In recent weeks, the news has been saturated with stories about the resurgence of COVID-19. The spread of the delta variant has set grim new patient-count records at hospitals, stretched our heroic health-care providers to their limits, and—regrettably—deepened the divides caused by those who politicize public health and amplify misinformation. This surge has refocused our attention on how we can get through this together without tearing each other apart.

Amid the very real health and economic crises we face, life-saving work continues to be everyday business for many of our region’s nonprofit organizations. They should be commended.

CenterPlace Health just launched two mobile vaccination units to get more residents protected against COVID-19. CenterPlace retrofitted mobile health-clinic vans to safely deliver all three types of vaccine to underserved communities. A new strategy of the regional “Shots in Arms” coalition, the effort targets areas where access or hesitancy remains a barrier to better vaccination rates.

Local nonprofit film company Wingspan Productions is creating awareness videos to promote public-health best practices during the pandemic. The PSAs both feature and target young adults, who have a much lower vaccination rate than older residents of our region.

Even vaccinated older adults have real concerns about their vulnerability right now. Last year, Senior Friendship Centers saw demand for support services from homebound seniors with limited resources double—and those numbers aren’t going down. Through its Friendship at Home program, Friendship Centers is helping seniors who can’t leave their homes with things like reassurance visits and check-in phone calls, emergency food and household supplies, and financial, home, and car-repair assistance.

Also serving a vulnerable population, Loveland Center in Venice has had to purchase and install numerous facility enhancements on its eight-acre campus to ensure the safety and security of its members, who are individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. These improvements enable Loveland’s caring staff to focus on helping those it serves live their lives to the fullest in an increasingly complicated environment.

These projects account for just a portion of the grants awarded recently from our COVID-19 Response Initiative, which Gulf Coast Community Foundation launched in partnership with Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation nearly a year and a half ago. (In fact, we announced the initiative 17 months ago to the day in this very column!) Within weeks of creating our fund, we received millions in donations from donors in our community who wanted to help.

On top of that, open communication and thoughtful coordination with fellow foundations and among the nonprofits has helped each donated dollar go farther. Community collaboration is a silver lining of this emergency that we can’t afford to lose when it finally does recede.

We thank our donors for the difference they are making in the lives of the disabled, the elderly and low-income families. As requests for mission-critical help from our nonprofit partners continue to come in, we will bolster their vital work thanks to these generous philanthropists.

 Mark Pritchett is president and CEO of Gulf Coast Community Foundation. 

Local not-to-exceed millage rates are being set by local governments all over the state of Florida. It is a peek inside which governments have gone the extra mile with financial oversight since the onset of COVID-19, and also a testament to how hard they worked in prioritizing their budgets.

All local governments in the county are receiving more money this year than last year. They will also see more money next year than this year if they maintain current millage rates because property values are increasing. 

Our overall local tax revenue did not take as bad of a hit this past year as it did in other areas of the country. The elected officials who made sure their taxpayers were financially protected throughout COVID by actively taking steps to trim budgets themselves are now in a better fiscal position today. They not only have enough money for budgeting, they have enough for their priorities and any emergencies created by COVID-19. What happened last year in cutting recurring expenses affects savings in this year’s budget.    

Pro-active governments are intentional in their conservative budgeting, they set parameters at the beginning. They state their goal out loud that they are going to keep the millage rates flat or decrease them. They thoughtfully build their budgets around the premise that they are going to make sure they live within their means while making sure the priorities of the community are addressed. This type of assurance to their constituents, many who are still financially recovering from COVID and facing an uncertain future with the current spike, is immensely important to an economic environment and it positively affects affordable housing. 

For instance, the City of Sarasota just set its maximum millage rate at the roll-back rate, meaning they are actually lowering their millage rate. They were active in cutting and pulling items from the consent agenda to make sure they had enough money for their priorities. They did this while taking on more financial responsibility passed on from governments above them. It was refreshing and the work, and that of the city manager, has not gone unnoticed.

There is a direct relationship to taxes and affordable housing the City of Sarasota understands. Literally every penny counts when you are living on the financial edge. 

The Suncoast United Way reminds us of what those on the financial edge are facing with the hardship study on ALICE families (Asset Limited Income Constrained Employed). In big broad letters on its website, officials report, “43% of households in the region struggle financially.” This translates into “..2 out of 5 working households cannot cover basic needs.” If taxes increase, so does the gap of financial stability and those falling into it. The City of Sarasota is not only making sure it doesn’t add to that gap, it is relieving families of that struggle.

Responsible budgeting is actively and aggressively protecting your taxpayers, including those on the financial edge, creating a stable economic environment with your words and actions, and making sure you act now to save for later. The Argus Foundation salutes the City of Sarasota and those governments who are prioritizing their budgets for their taxpayers and working families. Your hard work and steady, early determination has not gone unnoticed. Congratulations.

Christine Robinson is executive director of The Argus Foundation. 

Image from Pixabay

From our first planning discussions I expected that a coding academy at the State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota, would be a transformational opportunity for our community. This summer, I got to see just how accurate that expectation was.

Our STEM-tastic Summer Coding Camps brought hundreds of local youths to our campuses to program and fly drones, design and build robots and learn the basics of coding and information technology. What they also experienced was a transformational opportunity to see how the technology they enjoyed could lead to an education and careers in Manatee and Sarasota Counties.

SCF conducted eight one-week coding camps this summer for 294 students from second grade through high school. Our objective was to help campers develop an entrepreneurial mindset and encourage them to pursue academic programs and careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. Students were exposed to multiple perspectives on coding and information technology through drones, robotics, game design, manufacturing design and virtual reality.

Our college has a long history of summer camps, but the coding academy is an exciting way to link campers to technology, SCF educational programming and careers in local industry. Deshjuana Bagley, SCF’s Director of the IT/Coding Academy, brought 16 years of technology-based summer camp experience to the college and hit the ground running to launch this successful new venture with her team.

Our local industry partners were critical to the camp’s success and were integrated into the program through sponsorships, camp visits and “Made in Florida” industry tours. We are extremely grateful to our sponsors for providing scholarships, transportation and take-home robotics kits. Their contributions removed barriers to attending our camps for many students and the industry tours changed the perceptions of our middle- and high-school campers about manufacturing careers in our region. Sponsorships also allowed us to target demographic groups not typically exposed to technology, including an all-girls camp and a large high school student group from the Newtown area.

This summer’s camps demonstrated the transformational capability of our coding academy. As summer turns to fall, the academy’s focus turns to our adult learners with a focus on career building through IT industry certifications and immersive bootcamps and workshops:

• SCF will offer short-term, flexible technology certification courses based on industry demand. Each course prepares participants to earn certificates that open doors to high-earning careers and college credit.
• Through bootcamps and workshops our coding academy teaches IT and programming skills needed for today’s jobs, while also preparing and mentoring participants for jobs in the future.

There is much more to come as we identify emerging needs in the IT industry. The academy’s goal is to build an on-campus coding community where local industry mentors can help our IT learners and hire them when they complete their training. Those learners then return as mentors and continue the cycle.

For more information on the SCF Coding Academy, please email Deshjuana Bagley at bagleyd@scf.edu or visit www.scf.edu.

It was so much fun to watch the campers get switched on by the programming and fly drones around. The young campers were excited to show me the “manatee money” they had earned, and I was very impressed to see the entrepreneurial presentations our older campers gave to their parents.

I am excited to see those campers return to SCF for their education and to see the academy expand to all areas of our community for transformational summer camps and adult learning. 

Dr. Carol Probstfeld is President of State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota. 

Image courtesy SCF.