Sunflower Creative Arts Inc.

“Organization provides a copy of the completed form 990 to each board member for review and comments prior to filing. Appropriate changes made where necessary prior to filing.”

“The organization has a conflict of interest policy. The board regularly and consistently monitors and enforces compliance with the policy, and annually reviews and signs the policy. Whistleblower policy a member of the board was appointed to be the compliance officer and reporting procedures are outlined in the policy.”

“Compensation for the executive director is examined by an indepedent committee of the board of directors. Compensation is compared to compensation of executive directors of similar organizations.”

“Upon request such documents are provided to requesting party.”

“Sunflower's mission is to empower children to be confident, creative and compassionate through play, nature and the arts. Sunflower creative arts provides a unique and diverse collection of arts and educational programs for children and families. Sunflower's work is grounded in the belief that hands-on learning experiences in play, nature and the arts are absolutely essential for healthy human development. The pillars of sunflower's educational philosophy are respect for the individual, learning through experience and learning within community. Our programs nurture the creative spirit, promote children's community engagement, and support parents in their work of raising strong children. A key component to fulfilling our mission is to provide children with opportunities for learning through play, nature, and the arts, while increasing the community's understanding of the importance of these experiences for healthy child development. We offer early childhood programs on our campus which teach communication and parenting skills to parents while guiding children's development through hands-on, play-based activities. In this environment, we model nonviolent conflict resolution skills for all ages. Through our build & play initiative, we work with partners in the broader community to bring play, nature and the arts experiences to children of all ages. We also offer additional creative arts programs on our campus, parenting programs including the new sunflower bridge journey, and a roots & shoots community service club for children. We sponsor several community building events each year. Through fundraising, we aim to make our programs available to all who seek them, regardless of their ability to pay.”

“Form 990 part iii 4a in 2021-2022, we adapted to the ever-changing conditions of life in a pandemic with the primary goal of keeping our community safe. We learned to incorporate covid-19 precautions into our daily lives. We fine-tuned health protocols that will remain in place for years to come. We hired talented new staff. As measured by expenses, our three largest programs were the seedlings preschool, summer camp and the little seedlings program. Seedlings preschool returned to full capacity with a waiting list. The seedlings and their families flourished in a completely outdoor half-day program, the morning and afternoon classes each forming strong bonds with their four dedicated teachers. We served 58 children and 53 families. We offered 4 two-week sessions of summer seedlings camp, where children enjoyed hours of uninterrupted self-directed play, nature exploration, process-oriented art and joyful sing-alongs. Former sunflower students continue to join us as counselors at camp, which we love 84 children and 68 families were a part of the seedlings camp this year. Our transitional little seedlings program for 2-3 year olds and their grownups returned in the fall of 2021, serving 28 children and 27 families. We started to reintegrate a crucial aspect of our philosophy: learning within community. In the comfort of the shire nature playscape, our outdoor baby and toddler classroom, grown-ups received ongoing mentorship and support while children gradually developed independence. We awarded 53,854 in partial scholarships, providing critical assistance to 19 children and 17 families. We received the generous support of 164 volunteers, the time they donated totaling 4,775 hours. We expanded our newest program, the sunflower bridge journey, to serve a total of 63 families over 96 sessions. Caregivers in the program took part in powerful discussions, received personalized guidance, and built meaningful relationships with other families in our community. We created sunflower bridge to help caregivers overcome isolation and discover that special kind of support only found in truly open-hearted community experiences. We saw real, lasting connections form between families. We held 8 grownups-only dinner parties for caregivers who completed the bridge journey together. One graduate of the program said, "the journey gave me the nonjudgmental space to do some self-assessment, raise my self-awareness and create a foundation that has contributed to growth in many areas of my life as well as helping me to more genuinely and presently connect with my son and family." this year we were able to bring our in-person build & play program back. We named michele service as director and monica ortiz as assistant director. We hired more play counselors and, through our partnership with achievement centers for children and families, expanded to 4 sites and 6 sessions per week, serving over 500 children thank you to the children's services council of palm beach county (cscpbc) for generously supporting us as we recovered from the financial impacts of covid-19, allowing us to expand our programs to serve even more families. Through cscpbc, we also met many other nonprofit leaders dedicated to children in our county, expanding our understanding of current challenges. As part of our capacity building focus, funded by a cscpbc grant, our board is working with fau small business development center consultants who are guiding us as we plan for the future. We received 20,000 for capacity building and 30,000 to grow our build & play program from cscpbc's great ideas initiative capacity building pipeline program. Additionally, of 25,000 awarded from csc supports for recovery (funds meant to facilitate child care covid effects recovery), we allocated 10,000 to our scholarship fund and other funds to facility repairs. We are incredibly grateful to the early learning coalition of palm beach county for keeping us informed of some wonderful grant opportunities tha”