Current Coalition Partners & Direct Service Leads
Notice: We are currently verifying the 2026 participation of our local nonprofit, faith-based, and governmental partners to ensure unified coordination.
Some listed will have a brief overview of their work with the coalition.
This section will be updated over time to add more of who is an active member partner of this coalition.
Nonprofits and partners: to update your impact data or be included in this list if you’re not already listed, contact the Strategic Alliance Lead here.
Red Conrad
Red Conrad is the Strategic Alliance Lead for the Putnam County Homelessness Solutions Coalition, focused on aligning nonprofits, faith-based groups, and public agencies around shared data and practical policy solutions — from the annual Point-in-Time count to long-term shelter planning.
His passion comes from his own experience with homelessness in Putnam County — and seeing how hard it was to even find the help that already existed here. His goal is simple: cut through the stereotypes, use real data, and help people get back on their feet.
Contact Red at Red@RedConrad.me
36+ organizations — spanning housing, healthcare, food security, education, veterans services, and public safety — currently make up the coalition. Browse by category below.
Housing & Shelter
Palatka Christian Service Center / Heart of Putnam is a co-founding partner organization and dedicated partner of this alliance to ensure all residents get the services and programs needed. They are leading the R.I.S.E. Program initiative. Established in 2007, Heart of Putnam is a one-stop service center housing multiple nonprofit programs — including the Christian Service Center, the R.L. Simmons House (safe haven for women and children fleeing domestic violence or homelessness), the Putnam County Cold Weather Shelter, and the HUB Thrift Store. A certified United Way of St. Johns County partner. HeartOfPutnam.com
Palatka Housing Authority manages 422 public housing units and 402 Housing Choice Vouchers, serving Crescent City, East Palatka, Interlachen, Palatka, Pomona Park, San Mateo, Satsuma, and Welaka. palatkaha.org
Habitat for Humanity of Putnam County has built 51+ homes for local working families since 1991/92 through a sweat-equity homeownership model, and provides emergency home-repair grants for low- and moderate-income homeowners. Operates a community ReStore. putnamhabitat.org
Lee Conlee House is a certified domestic violence center serving Putnam County since 1992, providing a 24/7 hotline, emergency shelter, supportive/transitional housing, court advocacy, and prevention education for survivors of domestic violence and their children. leeconleehouse.org
La Paloma Blanca Ministries provides transitional and supportive housing for individuals and families working to achieve stability. Contact: palomablancaministries@gmail.com
Oxford House Florida operates Florida’s largest self-help network of sober living houses, providing affordable, supportive housing for people in recovery from alcoholism and addiction, including a reentry pathway for those recently incarcerated, with homes serving Putnam County. oxfordhousefl.org
Food & Emergency Assistance
Spiritual Messiah Ministries: A co-founding partner providing direct emergency assistance through the Emergency Assistance Fund — offering immediate support for food and essential supplies. As a grassroots faith-based organization rooted in Matthew 25 principles, SMM connects individuals to longer-term resources, helps administer the coalition’s Putnam County FL Homeless Support Facebook group, and supports coalition advocacy for the Gloria Johnson Act and R.I.S.E. program. Spiritual Messiah Ministries website
Just For Jesus Ministries is a founding partner — a food pantry serving the Interlachen area of Putnam County.
Interlachen Soup Kitchen Ministries, Inc. is a founding partner — a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2011 providing meal service five days a week, monthly food distribution, hygiene support (showers, clothing, and supplies in exchange for volunteer hours), free monthly haircuts, fellowship nights, Bible study, adult coaching, and connections to Veterans Services, free legal aid, and Grace Marketplace Services. 155 N. County Road 315, Interlachen, FL. Phone: 386-972-1045. soupkitchenministries.com
Epic Cure is a 100% volunteer-run nonprofit whose mission is to eliminate food waste and hunger through food rescue, while teaching life skills to seniors, students, and veterans. epic-cure.org
Healthcare, Mental Health & Recovery
Meridian Healthcare is a nonprofit behavioral health provider founded in 1971, serving North Central Florida — including Putnam County — with crisis stabilization, detox, outpatient, and residential treatment for mental illness and substance use disorders. mbhci.org
SMA Healthcare provides mental health and addiction recovery services with 60+ years of experience across Putnam and several surrounding counties, including a 24/7 crisis hotline (800-539-4228). smahealthcare.org
Recovery Point Palatka is a faith-connected recovery ministry based out of Life Church Palatka, offering multiple pathways of recovery from addiction regardless of past or current circumstances, alongside Celebrate Recovery meetings. recoverypointpalatka.com
The Nehemiah Project is a peer recovery organization serving adults in Alachua and Putnam Counties, with a Palatka location. Peer leaders with lived experience help people navigate recovery resources, reduce stigma, and access community support. thenehemiahprojectinc.com
24-hour peer helpline: 1-855-352-7337
Disability Services
