Founded by Jack and Ruth Eckerd in 1968, Eckerd Connects has built a legacy of empowering individuals to overcome barriers and unlock their potential. Starting with therapeutic wilderness camps that provided transformative experiences for youth, Eckerd Connects adapted over time, evolving into a community-based organization with a national impact.
Today, this legacy continues through our work with families, children, youth, and adults in workforce development, operations of Job Corps campuses, and family support services. Through these initiatives, Eckerd Connects has empowered more than 376,000 individuals over the last 56 years to realize their potential.
Eckerd Connects is proud to be a trusted partner in workforce development, education, and social impact. We collaborate with organizations that share our mission of expanding opportunities for youth and adults, including the National Job Corps Association (NJCA), the National Association of Workforce Development Professionals (NAWDP), the U.S. Department of Labor, and the National Youth Employment Coalition (NYEC). These partnerships help us advocate for policy improvements, enhance program delivery, and expand career pathways that lead to long-term success. Through these alliances, we remain at the forefront of workforce innovation, youth development, and economic mobility.
Eckerd Connects was founded by Jack and Ruth based on their faith in God and genuine respect for all. That love and passion propelled the Eckerd’s devotion to ensure every person is empowered to find their potential and achieve success. As philanthropic visionaries, their vision, leadership, and dedication continues today!
“We founded Eckerd Connects with one goal: to create a mission-driven organization dedicated to empowering those who need it most. From the beginning, our vision was to build a place where individuals, regardless of their background or circumstances, could find hope, opportunity, and the tools to succeed. We believed that by offering guidance, support, and access to education and skills training, we could help people transform their lives and reach their fullest potential.”
Jack and Ruth Eckerd opened Florida's first outdoor therapeutic program for boys.
The Jack and Ruth Eckerd Foundation is officially formed.
Following the growing popularity of the boys’ program, the Eckerds open a therapeutic program for girls—the first in the southeastern United States.
Taking note of the program’s success, Governor Jim Hunt asks the Eckerds to expand their residential services to North Carolina.
Residential services expand to New England, the beginning of our organization's growing national impact.
Inspired by the change taking place in the lives of youth attending the residential programs, we opened our first juvenile justice program.
The organization changes its name to Eckerd Family Youth Alternatives and launches juvenile justice after-care services in Florida.
Recognizing the need for proactive help in addition to recovery, the organization begins school-based prevention services in Florida.
The organization becomes Eckerd Youth Alternatives, Inc.
The organization expands its community-based juvenile justice services to Louisiana.
The organization expands its community-based juvenile justice services to Texas.
Eckerd Youth Alternatives becomes the lead agency for community- based child welfare services in Florida’s Pinellas and Pasco counties.
Committed to strengthening healthy families, the organization begins first family preservation and parenting education services in North Carolina.
The organization expands family preservation services to Iowa.
Eckerd Youth Alternatives partners with North Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to transition a wilderness camping model to new short-term juvenile justice residential services for youth.
By winning the community-based child welfare lead agency contract in Florida’s Hillsborough County, Eckerd Community Alternatives becomes responsible for the safety, well-being and permanency of more than 5,000 of Tampa Bay’s most vulnerable children in Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties.
The organization expands child welfare services to Oklahoma.
Eckerd Youth Alternatives partners with Florida Department of Juvenile Justice to transition community-based services to a new model called “Project Bridge.”
Eckerd Youth Alternatives and CARING for Children announce their affiliation, a powerful merging of two nonprofits in North Carolina.
Eckerd Youth Alternatives takes over the Early Head Start Tampa Child Care Partnership, serving kids 0-3 years of age and providing high quality, comprehensive care and support services to infants, toddlers, and their families.
Eckerd Youth Alternatives and Paxen announce their affiliation, expanding the organization's reach to a total of eleven states plus Washington, D.C.
With an expanding list of service areas, the organization rebrands to “Eckerd Connects." The name change reflects the organization’s commitment to helping people in the areas they need it most: child welfare, workforce development, and juvenile justice.
In February of 2020, Odle merged with Eckerd Connects to combine strengths, increasing our impact for the young adults we serve and expand our workforce services to include Job Corps Centers. Under the terms of the merger, Odle will remain a separate organization and a wholly owned subsidiary of Eckerd Connects.