Newsletter 251

NEWS FROM THE SUNCOAST …..

BENDERSON PROPOSAL THE FOCUS

They say the wheels of government turn slowly. Well, for those who oppose the recent efforts from Benderson Development to build a hotel on Siesta Key, a speeding locomotive may instead come to mind. Less than two months after it informed Sarasota County of its desire to construct an 85-foot, 147-room hotel upon 0.97 acres of land it owns at 5221 and 5239 Ocean Blvd. in the Village, the company on Nov. 28 received a 3-1 vote by county commissioners (with Siesta Key’s Mark Smith opposing) to pursue its process request for an amendment to the county’s comprehensive plan to allow unlimited density. All this, just a couple months after an August ruling by a county judge that said the commissioners violated their own policies in previously allowing unlimited density when approving three large hotels between the fall of 2021 and the fall of 2022. That ruling said no hotel can be taller than 35 feet or have more than 26 rooms per acre (recalculated by the judge to 36) as set forth in 1989. That amendment request by Benderson was selected exclusively in favor of two others submitted to the commission – one by Dave Balot, who in 2022 was approved for a six-story, 112-room hotel on 2.15 acres at 5810 Midnight Pass Rd. (he’s calling for 52 rooms per acre on a minimum of 1 acre) and the Siesta Key Chamber of Commerce (which is calling for 52 rooms per acre and a maximum of 75 rooms, no taller than 35 feet if in a residential area and 45 feet in a commercial area). Just days after the county’s selection, Benderson scheduled a Dec. 21 virtual neighborhood workshop – the first county-mandated step in the process for potential approval. A presentation to the county’s planning commission for a possible recommendation, and then a final commission vote, would be the other two steps where public input is heard. That workshop was postponed until Jan. 8 because Benderson did not meet the required public notice guidelines.

“This is just the early stages of the process but public records show that the development process is going through pretty quickly,” said Siesta Key resident Lourdes Ramirez, whose lawsuits against the commissioners were victorious at both the state level – with a ruling in April by a Division of Administrative Hearings judge – and then with the county ruling in the 12th Judicial Circuit Court from Hunter Carroll in August that put an end, for now, to any hotel development orders.

Regarding Benderson’s attempt for a quick workshop, she added: “It is not surprising yet unfortunate that Benderson Development decided to hold a public workshop on proposed changes to the comprehensive plan and their planned mega-size hotel for Siesta Key on the Thursday before Christmas week. Most people will not be able to attend this Zoom workshop due to travel for the holidays.”

Meanwhile, some Siesta Key community leaders began to regroup on strategy during a Dec. 7 meeting of the Siesta Key Association civic group. “I am appalled at what Benderson is doing,” said Balot, a resident of the Key, who added that he was told that some would-be developers were “upset with me because I have the largest undeveloped land on Siesta Key, and set the bar too low at 52 rooms per acre” with his comp plan amendment proposal. For more on this story, courtesy of Siesta Sand, please click here: Benderson Proposal

SIESTA KEY MEGAHOTELS

This is edit of an Op-Ed recently published in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune from columnist Carrie Seidman.

