SRQ DAILY Oct 15, 2022
Saturday Perspectives Edition
"Together, we are stronger. "
It has been over two weeks since Hurricane Ian devastated hundreds of square miles throughout our Gulf Coast region. The pain and scars are everywhere you look in southern Sarasota County, including Venice, hard-hit North Port, Englewood, Charlotte County, Lee County and DeSoto County. There are still flooded streets, torn down signs and destroyed homes. Families have lost everything and businesses we once frequented will take months, maybe years to rebuild.
At Gulf Coast Community Foundation, we heard the call for help and responded quickly. So far, in just a short week, we have provided grants totaling over $483,000 to multiple nonprofits and churches who are providing life-sustaining help to our families and elderly. And this is only the beginning.
Our first grant was awarded to All Faiths Food Bank. The $50,000 grant will support hunger relief efforts in south Sarasota County and Charlotte County.
A $10,000 grant to Lift Church in Venice is providing food and shelter to community members, linemen and first responders.
We heard from one grant recipient, Tidewell Foundation, that despite the enormity of their own disruption to homes and lives, their colleagues still showed up heroically to take care of patients. One nurse whose home flooded slept in her car and showed up with nothing more than the clothes on her back and shoes on her feet to care for her patients who needed her. We thank the dozens of organizations who are helping the victims of this horrific storm.
Nonprofit organizations serving Venice and its surrounding communities can easily request funds to assist with their disaster relief efforts here.
To help these nonprofits, please donate through our Hurricane Ian Disaster Relief Fund to provide hyper-local, rapid response assistance to those who suffered the most devastation. We have received contributions from across the nation and throughout our region. Our donors have been extremely generous. We are most grateful that nearly half a million dollars in donations has been received in just a few days.
Our bold Board of Directors has provided initially up to $800,000 that will be fully matched by our donors and community. 100% of our Hurricane Ian Disaster Relief Fund will go directly to support our communities. No fees. No overhead. We are prioritizing immediate humanitarian and health and human services needs in the hardest hit areas.
Our team at Gulf Coast Community Foundation is still answering the call for help. We continue to provide financial support to nonprofits who are providing food, housing, clothing, and medical assistance. We hope that you will join us as we begin the recovery and rebuilding processes.
Together, we are stronger.
Mark Pritchett is President and CEO of Gulf Coast Community Foundation. 
Photo courtesy Lift Church Venice.
Our attainable housing situation was a crisis before COVID and before Hurricane Ian. The mass migration to Florida from COVID remote work opportunities, and now the Hurricane, has intensified our attainable housing crisis immensely. The entire county needs to pay attention to this, but especially the Sarasota City Commission who will be contemplating changes to incentivize the building of attainable housing.
Many of those who serve the city as police officers, nurses, teachers in city schools and first responders have been forced to live in the southern part of the county and commute to Sarasota. A large number live in North Port and Englewood. These are the same people who have lost their homes temporarily, and some permanently, to Ian’s destruction. Housing was already at a premium, but now those who were living on the edge of homelessness, are actually homeless now and looking for a place to live, driving demand up further.
This problem is compounded by the fact that Hurricane Ian crossed the State of Florida and even exited the state with hurricane gusts, leaving a swath of wind and flooding destruction from one coast to the other. The City of Sarasota is not the only municipality facing this problem; this makes this disaster-related housing demand surge a state-wide dilemma. Workers driving further away from the area for housing will not solve this problem, they won’t be able to find it.
Axios recently wrote about affordable housing and disasters in the wake of Hurricane Ian in an Oct. 5 article. The author demonstrated how disasters diminish the amount of affordable housing and many are compelled to leave because they can’t afford to live in the area. Unfortunately, according to Axios, the most sluggish category of housing to rebuild is rental.
On Monday, the City Commission will be voting on the second reading of ordinances amending the City Comprehensive Plan to adopt policies to make it easier to build attainable housing in the City of Sarasota. They heard the pleas of young professionals at the first reading, and to their credit, commissioners recognized on the record that many in the workforce could not attend as they were working their jobs to provide housing for their families. That first reading was also before the devastation of Ian.
This second reading is now even more important for the future of the City of Sarasota and the future of the workforce that supports it. The attainable housing crisis has worsened considerably for the city in a matter of weeks. While these votes will not wave a magic wand and fix it immediately, it will put the city on a path to developing specific tools to encourage the building of attainable housing.
The Argus Foundation supported the changes to the City of Sarasota Comprehensive Plan prior to the Hurricane. We continue to support these changes to help our workforce. We need it now more than ever.
Christine Robinson is executive director of The Argus Foundation.
Graphic courtesy City of Sarasota: "Missing Middle" overlay district.
