Water Quality should remain in focus for everyone in Sarasota County, and it is a focus for most governments. While workforce housing and affordable housing is crucial, our economic survival and quality of life depends on clean water.

The good news is there are firm solutions and plans in place for water quality. There are specific projects happening now, and as funding becomes available, there are specific shovel-ready projects that are ready to move forward, with more in the pipeline. These projects will lead to significant progress in water quality.

The Argus Foundation was a proud part of the Steering Committee of Gulf Coast Community Foundation’s Water Quality Playbook through our Water Quality Subcommittee Co-Chair and sustainable farmer Alan Jones. This playbook offers specific activities and specific solutions, which are being implemented today. 

Conversely, there is a universal cry for affordable housing in the community, a problem that Argus has been warning about becoming a crisis since 2016, but few shovel-ready specific projects to choose from. 

Government continues to listen and allocate funding, but the lack of actual projects to apply the funding to is a problem that government cannot solve on its own. We can complain all we want, but if we don’t offer specific long-term plans and solutions from the private and non-profit sector, we are shouting into the wind. Just asking for more funding is not a solution or plan.

The good news is when offered specific solutions to help affordable housing, the County Commission and County Administration have acted and implemented those solutions when they receive them. Examples include implementing half dwelling units, reducing parking requirements, reducing rates for mobility fees for smaller units, taking surplus lands and offering them to the private sector specifically to create affordable housing. Most of the solutions offered in a 2017 situational report from a county government affordable housing advisory committee have been implemented either through the government or through the free market.

But while the struggle for affordable housing is a very real current crisis, and very much affects every business, the community advocating taking money from water quality is not the answer. It is short sited to take our eyes off of water quality because we currently don’t have a red tide crisis sitting on our shores. Water Quality projects that are in the pipeline and partially funded should be completed as opposed to putting money into a pot to sit while we figure out what else we can do to encourage affordable housing in the free market. 

The Argus Foundation remains committed to water quality and we are doing our part to offer cost-effective solutions. In the meantime, we will also work to bring specific solutions addressing the affordable housing crisis, but we do not believe advocating holding money from water quality projects while we figure out what to do about affordable housing is the answer. Our community should remain committed to water quality and finding solutions to affordable housing, but not at the expense of funding water quality.

Christine Robinson is executive director of The Argus Foundation. 

Change is a constant in our lives – with job and career changes impacting many of us. As our community’s college, the State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota, is here to help you manage change and has the programs to match your new direction. 

I recently spoke with Stephen Brelsford, a 2021 information technology graduate and finalist for SCF’s outstanding graduate award. His journey with SCF began long before he was a student, tagging along with his mother to classes as she pursued her nursing degree at the college. 

After graduating from high school locally in 2001 he started classes at Manatee Community College but chose to pursue a full-time job instead: “At the time, I felt like going to college was just what people did after graduating from high school. I hadn’t put much thought into what kind of work I really wanted to do, and I was just going through the motions.”

In recent years, health issues made Stephen realize he had to re-skill and find a career that better suited his new physical limitations: “I did have some credits from my previous time at SCF, and those aligned perfectly with the information technology degree I eventually earned. (IT) is a combination of knowing how things work, and making things work. I’ve had a love for technology since my parents got me an original NES for my fifth birthday. You realize things don’t always work how they should, and solving that puzzle is a lot of fun for me.”

Stephen credits professors Jason Reed and Bill Culver with motivating him in his IT classes and SCF’s Disability Resource Center for helping him manage his health issues and stay on track toward his degree: “I was taking a class with each of them when I got the call for my transplant, and they were both extremely understanding and accommodating. Also, Pat Lakey at the DRC was so helpful each semester in making sure I had everything I needed to be successful in my courses. School is not easy when you are trying to manage a major health issue!”

Stephen’s story has come full circle. He started his experience coming to campus with his mother for her pre-nursing courses, and now he works for SCF as a simulation center technician at the college’s nursing simulation center on the Lakewood Ranch Campus: “It’s really an honor to be able to contribute to the education of our future healthcare workers. Every time I look at them, I see my current and former care team, and I’m reminded of how grateful I am to have them in my corner. I want everyone to be able to feel that sort of comfort when it comes to their health.”

