Circles of Care takes over Prevent! of Brevard

INDIAN HARBOUR BEACH – In a Space Coast social-services merger, Circles of Care has absorbed the fiscally struggling Prevent! of Brevard’s array of substance abuse-fighting programs.

Prevent! formally dissolved at midnight Monday, and 12 of its 13 remaining workers became Circles of Care employees. Tuesday night. Officials announced the merger during a dinner at Eau Gallie Yacht Club.

“To the Circles of Care management team, what can we say but thank you? My goodness, you saved us,” Darcia Jones-Francey, former chairwoman of the Prevent! board, told dinner guests.

Based in the old Creel Elementary on Pineapple Avenue in Eau Gallie, Prevent! assisted more than 21,000 people per year. Circles of Care will now operate the organization’s in-school drug and bullying prevention initiatives, the Brevard Tobacco Initiative, a seven-week program for adolescent first-time offenders who were kicked out of school, and Sally’s House.

The nonprofit reported total revenue of $1.3 million and total expenses of $1.4 million on its 2012 IRS 990 form, the most recent available. Operating deficit was $88,413, down from a $183,137 deficit the previous year.

“Fundraising was decreasing, as it’s been decreasing for pretty much all nonprofits across Florida. Also, we received a number of grant funding cuts,” said Jason Wieseler, who served as interim executive director since June when Kay Heimmer retired. Wieseler also is a Circles of Care senior clinical administrator.

The nonprofit’s roots traced to the 1980 launch of Concerned Organization of Parents to Educate, a south Brevard group.

After expanding its scope of services, COPE changed its name to Prevent! of Brevard in 1994.

The organization operated Sally’s House in Palm Bay, a 15-bed addiction-recovery home that has served more than 1,000 women and their children since its 1993 inception.

“That’s where ladies who are recovering from drug and alcohol addiction can live with their kids, which keeps them out of the system to a degree,” said Jim Whitaker, Circles of Care chief executive officer.

“That’s a great program. We didn’t want that one to go away.”

Sally’s Friends will continue to organize benefit luncheons and fundraisers for the namesake house, Jones-Francey said. Founded in 2007, this group has raised more than $200,000 to fund occupancy of two beds, a playground, perimeter fencing and a van.

Heimmer led Prevent! from 1989 until she retired last June at age 67. Jones-Francey said an executive search failed to produce a suitable replacement, presenting a dilemma for the board.

A team of Circles of Care executives worked with Heimmer during her final three months to study the feasibility of a merger. Board members of both organizations voted in the fall to begin merger proceedings.

“They have been here 51 years. They are a solid, well-oiled machine, and they provide wonderful service to the citizens of Brevard,” Jones-Francey said of Circles of Care. She also serves on that organization’s board of directors.

“These mergers in the social service arena are happening more and more, not only in the United States but in the state of Florida. It’s a sign of the times,” she added.

“Grants are not accessible as they were before. The whole world of funding is changing. I think you’ll see more and more operations merging.”

Contact Neale at 321-242-3638, rneale@floridatoday.com or follow @RickNeale1.