Reading Recovery Continues to Shine in Sarasota Schools
The results are in: Reading Recovery in Sarasota County Schools has outpaced the national average of success for this widely implemented literacy intervention f...
Social Media Expert Shares “Future of Marketing” with Region’s Nonprofits
On October 17, Gulf Coast Community Foundation presented “The Future of #Marketing,” a half-day seminar for nonprofit organizations led by social-media marketing expert and author Carlos Gil. It was this year’s signature event for Gulf Coast’s nonprofit capacity-building initiative, Invest in Incredible.
Girls Join Gulf Coast Staff for Hike of a (Young) Lifetime
Imagine being born and raised in Florida and never seeing an alligator? It’s probably more common than you realize, but one young Sarasota girl recently spotted...
Donor’s Legacy Continues to Empower Women in Charlotte
Gulf Coast Community Foundation’s Board of Directors recently approved three grants totaling $67,000 from the Miriam P. Raines Charitable Fund, an endowment cre...
Preventing homeless youth—one family at a time
We can all agree that every child deserves a home. Yet as many as 1,000 students in the Sarasota County public school system are identified as homeless each year. Let that sink in. In a school district with roughly 43,000 students, one in 43 is homeless.
HOT Teams Help Homeless Find Path to Housing
The City of Sarasota’s Homeless Outreach Team, or “HOT team,” works day in and day out to offer assistance to homeless individuals. Staffed by Sarasota Police Department law-enforcement officers and civilian case workers, the City’s HOT team meets individuals in need of housing where they are—geographically, psychologically, and emotionally. Homelessness is unlikely to ever be eradicated. But since our community began working together to transform Sarasota’s homeless crisis response system, we have remained focused on making the experience of homelessness here rare, brief, and nonrecurring.
The Academy: Part of the Solution on Mental Health
The Academy serves an unmet need in Sarasota County, helping individuals with mental illness recover and reintegrate into the community through employment. The niche training facility offers members opportunities in three vocational areas: culinary arts and hospitality services, graphic arts and design, and community relations. When they’re ready, members are able to pursue some of the careers in high demand in our region.
Youth Advocacy Team helps young people overcome homelessness
It’s no secret that Sarasota County lacks affordable housing. But did you know that as of April 2019, the average price to rent an apartment in Sarasota was $1,293? That’s up 18.5% from just a year prior. At that rate, it’s difficult to draw young adults and keep local youth here when the entry-level jobs available to them fall far under that price tag. Imagine trying to navigate that coming from an inconsistent living situation or from being homeless.
Foundation Funds “Engineering Innovators” Stipends for Summer Internships
An impressive 41 University of Florida engineering students recently completed intensive summer internships at a diverse group of Sarasota and Manatee County employers. To help ensure successful, high-impact work experiences in the region, nearly half of the interns received $3,000 stipends funded by Gulf Coast Community Foundation.