Season of Sharing helps beloved Sarasota school counselor and family after storm damage

As a counselor and cheerleading coach at Sarasota High School, Ciara Van Ness was accustomed to having a strong antenna attuned to students' needs.

A driven kid herself back in high school, she was particularly good at spotting cracks in the strong façade often put up by high achievers.

Another thing Ciara loved about her job was that as a Sarasota native, she was familiar with the area's strong network of nonprofits. She knew just where to steer students and families for help when they faced an emergency – with Season of Sharing often being a key resource.

At the start of her promising career and with a growing family, Ciara never predicted that she would need that help herself.

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"A lot of good influences"

When it was time for Ciara and her husband, Alex, to start a family, Sarasota was the place they wanted to be.

Both had grown up here and started dating here when they were juniors in high school.

It was around that period that Ciara suffered a huge loss: On the first day of her senior year in high school, her father passed away.

Ciara never saw a counselor and spoke to few people other than Alex about her grief, burying herself in cheerleading and her studies.

"I went on like nothing happened," she said.

Still, two key mentors – her youth pastor and a cheerleading coach – sensed her hidden pain and became bulwarks of support in those troubled days.

"If I had not been set up with people around me in high school, I could not have been so resilient," she said.

After graduation, she and Alex attended the University of Florida together and then moved north to South Carolina, where Alex found work in his field of marketing and Ciara went to graduate school at Clemson University, specializing in school counseling.

"I had a lot of good influences in my life, and I wanted to be that for others," she recalled.

When the two returned to Sarasota in 2022, the young married couple bought a house, and in June of 2023 their son, Theo, was born.

Then after Ciara became pregnant this year with their second child, a girl, they decided they needed more room for their growing family.

Picking the perfect place under construction in Skye Ranch Homes, they made an offer and put their current house on the market.

Late this summer, as Hurricane Debby approached, Ciara and Alex thought they'd be okay. The current house was a fortress, not in a flood zone, and had hurricane shutters. They left the house on the market and prepared to ride out the storm.

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"That rainy day came"

Within days of Hurricane Debby's passing, the couple's assumptions proved wrong. While at first it had appeared they dodged a bullet, soon the baseboards in three rooms were peeling off. Unknown to them, the sealant on the windows had given way during the storm, allowing rainwater to saturate the walls.

"We didn't expect that," she said.

Their homeowners' insurance denied their claim while FEMA's assistance amounted to $300.

The couple was out thousands of dollars from their own pocket to pay for drywall removal, mold remediation and restoration.

Despite the home being on the market, the couple got no bites – given not only high interest rates but also the home's state of disrepair.

"It was impossible to sell it," she said.

Maxed out, she and Alex were struggling to juggle their mounting financial hardship on their own.

Their plight was part of a larger concern for community leaders, who worry that many young professionals already have been on the brink of leaving the area over high home prices, insurance and rents – and for whom a storm could be the final straw.

This past year, a survey of young professionals coordinated by the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce found that more than half of young professionals are considering moving out of the region due to high housing costs. Meanwhile, employers report severe difficulties recruiting young professionals.

For Ciara and Alex, they had worked hard, gone to college, got good jobs and saved – yet still found themselves struggling after the storm.

"You don't usually have to deal with that many expenses at once," Ciara said about preparing a "rainy day" fund. "That rainy day came."

"That sense of community"

Then one day at school, after Ciara off-handedly mentioned the damages at her house, the ears of Jim Camelo perked up.

A social worker for the school system, Camelo had witnessed Ciara's "relentless" work the past two years on behalf of students, attending truancy court and making home visits – becoming a well-known and beloved counselor.

"She is so passionate about helping kids and families," he said.

Like Ciara, Camelo also has referred countless students and their parents to Season of Sharing to assist in an emergency with housing, childcare or car expenses.

But he could see that Ciara was not turning to it for herself.

"A lot of people don't think it's for them," he said.

Camelo discussed with Ciara and referred her to a nonprofit agency that applied on her behalf.

The fund covered one month of Ciara and Alex's mortgage – allowing them a little time to get back on their feet.

Help your neighbors in need: Donate to Season of Sharing

With the repairs done and the house on the market, Ciara, 27, and Alex, 28, will move into a rental home with their son to reset and prepare for the baby's arrival in January.

Afterward, they aren't planning to go far. They still hope to buy in Skye Ranch.

Sarasota is where they always wanted to wind up – a connection reinforced by the outpouring of help after the hurricane, help that not only included Season of Sharing but also friends and colleagues who reached out to offer assistance with everything from repairs to childcare.

"That sense of community in Sarasota," she said, "I just adore."

How to help

Season of Sharing, a program administered by the Community Foundation of Sarasota County, assists individuals and families in an emergency with rent, mortgage, transportation, utility and childcare expenses in Sarasota, Manatee, DeSoto and Charlotte counties.

You can donate to Season of Sharing by going to cfsarasota.org or calling 941-556-2399. You can also mail a check to Season of Sharing, Community Foundation of Sarasota County, 2635 Fruitville Road, Sarasota, FL 34237.

This story comes from a partnership between the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and the Community Foundation of Sarasota County. Saundra Amrhein covers the Season of Sharing campaign, along with issues surrounding housing, utilities, child care and transportation in the area. She can be reached at samrhein@gannett.com .