The Glasser/Schoenbaum Human Services Center empowers non-profits to closely network with other agencies and create synergistic energy towards the life changing opportunities we all want for our clients and those in our community.
Human need is complex. Where a person or family has one need, there are invariably multiple needs. The work force residing on the campus contains resources that can address many needs for clients seeking help. Connecting the campus tenant partners to each other unlocks that network.
As demand for services continues to rise, nonprofits list collaboration as their top solution to help meet the need. With a built-in community of nonprofits, the Center provides a hub where those collaborations are convenient, and actively facilitates networking and relationship building.
The community’s greatest asset in delivering human services is the dedicated staff working to help those in need. Our program for their professional development and self-care elevates the care they can provide and abates long-term burnout.
As a hub for human services, and because we are not funded by federal or state dollars, we are in a rare position of neutrality and centrality for the local human services sector.
That "Switzerland" position means that the Center provides connective tissue for our region's social safety net. The examples below illustrate our role in community connectivity.
211 is a free, confidential information and referral service that any individual may call, email, text or search when they aren't sure where to find help for financial assistance, health programs, crisis support and more.
Glasser/Schoenbaum staff member Christina Russi is the Community Liaison for Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto County's 211 service, providing the connection between the 211 call center and the resources available to those in need.
A recent national study by the Nonprofit Finance Fund shows that 31% of nonprofits have less than three months of cash reserves on hand, and 62% of them list long-term financial sustainability as their top operational challenge. By providing overhead resources, Glasser/Schoenbaum is a partner in sustainability for our agencies; we help to keep their lights on and their doors open.
We provide over 48,000 sqft of air-conditioned office space and subsidize operational expenses for our nonprofit tenant partners, ensuring their resources can be used to deliver more services to people in need.
We pay our agencies' electricity, water, security, grounds-keeping, cleaning, and building maintenance. Agencies pay a rent of $8.50/sqft per year, roughly 41% of the cost to run the Center, and less than half of the current comparable market rate.
Since opening the Center's doors in 1990, rent subsidy alone has saved tenant partners an estimated $7.5 million in overhead expenses as of 2019.
The Nonprofit Centers Network analyzes the value of shared services, saying "Shared services leverage the economies of scale that are created when multiple organizations access services from the same service providers. Shared services also allow service providers and participating organizations
to create positive impacts beyond the direct services provided." (Rethinking Overhead: Daring to Share Resources).
Some of our favorite shared services and amenities include:
The Glasser/Schoenbaum Human Services Center empowers non-profits to closely network with other agencies and create synergistic energy towards the life changing opportunities we all want for our clients and those in our community.
Real estate is one of the greatest costs in a business budget. Our partnership with the Glasser Schoenbaum Human Services Center allows more money to go towards our mission. And what better place to house our office than on a campus with nineteen other outreach agencies.
We are a small and young organization and having the ability to network and partner with other community organizations is key to the quality and impact of our work. In addition to the affordable space that The Glasser/Schoenbaum Human Services Center provides to all of us, it inspires us to use this collaborative model as we work to empower our students and their families.
I can't fully express how wonderful it is to take a client by the hand and walk them no more than a couple hundred feet from our office to another agency that can help them when they are in crisis.
As a small organization with a staff of two, employee safety was a big consideration when we were looking for office space. We did not want our employees to be in a place where they were alone. Being on the GSHSC campus has been great because there is a whole community of like-minded professionals.
