The sun, the sand, and the scars: home for the holidays

For the first time in a long while, this year I didn’t travel for the holidays. My husband Mike and I hosted family at our house, and it’s hard to express how grateful I am for this.

This holiday season came after a challenging time for our region. While everyone experienced the spate of storms in their own unique way, it took a toll on each of us. Whether your property was damaged, your wages were disrupted, or your children missed weeks of school, the ferocity of this hurricane season had an impact. It was a hard time, and the recovery will be long in the making. But sometimes the harshest events can make beauty spring to life. From my years in the Midwest, winter snowstorms and sub-zero temperatures give way to vibrant and verdant springs. Here, the seedling of this beauty lives within each of us.

This is a community where these trying times are met with compassion and unity. We check on our neighbors, volunteer at food banks, shovel sand (not snow), and mend fences. We give to relief and recovery efforts, to ensure that those hardest hit can get back on their feet, and that services and programs that are essential to our community can continue being provided to those who need them.

So far, this caring community has raised more than $10 million for both Season of Sharing and the Suncoast Disaster Recovery Fund to respond to the devastation these hurricanes wrought and put our region on a path to healing and resilience.

Dollars raised for Season of Sharing provide immediate relief for those facing an economic crisis, whatever the weather. In the aftermath of such broad damage, though, there has been a swell of requests. In fact, in the span of November alone, $619,000 was awarded to 381 households, with 90 percent of the requests citing a hurricane as the cause for the need. The campaign runs through Jan. 31, 2025, for the The Patterson Foundation’s matching opportunity of a $100,000 contribution for every $500,000 raised by the community. Funds will be used all year long.

The $4.39 million raised for the Suncoast Disaster Recovery Fund has already been put to good use, with funding going towards emergency capital repairs to human service organizations. When hurricanes strike, they exacerbate existing issues of poverty, hunger, and instability, and these investments will ensure that vital pre-hurricane services can continue to be provided to our most vulnerable neighbors. It is imperative that we prevent these storms from widening existing gaps, which is a key mission of the Suncoast Disaster Recovery Fund, so that we can ensure that we rise again, stronger than before.

When my family visited, they saw what we love about our region: brilliant sunshine imbuing its light on twinkling waters, colorful flowers in bloom even in winter, and glorious sunsets that paint the skies every shade of pink, amber, orange and purple. Mostly, they saw what a community can do when people come together.

Of course, they noticed our scars: marquee signs with missing letters, blue tarps laid over rooftops, fences still spattered over yards like piles of toothpicks and piles of tree limbs by the roadside.

These scars, though, underscore our resilience and love of community. They are reminders of our fragility, yes, but also of our strength. We have come out of a historic hurricane season, together. Now we face a new year with love for our neighbors and community intact, and the determination to heal and keep moving forward. Onward!