Last week, Benderson held the required “neighborhood workshop,” meant to inform affected parties about their plans. In keeping with the county commission’s decision in June to allow developers to continue hosting these sessions online rather than in person (as was the pre-pandemic practice), the workshop was held on Zoom and participants were required to register in advance to receive a link that was not shareable with anyone else. (To my knowledge, no developer has offered an in-person workshop since the commission rendered that decision.) I’m not sure I’ve ever had quite as dehumanizing an experience as participating in this community outreach charade. At no point during the two-hour-plus presentation was any human visible on the screen – not the agents for Benderson (Philip DiMaria of Kimley-Horn and Bill Merrill of the Icard Merrill law firm), nor any of the community members. The Zoom function that allows participants to be seen and counted was apparently disabled. The meeting began with Di Maria’s disembodied voice rushing through a dry read of the complex proposal for the hotel and the plan changes (with no explanation of a plethora of acronyms) and presenting a less-than-discernable illustration of the site plan. Unless you were well-informed and had done previous homework, it’s unlikely you’d have understood any of the particulars. (I had, and I didn’t.) The majority of the session was devoted to questions from citizen participants, who were also not visible. (In an ironic twist, because some of the normal Zoom functions, such as the “mute” release tab, were not visible, some had difficulty figuring out how to make themselves heard – literally.) The questions were predictable: What about traffic – already an issue coming on and off a 2.34-square-mile barrier island that has just two bridges and one two-lane road down its center? What about parking? (Already at a premium.) Where will guests go to the beach? (Only 20% of Siesta Key’s beaches are public.) How is this structure compatible with the one-to-two-story buildings nearby? How would the hotel impact evacuation in a hurricane? (The proposed amendment offers unspecified “mitigation” to insure “resident” evacuation times will not be increased but says nothing about hotel guests’ evacuation.) What would the impact be of adding up to 200 guests (and nearly as many employees) to a barrier island that already has three times the density of the rest of the county? As participants stared at an unchanging blue screen that said “Questions? Thank You for Your Attendance,” the applicant agents’ answers were more often than not limited to two: “That has not yet been determined” or “Thank you for your comment.” (i.e., “I’m not going to respond to that.”) When someone finally asked in exasperation for the moderators to simply share how this hotel would enhance residents’ quality of life, they were told it would “increase the tax base.”  Those who don’t live on Siesta Key – or, like me, avoid going there despite its charms, due to the previously mentioned obstacles – may think this has nothing to do with them. But if you are a resident of Sarasota County, even one that never sets foot on the beach, there’s a reason you should care about the changes Benderson is proposing. Why? Because their passage would not just allow the developer to build a megahotel in the middle of Siesta Key Village. These amendments would be applicable countywide, setting a precedent nearly impossible to counter and opening up opportunities for similar high-density “transient accommodations” throughout the county. In other words, your neighborhood could be next. Ramirez is once again gathering forces to preserve the protective clauses in the Comprehensive Plan established almost 35 years ago. She recently admitted to the Herald-Tribune’s Jesse Mendoza, “We have a big challenge ahead of us.” And since a neighborhood workshop is clearly not the ideal place to make your voice heard, you may want to join forces with her supporters by lending your time, expertise or money to continuing the fight on the legal level. You can learn more about their efforts (and, if you wish, make a donation to the legal fund) at Siesta Key Community . Neighborhood leaders and community activists from throughout the county are also invited to register to attend a meeting next Wednesday, Jan. 17 at 6 p.m. at the Gulfgate Library that will address major development threats not only on Siesta Key, but in Old Miakka and at the Celery Fields. To read more, courtesy of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, please click here: Mega Hotels On Siesta Key

TWO RECORDS SET IN SWFL IN 2023

Last year was the driest on record for the Sarasota-Bradenton area, with a rainfall deficit of almost 2 feet, according to preliminary data from the National Weather Service in Ruskin. It was also at the top for the warmest years on record, with data going back to 1911. A total of 27.13 inches of rain fell at the weather station at the Sarasota Bradenton International Airport in 2023, compared with normal total of 49.05 inches. The previous record was 29.45 inches in 1944, and it marked the lowest accumulation since 33.23 inches fell in 2009. The figure could have been even lower had it note been for Hurricane Idalia dropping more than 2 inches of rain in August and December’s total of 3.6 inches, about 1 inch more than typical for the month. Rainfall totals in eastern Sarasota and Manatee counties were even lower than along the coast. Meanwhile, the average temperature for the year was 76.3 degrees for Sarasota-Bradenton, according to a weather service news release. That tied with 2020 for the warmest on record, and was a fraction higher than the 76.2 degrees for 2019. The weather service records show 11 of the 13 warmest years on record for Sarasota-Bradenton have been set since 2007. The only exceptions for the warmest years outside that timeframe are 1990 and 1994. There’s more on this story here: Two Records Set In SWFL

LWR SEES HOME SALES RISE 22%

Lakewood Ranch had another strong year for home sales, ranking as the No. 1 multigenerational master-planned community in the country in 2023, according to an annual list by RCLCO Real Estate Consulting. The Villages — an age-restricted community in Sumter, Lake and Marion counties in central Florida — again topped all master-planned communities in the country with 3,029 sales, a 23% decline from 2022 figures. Lakewood Ranch reported 2,257 sales in 2023, an increase of 22% from the pace set in 2022. When counting age-restricted communities, Lakewood Ranch was second on the list. This is the sixth year in a row that Lakewood Ranch ranked as the top multi-generational community in the country, according to the news release. Lakewood Ranch is a community on about 33,000 acres in east Manatee and Sarasota counties with about 66,000 residents. Laura Cole, senior vice president at Lakewood Ranch, attributed some of the community’s 2023 success to how builders had implemented initiatives to attract buyers with incentives that resulted in lower mortgage rates, accelerated home builds and the lower insurance costs attributed to new construction. Cole also noted a 37% increase of new home sales that came from buyers already renting in either Sarasota or Manatee counties.