If you are interested in following Stephen’s example, the 26 West Center at SCF is preparing individuals for careers in IT and coding. Financial assistance is available through the Open Door Grant awarded by the state. For more information on these and many more technology focused programs and to see how the Open Door Grant can help you go to http://coding.scf.edu.

His advice sums up his story best: “No matter if you graduated from high school last summer or 20 years ago, put yourself in control of your future, find something you are interested in, and go for it. You will thank yourself later.”

When you make that decision, SCF is here for you.

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

The devastating war on Ukraine, a European democracy of roughly 44 million people, has taken the world by storm as we watch the unfolding of evil, destruction and displacement occur before our very eyes. We are all saddened by this brutal attack on innocent civilians. Many of us are compelled to help, but don’t know where to start. 

At Gulf Coast Community Foundation, we care deeply for Ukrainian families who have been displaced, injured and lost loved ones. We are also closely monitoring the impact upon our local working families who were already stressed before the war began. The threat of a more widespread fighting in Europe or a potential worldwide economic collapse weigh heavily on our minds. 

Despite these unsettling conditions, the Russian attack on Ukraine has caused us to unite together around helping our fellow humans. I am inspired by those making sacrifices for a virtuous cause. In the midst of true evil, love will prevail. We will share that love with compassion and rise above the obstacles of war and destruction. The time is now to step up and help.  

I encourage you to visit our website, www.gulfcoastcf.org/, which provides a list of organizations who represent some of the most capable service organizations that can provide humanitarian assistance to the people of Ukraine no matter where they have sought refuge. Our website will be continually updated so that your impact will reach those who need help the most.

Tonight at the DreamLarge Yard in the Rosemary District of downtown Sarasota (600 Central Avenue), you can join us for RADD for Ukraine – a public fundraiser and supply drive to support the people of Ukraine. The event starts at 6pm and will feature the opportunity to donate supplies or funds, plus live music, food trucks, and vendors. One hundred percent of every dollar contributed will benefit the people of Ukraine. 

Together, let’s pray for peace and take action to help those in need.

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

As I reflect back over the unprecedented challenges of the last two years, I have been thinking a lot about a question: How do dreams become real?

More than 50 years ago, the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall was just a dream — a dream made real through the connection between the city, the people, the Bay and the spirit of creativity. More than 30 years ago, the Van Wezel Foundation was established with its own dream to ensure that arts education and access thrive in our community.

When the city of Sarasota committed to a new master plan to develop 53 acres on the bayfront into a vibrant park, with a new performing arts center at the heart of it, a new dream took flight for our community — one focused on creating a new performing arts center that opens a world of possibilities for all and forms a place that our community can gather around for generations to come.

You, our community, also made one message clear: You believe in the potential of this dream to build a new mission-driven, state-of-the-art iconic performing arts center.

Since that time, the Van Wezel Foundation has taken important steps forward in bringing the vision for the Sarasota Performing Arts Center to life. Three years of steadfast collaboration between the Foundation and the city of Sarasota, in tandem with the Bay Park Conservancy’s Master Plan has brought us to this point. Working together, and with significant input from the public, we discovered that we all share the same vision of a contemporary performing arts center where community and culture meet.

We also recognize that to remain relevant and serve all, we must be responsive to the changing needs of our communities. Our larger responsibility will be to ensure that the new Sarasota Performing Arts Center fully reflects aspirations across generations broadening our reach through diverse programming and greater accessibility. All these dynamics — culture, the needs of our evolving city and region, responsiveness and relevance — have informed our vision.

Part of this responsibility will also be exploring how the performing arts can address critical issues of social inequity by sparking dialogue and prioritizing inclusivity. And, we want to leverage deeper partnerships, collaborations, and alliances to convey the shared human experiences of language, dance, music, drama and humor, where we can all find common ground. These aspirations are grounded in ideas, rather than in bricks and mortar or specific geographies.

A new performing arts center will be a catalyst for ideas without boundaries and an epicenter to grow the creative economy that has defined Sarasota’s prosperity. By the time the doors open, we hope that everyone will appreciate not just the cultural power of this transformative project, but also the social, economic, and reputational value this new venue will bring to Sarasota and Southwest Florida for generations to come.

We invite you to join us in this opportunity of a lifetime to make Sarasota’s new performing arts center a reality. The time is now to make this dream real — together.

Cheryl Mendelson is CEO of the Van Wezel Foundation.