Season of Sharing: A commitment to community care

How has your life changed since 2020? Did you change jobs? Move into a new home? Welcome a child or grandchild?

If you answered yes to any of these significant moments, we hope they have been joyous ones to be celebrated. For many in our region, though, changes like these can upend already precarious daily lives where a single paycheck is the only thing separating people from difficult choices, such as where they will sleep or whether to pay for daycare or the light bill.

These are complex, very human challenges that our neighbors throughout Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte, and DeSoto counties never expect, and yet the pandemic's ongoing repercussions have led more people than ever to face these disturbing choices.

During nearly two years of turmoil, however, our community has also shown that ever-present force for good: hope.