“Many of these sales were attributed to renters seeking permanent residency after experiencing limited choices during the pandemic,” Cole said. “Other local sales came from buyers who experienced a life change, precipitating the desire or need for a new home in our community.” Two other local master-planned communities also ranked among the top 10, according to the list produced by RCLCO. Babcock Ranch, southeast of Punta Gorda in Charlotte County, ranked as the seventh-best selling community in the nation with 945 sales in 2023, 1% higher than its 2022 figure. That community has recently been featured in national publications after its solar powered community experienced minimal impact from Hurricane Ian’s devastation in 2022. Wellen Park in south Sarasota County, ranked ninth at 887 sales, but had the highest growth rate at 23%. Please follow the jump for more on this story: LWR Home Sales Rise 22%

EX-PLAYBOY PRESIDENT LISTS RETREAT

A Siesta Key property owned by the former president of Playboy Entertainment has been listed for sale for $19.95 million. The owner, Randy Nicolau, bought the site in 2018 for $2.5 million, according to Sarasota County property records. The home was a personal retreat, but the entrepreneur demolished it in 2022 and appears ready to capitalize on the rapid rise in Sarasota real estate value. Construction is expected to wrap up at 5151 Jungle Plum Road in Siesta Key’s Hidden Harbor community for what is described in marketing materials as an “exquisite waterfront property.” Nicolau was the president of Playboy Entertainment from 2001 to 2005. After his stint at Playboy, the Harvard University graduate founded two successful companies, including most recently Poppin, which was acquired by Kimball International in 2020. The eye-catching nearly $20 million price tag for the property ranks among the most expensive in the region, just below a $22 million listing at 3799 Flamingo Ave. on the north end of Siesta Key and a $21 million listing at 8250 Sanderling Road. But both are well behind the $33.8 million listing that hit the market in September for a newly constructed home in the Harbor Acres neighborhood. While the Sarasota real estate market has seen some moderation in prices, closed sales are well behind last year, though a luxury property sold in 2023 on Lido Key for nearly $14 million. Joel Schemmel, a Realtor with Premier Sotheby’s International Realty’s Downtown Sarasota office, listed the property on Jungle Plum Road for sale. When completed, the residence will total 8,165-square with six bedrooms and six bathrooms. The boat dock has water deep enough for yachts, according to the listing. There’s more on this story here: Ex-Playboy President Lists Retreat

HOME PRICES FLAT IN 2023 BUT COULD RISE IN ’24

After back-to-back double-digit yearly growth coming out of the pandemic, real estate prices in Sarasota-Manatee will round out the year mostly flat. The most recent statistics available from the Realtors Association of Sarasota and Manatee reported the median single-family home sold for $495,000 in November while the median in 2022 was $500,000, a decrease of 1%. On the year, prices remain up 1% even though the number of homes for sale has climbed by more than 1,300 active listings, with about 4,800 single-family homes currently for sale in the two-county region. The number of single-family homes for sale at the end of 2021 sat at just 1,024, according to RASM statistics. One of the bedrock principles in economics is that as supply increases price should go down, as long as demand remains the same. The Sarasota-Manatee housing market has not reacted as economic textbooks would predict. The stickiness of home prices comes even as the Federal Reserve has raised interest rates 11 times since March 2022, with mortgage rates near 8% last month — the highest experienced by homebuyers in about 20 years. Rising interest rates should also decrease demand, lowering prices as the cost to borrow money increases. But that doesn’t appear to be the case in the local real estate market either, according to statistics maintained by RASM. The RASM statistics show that through the first 11 months of 2023, closed sales are up 0.5%, indicating a slight uptick in demand compared to 2022. Robert Goldman, a local Realtor with Michael Saunders & Company, said the 2021 and 2022 real estate markets were fueled by a once-in-a-lifetime event, pointing to COVID lockdowns across the country as well as the many people who accelerated retirement during that period of uncertainty. Goldman said the stubbornness of local pricing has a lot to do with continued demand for a growing area. “It is a remarkable thing when you consider how high (mortgage) rates went up,” he said, about 2023’s flat price increase. While the runaway home prices experienced in 2021 and 2022 seem to be over, Goldman noted that 2024 should be a good year for homeowners, given FED Chairman Jerome Powell indicated in mid-December the nation’s central bank would cut rates three times next year. Goldman said because of the elevated interest rates, there could be a lot of “pent-up demand” from buyers who were priced out of the market because of the higher rates. As rates come down, those buyers will come back to the market and prices will likely increase, he said.