Join The Players in their 93rd Season with Six That Matter – shows that explore finding purpose, the universal desire to live a life that matters, to fully appreciate aspiration. Be it finding true love, sacrificing it all, a life of devotion, cultivating artistry, finding fame, each of these unforgettable shows- important in their own genres, are celebrations of greatness, of striving for more, that will make memories, sparking feelings of joy- of what being alive fully means. Little Shop of Horror will feed the need for musical hilarity with this delicious sci-fi smash about a man who seeks fame at the cost of his morals with the help of a man-eating plant. A deviously delicious Broadway and Hollywood sci-fi smash musical, this musical has devoured the hearts of theatregoers for over 30 years. Howard Ashman and Alan Menken (Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Beauty and The Beast, and Aladdin) are the creative geniuses behind what has become one of the most popular shows in the world. October 6-16, 2022. For tickets visit theplayers.org, Ph. 941-365-2494, email BoxOffice@ThePlayers.org
The Players Centre For Performing Arts, Performance Venue & Box Office The Crossings at Siesta Key 3501 South Tamiami Trail, Suite 1130 Sarasota, FL 34239
Voices - Rising Choreographers. October 13th-16th 2022. Opening Sarasota Contemporary Dance’s 17th Season is Voices – Rising Choreographers, this program presents rising voices who were selected by adjudication from SCD's Summer Intensive Programs, chosen by Artistic Director Leymis Bolaños Wilmott. This years range of work presented reinforces SCD spirit of nurturing artists in various stages of their career. From emerging to mid-career, these contemporary voices matter, and we aim to provide a performance platform that EMPOWERS these choreographers. Performance Location: Jane B. Cook Theater 5555 N Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, FL 34243 Contact: info@sarasotacontemporarydance.org - 941.260.8485 - www.sarasotacontemporarydance.org
The Sarasota Ballet is excited to announce the Company’s 2022 – 2023 Season. Over seven programs, The Sarasota Ballet will perform 15 works by some of the most celebrated and prestigious choreographers and composers of the ballet world. Program 1 - Premieres. October 21-23, 2022 at the FSU Center for Performing Arts. Featuring: World Premiere - Choreography by Ricardo Graziano, Music to be announced. World Premiere - Choreography by Gemma Bond, Music to be announced. World Premiere - Choreography by Richard House, Music to be announced. For more information visit www.sarasotaballet.org, Ph. 941.359.0099
The Sarasota Ballet , FSU Center for the Performing Arts 5555 North Tamiami Trail Sarasota, FL 34243
Siblings Mordy and Jane have a problem. Their dreadful, centenarian grandfather is an emotional and financial tax on the family, and he just won’t die. Scheming almost entirely via sarcastic and misspelled text messages, the siblings hatch an outrageous plan to relieve their family of their grandfather’s burden. Zany, twisted and inventive, this dark comedy reminds us it’s much easier to write what we could never say face to face. LOCATION 1487 2nd Street Sarasota FL, 34236 CONTACT (941) 321-1397 info@urbanitetheatre.com www.urbanitetheatre.com
Urbanite Theatre , 1487 2nd Street Sarasota FL, 34236
Brooklyn’s Los Hacheros light up a full Gulf Coast evening of dance and celebration in the Museum of Art Courtyard. Their sound is irresistible and authentic with plenty of fiery, Puerto Rican Bomba. A band of only 7 musicians, Los Hacheros can sound like a conjunto of 12. Admission includes an introductory Salsa dance lesson with Kery and Dario of DK Dance and pre and post show dance music with Miami’s DJ Le Spam. Food and beverages available for purchase. General admission $35 VIP admission $100 Tickets are limited. Oct 22 7:30pm and Oct 22 8:00pm. For more info Ph. 941-359-5700, Located in the Museum of Art Courtyard, www.ringling.org
The Ringling , 5401 Bay Shore Road Sarasota, FL 34243
The annual Stuff The Bus event, which was started in 2009, was created through the kind hearts of the School District of Manatee County Transportation Staff. They wanted to give back to the community and knew of “Stuff the Bus” events in other cities and suggested placing one school bus in front of one Publix store in Manatee County. The leadership of Publix thought it was a great idea and requested a bus at every Publix store in Manatee County. Since 2009, nearly 1.1 million pounds of food has been donated through the Stuff The Bus food drive. Since the first Stuff the Bus event thirteen years ago, this event has evolved to include many Community Partners, including: United Way Suncoast, Publix, Herald-Tribune, the School District of Manatee County, and of course, the Transportation Staff of the School District. We are thrilled to have Mosaic as our presenting sponsor this year. All proceeds and donated food will benefit The Food Bank of Manatee, a PLUS program of Meals on Wheels PLUS. Please stop by your local Publix in Manatee County to support this event. Goal: Raise 150,000 pounds of food to feed Manatee County residents! All Manatee County Publix Locations.
Meals on Wheels PLUS
A Tony Award winner for Best Musical, Guys and Dolls tells the story of New York City gambler Nathan Detroit, who dreams of setting up a big dice game while avoiding the authorities—and marriage to his longtime fiancée. Meanwhile, fellow gambler Sky Masterson ends up wooing a strait-laced missionary in a scheme to fund the game. WBTT will add its own special twist to this crowd-pleasing show! Performances run October 5th-November 20th, 2022. For more information visit westcoastblacktheatre.org, Ph. 941-366-1505, Box Office questions email boxoffice@westcoastblacktheatre.org
The Donelly Theatre , 1012 N. Orange Ave Sarasota, FL 34236
Sarasota Film Society is proud to present "Movies For Heroes", a year long Salute to our Military. Active, Non-Active, Retired Personnel & their family are welcomed to join us once a month at 11am at Burns Court & Lakewood Ranch Cinemas starting in January of 2022 for a year of free movie screenings. 10% of the concession sales from these screenings will go to Wounded Warrior Project. Space is limited, reserve your tickets today. Location Burns Court Cinemas 506 Burns Court Sarasota, FL 34236.
506 Burns Court Sarasota, FL 34236
SRQ DAILY is produced by SRQ | The Magazine. Note: The views and opinions expressed in the Saturday Perspectives Edition and in the Letters department of SRQ DAILY are those of the author(s) and do not imply endorsement by SRQ Media. Senior Editor Jacob Ogles edits the Saturday Perspective Edition, Letters and Guest Contributor columns.In the CocoTele department, SRQ DAILY is providing excerpts from news releases as a public service. Reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by SRQ DAILY. The views expressed by individuals are their own and their appearance in this section does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent. For rates on SRQ DAILY banner advertising and sponsored content opportunities, please contact Ashley Ryan Cannon at 941-365-7702 x211 or via email |
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