final touches on construction with a focus on exterior elements such as lighting. Thanks to support from the Collier Community Foundation and other local partners, we are getting closer to welcoming residents into a new vibrant, safe community that will replace substandard and overcrowded housing, giving hope and stability to so many Immokalee families.”

Many farmworkers and other low-income families in Immokalee are currently living in overcrowded and dilapidated shacks and trailers, with holes in the floor and walls, persistent mold, non-working toilets or appliances and a lack of air conditioning. Some families are paying 70% or more of their income on rent, leaving little for food, medical services, child care and other services most would consider necessities.

The Alliance is building upon 10 acres of property on Lake Trafford Road in Immokalee. Once complete, the community will feature 128 rental units and a community center. As a federally designated 501(c)(3), IFHA has no profit motive and will pay limited real estate taxes. The community will be self-supporting with rents no more than 30% of a family’s income.

The first two of eight rental buildings planned for the project are scheduled to be completed by late 2023.

About the Immokalee Fair Housing Alliance

The Immokalee Fair Housing Alliance is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) created in 2018 by a group of concerned citizens who saw the damage done by Hurricane Irma to already substandard trailers and shacks rented by farmworker and other low-income families in Immokalee. The IFHA vision is for these families to have access to secure, affordable, hurricane-resistant rental housing, which will strengthen the community by fostering health, education, dignity and financial stability. The organization has embarked on a project to create community awareness and raise funds for a 128-rental unit complex in Immokalee. For more information, please visit ImmokaleeFairHousing.org.

About the Collier Community Foundation

Collier Community Foundation is a tax-exempt, public, charitable organization established in 1985 to increase and focus on local private philanthropy. Today, the Collier Community Foundation manages more than 850 funds, works with hundreds of nonprofits, and has granted over $268 million to nonprofit organizations, community programs, and scholarships. Learn more at colliercf.org or call 239-649-5000.