“Once rates stabilize, homebuyers and sellers will adjust to the new norm and prices will begin to rise,” he said. Please click here for more: Home Prices Flat In 2023

MORE ROUNDABOUTS COMING

Like them or not, roundabouts and traffic circles have been built in increasing numbers on Sarasota and Manatee county roads in the last five years.

The changes have brought mixed feelings in commuters, many saying inexperienced and uneducated drivers are unsure of how to properly go with the traffic flow. Some commuters still see the value of roundabouts, despite difficulties with other drivers. “They definitely move the traffic more quickly,” wrote Valerie Colmery Rawlings, “but you have to be paying attention to those unfamiliar with using them.” “When you know how to use them, they’re far better than a (traffic) light,” wrote Bruce Heidke. “Traffic moves much smoother. They’re not so good for the timid.” In the last five years, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has completed eight roundabouts in Sarasota and Manatee counties, with seven more scheduled for construction in upcoming years, not counting versions built on county or developer-constructed roads. Manatee County has added 13 in the last five years, with eight more planned by the county and 10 more by local developers within the next five years. On the state highway system alone, this investment has reached roughly $75 million, funded through state funds and other taxes. Manatee County has spent $13.62 million on roundabouts, which is roughly 40% of the $35 million budget for County Traffic Signals and Roundabouts. Proposals are not always successful, though. Opposition to a roundabout on Lorraine Road and Players Drive in Lakewood Ranch prompted Manatee County Commissioners to reject that project. “A traffic circle, no matter how well it is proposed to be constructed or how much it’s going to cost, I predict there are going to be a lot of accidents,” Glenn Stringer told commissioners at the meeting in mid-November. Crashes, transportation officials concede, can still happen in a roundabout. But they tend to be less severe. They offer “great safety and operational improvements,” said Alex Adames, the Florida Department of Transportation’s Construction Engineer. “The main thing about roundabouts is the safety improvements that it brings to an intersection,” Adames said. “There’s a lot of research that has been done around (the safety) of roundabouts. We see about a 90% reduction in fatalities, about a 75% reduction in injuries with severe injuries, and 10% to 40% fewer pedestrian and bicycle crashes.” A key component of the reduction of crashes is the requirement to reduce speed when entering, and lower chances of broadside or head-on collisions. Instead, roundabout collisions are typically sideswipes, which are less damaging to the vehicle and less likely to produce severe injuries. This is one of the key components that goes into deciding where to place roundabouts, according to Adames and Manatee County Deputy Director of Public Works Clarke Davis. “One of the main driving factors behind constructing roundabouts is the safety,” Davis said. “In an area where there are known crash histories, especially (dangerous) types of crashes that can be mitigated by a roundabout, it would be looked at as an option prior to implementing a signal.” Please click on the link for more: More Roundabouts Coming

NEW SRQ AIRPORT MILESTONE

The Sarasota Bradenton International Airport had another record-breaking year in 2023 with more than 4.3 million passengers traveling through the airport. For the month of December, 406,113 passengers traveled through SRQ, a 7.5% increase compared to the 377,775 passengers in December 2022. The 12-month activity through December 2023 totaled 4,322,408 passengers, a 12% increase in passengers for the calendar year, compared to 2022’s 3,847,606 passengers. “The record-breaking growth we have seen over the past five years has been phenomenal. For 2023 we recorded over 4.3 million passengers, a 215% increase over 2018 and 3 million more passengers than the 1.3 million passengers we had just five years ago,” said airport president and CEO Frederick J. Piccolo. “The number of airlines and routes served at SRQ has also continued to grow over the last five years, expanding from six airlines to 11, and 12 nonstop destinations to 53.” Piccolo noted the airport has completed several projects to handle the growth, including expansion of a jet fuel storage facility, which tripled in size; the enlargement of the screening checkpoint by 33%; and the creation of additional parking lots. The airport is currently constructing a new concourse with five more aircraft gates, expanding the ground transportation area and adding new food and beverage concessions. There’s more on this story here: SRQ New Airport Milestone