The Arc of Putnam County, founded in 1974, empowers individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities to achieve their fullest potential and live meaningful lives within our community — through residential services, employment services, adult day training, mental health services, occupational therapy, and Project Search. arcputnam.org
Easter Seals Florida: Since 1948, Easterseals Florida has provided exceptional services — early intervention, adult day health care, employment/workforce training, and inclusive child care — ensuring people of all ages and disabilities can reach their full potential, across 40 of Florida’s 67 counties. florida.easterseals.com
Center For Independent Living Of North Central Florida is a disability resource center (serving the region since 1976/81), majority-run by people with disabilities, providing advocacy, peer support, independent living skills training, ADA paratransit, and wheelchair ramp building at no cost. cilncf.org
Veterans Services
Operation Lifeline / Lifeline Construction is a co-founding partner organization that helps veterans with employment and housing — renovating homes of low-income veterans and providing construction-trades training via DoD SkillBridge. OpLifeline.org
Faith-Based & Community
South Putnam Church, located in Crescent City, runs a food pantry (“The Cube”) and serves as a hub for youth events and community outreach, with a multi-generational congregation. southputnam.church
Peniel Baptist Academy is a private Baptist school (PK–12) in Palatka with roughly 235 students, tied to historic Peniel Baptist Church (founded 1852). penielwarriors.org
Government & Public Safety
Putnam County Sheriff’s Office is the full-service law enforcement agency for Putnam County, providing patrol, investigations, jail operations, courthouse security, and emergency dispatch. putnamsherifffl.com
Florida Dept of Environmental Protection floridadep.gov
Education & Youth Services
St. John’s River State College, founded in 1958, serves Putnam, Clay, and St. Johns counties from campuses in Palatka, St. Augustine, and Orange Park, offering certificates, associate, and bachelor’s degrees to roughly 10,000 students. sjrstate.edu
BAYS Kids: Inspiring youth to change, grow, and succeed is our business, and it starts with helping them reflect on the past and embrace the future. A 40+ year-old Florida nonprofit delivering juvenile justice, child welfare, and behavioral-health prevention services to thousands of youth annually. bayskids.org
Children’s Home Society of Florida, one of Florida’s oldest (1902) child-welfare nonprofits — “Building Bridges to Success for Children” — with programs spanning child abuse/neglect prevention, foster care, adoption, and family counseling statewide. chsfl.org
Employment & Workforce
Goodwill is removing barriers to employment through training, education, and career opportunities for the communities they serve, funded through their retail thrift stores rather than fundraising. goodwillnorthfl.org
Operation New Hope has provided 25+ years of reentry services (Ready4Release, Ready4Work, Ready4Success) for people impacted by the justice system — job training, case management, and mental health counseling — helping break the cycle of incarceration. operationnewhope.org
CareerSource NEFL Career Center connects job seekers and employers in Putnam County with employment services, training, and workforce resources. CareerSourceNEFL.com
400 State Road 19, Ste. 53, Palatka, FL 32177
Phone: (386) 530-7089
Capacity Building, Advocacy & Family Support
Passionate Putnam Partners helps Putnam County organizations secure funding and build capacity through grant assistance, workshops, facilitation, event coordination, and marketing services. PassionatePutnamPartners.com
Community Coalition Alliance serves as a collective voice by providing data-driven strategies to advise, advocate, and strive for health and wellness across diverse communities for all Floridians. ccafl.org
Lutheran Services Florida is deeply committed to supporting our neighbors in need, ensuring that families right here in our Florida communities have access to the resources they need to thrive — including Head Start, foster care/adoption case management, youth shelters, family crisis counseling, and refugee/immigration services. lsfnet.org
Cornerstone Connections helps individuals and families in need with programs, services, resources, and support that will enable them to obtain a solid and sustainable quality of life — workforce development, family stabilization, case management, and fatherhood-engagement programs. When lives are improved, hope is restored, healing begins, and communities are able to grow stronger. cornerstoneconnections.org
Safe Families for Children is a faith-motivated nonprofit that connects isolated parents with a volunteer “Circle of Support” — host homes, family coaches, and resource friends — to keep children safe and families together without entering foster care, with local support available in Putnam County. safe-families.org
Transportation
The Ride Solution, Putnam County’s designated Community Transportation Coordinator since 1986, offers fixed-route bus, express, and paratransit service, with priority given to medical and nutrition-related trips for seniors, people with disabilities, and low-income residents. theridesolution.org
Rydei Gigs provides local transportation in Palatka and Putnam County, including everyday rides, airport transfers, non-emergency medical transportation, and senior transportation services. gorydei.com
Phone: (386) 213-7485
Environmental & Land Conservation
Putnam Land Conservancy is a regional land trust (founded 2006) working with landowners to preserve wetlands, forests, farmland, and habitat across Putnam and neighboring counties, through direct purchase, donation, and conservation easements. putnamlandconservancy.org
