Hurricane Ian made landfall in September 2022. The winds eventually stopped. The floodwaters receded. But for thousands of Sarasota County families with young children, the storm didn't end there. Before the region had fully caught its breath, Hurricanes Debby, Helene, and Milton tore through in the fall of 2024. This relentless sequence left families, educators, and our littlest learners absorbing wave after wave of disruption with no real window to recover in between. Today, this quiet weight is still being carried in child care classrooms in our hometown. That’s exactly why the Early Learning Coalition of Sarasota County (ELC) and the Sarasota Performing Arts Foundation are joining forces this fall to launch Mindful Recovery: An Arts Integration Approach for Early Learning. The $350,000 program, funded through the ELC’s Hurricane Ian Impact Disaster Grant, will reach up to 60 early learning sites and 260 classrooms in total.  Learn more at elcsarasota.org and PerformingArtsFoundation.org