BREEZE ON DEMAND SERVICE ATTRACTS THOUSANDS

An increasing number of Sarasota County’s public transportation riders rely on a system that looks a lot like a private ride-sharing service but with one big difference: who pays for most of the ride’s actual cost. Since the summer of 2021, the county has operated an on-demand transit service alongside its slimmed-down fixed-route bus and paratransit network. And the on-demand component is gaining traction of late, county documents show. Breeze on Demand logged more than 300,000 trips in fiscal year 2023 in its four service zones, two in South County and two in downtown Sarasota and its adjacent barrier islands. That’s up about 50,000 rides from the year before, nearly a 20% gain. In comparison, the overall Breeze system, which was rebranded from Sarasota County Area Transit in 2022, gained 5.2%, to 2.18 million trips in 2023. “We’ve had quite an increase from the launch in June of ‘21,’’ said Transit Director Jane Grogg. “Like that first month in all of our zones was about 4,800 trips. That’s in all four zones. And the last month, October of this year, we had 30,000 trips in all of our zones. So quite an increase.” Breeze on Demand operates 39 minivans and SUVs in North Port, Venice/Englewood, Siesta Key and downtown Sarasota/Lido Key/St. Armands Key/Longboat Key. For a $2 fare, riders can use a smartphone app, computer or make a telephone call to request a ride within the boundaries of each zone, often within minutes. Rides can be door to door or connect with a Breeze bus stop or transit center for onward travel. A ride isn’t always solo or nonstop, because ride requests can be bundled into a single vehicle, but the price difference when compared to Uber or Lyft can be astonishing. Breeze’s budget in 2024 will reach $40 million, about $27 million of that coming from county sources – including fares – and the remainder from transportation grants from state and federal sources, with similar spending projected into 2028’s fiscal year, county documents show. The county’s overall budget for the current fiscal year is $2 billion. Grogg said Breeze will continue fine tuning the coordination between on-demand and fixed routes and will work to market the service as a comfortable, easy-to-use system to drive costs down by adding riders. When the on-demand service was launched in 2021, she said, efforts focused on informing existing riders how a trip once made purely on buses could now be accomplished. Attracting new riders wasn’t an initial priority. Click here for more: Breeze On Demand Attracts Thousands

WINDS OF CHANGE AT SELBY GARDENS

After years of controversy, neighborhood protests, negotiations with the city of Sarasota, revised plans and delays caused by the COVID pandemic, Selby Botanical Gardens opened the first phase of its remodeled downtown Sarasota campus recently with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, tours and toasts led by garden leaders, major donors and Sarasota city officials. The opening, which board of trustees chair Joel Morganroth called a “momentous day in the history of Selby Gardens,” came two and a half years after a groundbreaking in June 2021. The project, which generated $57 million from more than 3,500 individuals and foundations, includes a four-story parking structure that will be topped with solar panels later this month; a rooftop garden that will provide food for the new Green Orchid restaurant, expanded administrative and research facilities; and a new open-air welcome center where patrons will start their visits. On a blustery morning in advance of expected major afternoon storms, hundreds of people gathered in an open courtyard surrounded by the three new facilities created under the master plan by OLIN Studio, designed by Overland Partners architects and built by Willis Smith Construction. “Clearly, the winds of change are afoot at Selby Gardens,” said lead architect Robert Shemwell. CEO Jennifer Rominiecki and some of the design team leaders stressed how Selby will become the first net-positive botanical garden in the world, meaning that with 2,000 solar panels, it will be able to produce more energy than it uses. The Green Orchid, operated by longtime Selby food providers Michael’s on East, will be the first net-positive restaurant in the world. Please click here for more: Winds Of Change At Selby Gardens

