From day one, Balliet has been a guiding voice and champion for Gulf Coast Jewish & Family Services Community Assistance and Life Liaison (CALL) program. Balliet currently Serves as the Chief Operating Officer for Gulf Coast JFCS, making a tremendous impact on her community. She has been paramount in forging a new, more compassionate approach to policing with the CALL program. Along with assisting with the creation of the program, her and her team have done tremendous work in the community providing extensive outreach with community partners to ensure awareness and understanding of the program.
The grant tonight will be used to support Gulf Coast Jewish & Family Services CALL program. This program provides a compassionate response to nonviolent and noncriminal 911 calls in the City of St. Petersburg. These calls usually involve mental health, substance abuse, economic hardship, or youth. Since the start of the program, Gulf Coast JFCS has completed nearly 4,800 client contacts, responded to more than 1,877 live calls, and provided proactive engagement with over 1,700 individuals.
Balliet became the 490th Lightning Community Hero since Jeff and Penny Vinik introduced the Lightning Community Hero program in 2011-12 with a $10 million, five-season commitment to the Tampa Bay community. Through tonight's game, in total, the Lightning Foundation has granted $25.6 million to more than 600 unique nonprofits in the Greater Tampa Bay area. During the summer of 2021, the Viniks announced the community hero program will give away another $10 million over the next five seasons.
