Organization needs community support to raise remaining 20% of $9-million goal for project
On Dec. 9, leaders of the child welfare organization Safe Children Coalition (SCC) of Sarasota held a gathering at the Gulf Coast Community Foundation’s Sarasota Philanthropy Center to launch the public phase of its Youth Shelter campaign, the nonprofit has announced.
The fundraising effort — which began 24 months ago — will support the construction of a new facility to enable the organization to serve more at-risk youths in the coming years, a news release explains.
During the event, SCC leaders announced that more than $7 million — nearly 80% of the $9-million goal — had been raised; the public fundraising campaign will continue until the goal is met, the release points out.
“Special gratitude was extended” to the Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation for the first $1-million gift to the campaign; the Roberta Leventhal Sudakoff Foundation for its $1.5-million gift (the largest single contribution to the campaign as of Dec. 9); Bob and Joan Geyer, “who provided a $500,000 matching gift to inspire giving; and Veronica Brady and Keith Monda for their support as well as for hosting the very first Youth Shelter Campaign event,” the release says.
The event also featured the participation of state Rep. Fiona McFarland, R-Sarasota, in a ceremonial check presentation acknowledging the state’s most recent $1-milliion appropriation to the campaign “(in addition to last year’s appropriation of $750,000),” the release adds. “McFarland took a few moments to talk about her support of the effort and the Youth Shelter’s importance in keeping at-risk children safe,” the release notes.
Others among the nearly 50 attendees were current and prospective donors and Safe Children Coalition volunteers and staff leaders, the release adds.
Phillip Lanham, president and CEO of the Gulf Coast Community Foundation, offered comments about the Foundation’s partnering “with SCC through the campaign’s ‘quiet phase’ and why the collective support of the community is so important in making a difference for the future of our community,” the release points out.
Other speakers were Joan Geyer; Gary Bucholtz of the Roberta Leventhal Sudakoff Foundation; Matt Sauer of the Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation; and — by video — Dr. India White, a former Youth Shelter program participant who is a national education consultant, the release continues.
In 2022, White gave a speech during the TEDx Ocala event titled The Power of Grit, which included remarks about her experience in the shelter, the release says.
In Florida’s 12th Judicial Circuit (Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto counties), more than 2,000 youths “are homeless, have run away, or are ungovernable or truant,” the release adds. “A recent count in Sarasota County found that more than 400 teens and young adults were homeless and living without the support of a guardian. The consequences of youth homelessness include mental health problems, substance abuse, victimization, and short- and long-term barriers to education and employment,” the release points out.
“SCC’s Youth Shelter is the only facility designated for homeless teens for Sarasota and Desoto counties,” the release notes; it serves youths from Manatee County, as well.
“Many of the teens served enter the shelter because of a mental health crisis and/or a parent’s inability to cope with a youth who is out of control,” the release explains. The shelter provides wrap-around services “focused on reuniting teens with their families and preventing them from entering foster care or juvenile justice programs,” the release notes.
“For the past four years, the SCC Youth Shelter has been first or second in facility utilization out of the 16 shelters in the Florida network, exceeding contracted bed days,” the release adds.
SCC’s new Youth Shelter will be located on Sawyer Road in north Sarasota, the release says. The current shelter is being housed “at a smaller, temporary location until the new facility can be built,” the release points out. “The groundbreaking for the new facility is expected to be held by the end of January 2025.”
For more information about the Safe Children Coalition, or to contribute to the Coalition’s Youth Shelter Campaign, visit sccyouthshelter.org.