Meaningful progress starts with listening. Our region is complex and growing, and the best way to understand what’s working and where we have opportunities to improve is to hear directly from the people who call it home. That is why we reimagined our most recent Regional Scan, conducting the largest community listening effort in Gulf Coast Community Foundation’s 30-year history. More than 1,500 of our neighbors from across Sarasota, Charlotte, and DeSoto counties shared their perspectives through a region-wide survey and a series of group discussions, representing a more than 700% increase in participation compared to 2023. The Scan was developed collaboratively with our partners to ensure the insights gathered would be meaningful and actionable for organizations and individuals in all three counties. The results offer a clear, candid picture of what residents across our region are experiencing and prioritizing today.

Of everything we heard, empathy emerged as the defining theme. Residents consistently identified community priorities not just based on personal circumstances, but also on concern for their neighbors and the long-term well-being of the region. I find that both encouraging and instructive.

The top priority in the Scan, affordable housing, is the clearest example. Fifty-seven percent of residents identify it as a community concern, yet only about a quarter say it directly affects them. That gap matters to me. It shows that people are paying attention to how housing instability affects teachers, service workers, families, and older adults, and they understand that a stable, thriving community depends on everyone having a safe, affordable place to live.

This same sense of shared responsibility shows up in the other top two priorities residents named. Thirty-six percent pointed to protecting our natural environment, shaped by real experiences with flooding, red tide, and habitat loss. Thirty-two percent cited helping people in times of crisis, including homelessness, food insecurity, and disaster recovery. What stands out to me across all three priorities is that residents aren't just identifying what affects them personally. They're thinking about their neighbors and the kind of community they want ours to be. That’s a powerful signal of who we are as a community.

The results revealed an important truth we can’t ignore. Nearly half of residents say they don’t always feel a sense of belonging in their community, and among those, four in ten feel that local government doesn’t listen to them. Those are significant numbers, and they deserve to be taken seriously as we think about how we show up as a region.

One group stood out for having a distinct set of priorities: working families with children. While affordable housing was still their top concern, improving public schools and access to affordable childcare ranked close behind. Nearly every caregiver who participated said childcare costs too much, and many described making real tradeoffs around work and family just to get by. It's a reminder that affordability doesn't begin and end with housing. When families are stretched thin, that stress touches everything: their kids, their jobs, their neighbors, and ultimately the health of the whole community.

This scan doesn't belong to Gulf Coast Community Foundation. It belongs to our region at large. It was built with community at the core, and our hope is that organizations, leaders, businesses, and individuals across Sarasota, Charlotte, and DeSoto counties will use it to inform their own priorities and decisions. The more voices that act on what residents have shared, the greater the impact will be. For those ready to take action right now, our Sarasota Housing Action Plan and Water Quality Playbook are two concrete resources already in motion, built around priorities this community has named.

I hope you'll read the full report at gulfcoastcf.org/readytoact. And if it sparks something for you, whether that's a question, an idea, or a desire to get involved, I hope you'll reach out. This work belongs to all of us.

Phillip Lanham is the President and CEO of Gulf Coast Community Foundation.