Catherine E Patla Community Awareness Grant
$5,000-$15,000 — multiple grants may be awarded
Catherine E. Patla established the Catherine E. Patla Community Awareness Grant through a generous contribution to the Florida Physical Therapy Association (FPTA). The Grant is administered as a commitment to assisting Florida physical therapists and physical therapist assistants in their relations with the public and patients through community awareness of the physical therapy profession.
Please note, the mission of this grant is to support Community based projects that increase awareness of the Physical Therapy profession. This grant does NOT support traditional research studies that focus on the scholarship of discovery (i.e. new knowledge).
Review of Process:
Members of the FPTA Pubic Relations Committee (Ex-officio Catherine Patla) shall be the initial independent reviewers of all proposals and will determine if the submission meets the criteria for community awareness.
Criteria will be based on the following:
- Significance of the project covering any area of PT intervention, e.g., sports, medical disease specific, prevention, provider interdisciplinary care coordination
- No age group specific –Physical therapists significantly improve mobility to perform daily activities
- Project must be able to be presented at the FPTA Annual Conference following the year of the award; FPTA will be granted authority by the winning program to use outcomes for future marketing of the profession through its communications mediums; the program may be videoed for dissemination to the public demonstrating the value of physical therapy, physical therapists or physical therapist assistants.
- Projects must demonstrate Quality or Quantity outcome, e.g., outcome data should be acquired to identify population/peer acceptance/use
- Quality of the project design
- Potential for successful completion (within year of grant award)
- Appropriateness of budget (funds are restricted to project – funds may not be used for administrative overhead)
Application for Submission:
- Title page: Title, name of program director(s), address, phone, email of principal director
- Brief Description of Program – (300 words)
- Purpose: Purpose of the program, target population, description of PT/PTA objectives – delivery systems (telemedicine, face – face interviews, strategies to change the health related behavior (diet, cognitive therapy, exercise, development of new habits), treatment strategies, prevention strategies, diagnostic strategies
- Time Table for completion of program stages (project periods are clearly outlined and reasonable for completion)
- Budget: Itemized table listing expenses & narrative budget justifying expenses – resources required
- Identify additional community partners
Award of Grant:
The Catherine E Patla Community Awareness Grant shall be awarded at the FPTA Annual Conference.
Grant Range: $5,000 – $15,000 (multiple grants can be awarded in the same grant year)
Deadline & Submission:
A completed proposal must be submitted electronically to Michelle Higdon at mhigdon@fpta.org Deadline: July 1, 2026.
2025 Grant Recipients:
Little Steps, Big Strides: A Pediatric Pro Bono Clinic
Bryn Hager, PT
Be Strong Therapy’s Cancer Rehabilitation Awareness
Megan Bradley, PT; Kelly Uranino, PT; and Amber Swords, PT