RINGLING COLLEGE PUTS FOCUS ON SARASOTA ARTIST

In 1927, the poet Romain Rolland wrote about the “oceanic feeling” in a letter to Sigmund Freud. He described it as, “a sensation of eternity… a feeling of being one with the external world as a whole.” Freud quoted the poet in “Civilization and its Discontents.” Syd Solomon might not have read Freud’s book. But he definitely knew the feeling. Solomon was part artist, part mystic. His topographic oceans have the tidal pull of eternity. While his abstract paintings evoke the life aquatic, they’re not literal seascapes. You won’t find Solomon’s seas in The National Geographic. They’re the oceans of the mind. Informed by the artist’s dives in terrestrial oceans and his stint as a military camouflage artist in World War II. But they’re not of this world. Solomon was, of course. In the post-war boom years, he made the most of his remaining time on this planet. Solomon divided his time between homes in Sarasota and East Hampton, New York. Wherever he was, he created art. Great paintings. That didn’t look like anybody else’s paintings. Lazy art critics filed Solomon under “Abstract expressionist.” That label fit him like a baggy suit. (“Abstract impressionist” was what he called himself.) Solomon was sui generis. His paintings expressed what words couldn’t. That’s pretty much all he had in common with Jackson Pollock and the rest. Solomon had a lot to say in his paintings. Which explains why he painted 5,000 or so. (That’s his son Michael Solomon’s best estimate.) Richard and Pamela Mones collected 44 of those paintings. 18 are featured in “Syd Solomon: Fluid Impressions,” Ringling College’s latest exhibition. For fans of Solomon’s art, it’s a very deep dive. But the depths of his art are far from placid. Solomon’s paintings pack a punch. This exhibit doesn’t try to soften the blow. The art’s in your face, the second you walk inside. Pow! Big paintings; bold paintings; tsunamis of color. It is what it is. Love it or leave it. Look or look away. Through March 25 at the Lois and David Stulberg Gallery at Ringling College. 2700 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota; (941) 359-7563. There’s more to read here: Ringling College Focus On SRQ Artist

ASOLO REP DIRECTOR LEADS THE DRAMA

Asolo Repertory Theatre audiences have gotten to know the work of director Peter Rothstein in recent seasons through three imaginatively staged musicals – “Sweeney Todd,” “Ragtime” and “Man of La Mancha.” With the opening of “Inherit the Wind,” the classic Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee play about the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial, patrons will get to see his debut production as the theater’s producing artist director and his first in Sarasota with a drama. Those who know Rothstein’s affection for musicals and opera shouldn’t be surprised that music will be involved in the production. “I couldn’t help myself. They open the gate to it,” Rothstein said with a laugh about the playwrights. “It’s not a musical, but we are including music, more than in the original production, because this is such a rich musical world, Tennessee of the 1920s. It’s all sacred music.” Adding to the original hymns “felt like an opportunity to broaden the voices in the play a little bit. There are some new composers drawing on traditions of Southern Black churches,” he said. “It allowed us to kind of embrace Black traditions and white traditions.”

Jenny Kim-Godfrey, a singer and instrumentalist, serves as music director (as she did on last season’s “Man of La Mancha”) with her husband, guitarist Jonathan Godfrey, as music supervisor. Actor Mark Benninghofen, who plays prominent attorney Henry Drummond (based on the real-life Clarence Darrow), said the music “does a wonderful job of unifying this town, which is another character in the play. It sets immediately the idea that this town thinks as one, worships as one. It’s clear that an outlier in that moment would be in trouble.” There’s more on this story here: Asolo Rep Director Leads The Drama

SEASON OF SHARING DONATIONS NEAR $3M

Halfway into this year’s critical Season of Sharing fundraising campaign to help families through an emergency, donations are nearing $3 million – just ahead of last year’s totals at this same point. More than $2.66 million had been raised for Season of Sharing through the week ending December 22, according to the Community Foundation of Sarasota County. That includes $400,000 from The Patterson Foundation, which contributes $100,000 for every $500,000 donated by the community. The announcement was made amid what many consider to be one of the most important campaigns in the fund’s 23-year history – coming after a year of unprecedented requests for help. Season of Sharing – started in 2000 by the Community Foundation and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune to help prevent homelessness – supports families and individuals through a one-time crisis in Sarasota, Manatee, DeSoto and Charlotte counties. The assistance must go toward rent or mortgage payments, utility bills, childcare, or transportation costs. It is an efficient and effective way to lessen the burden on thousands of households following a missed paycheck, medical emergency or other unexpected disaster, said Roxie Jerde, president and CEO of the Community Foundation. “The funds raised are of vital importance because there are so many people facing unexpected challenges,” Jerde added. This past year, thousands of calls poured into the foundation’s partnering nonprofits and its own lines in what one community fiscal agent called an “unbelievable volume of need.” Case managers attributed the spike to the end of pandemic relief as well as accumulating effects from Hurricane Ian, lost work hours, inflation, high childcare costs and the summer heat wave. But the biggest culprit, they said, was the ongoing housing crisis. Rising rents and the dire shortage of workforce housing and affordable senior options left everyone from healthcare workers to service employees, teachers to retirees floundering when faced with the slightest setback. While Season of Sharing typically helps about 3,000 households a year with one-time assistance, the final number from this past year is expected to top 4,500. You can donate here: Season Of Sharing

Please click on the link for more: Season Of Sharing Donations Near $3M