Step Up Press Release

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate & Continuous Release in November, 2011 Step Up for National Hunger and Homeless Awareness Month Media Contact: Richard Martin, Executive Director - 941/400-6600 Richard.Martin@suncoastpartnership.org

Step Up: End Homelessness in Sarasota County Now Sarasota, Florida. November is National Hunger and Homeless Awareness month. Just nine months ago, prompted by Sarasota County Government, Suncoast Partnership to End Homelessness began a community initiative to develop a plan to prevent and end homelessness in Sarasota County. Led by the Suncoast Partnership’s Chair, Adam Tebrugge, and Vice-Chair of the Sarasota County Commission, Carolyn Mason, the county’s ten-year plan to end homelessness is nearing its final draft stage.

After five months of community workshops, more than 600 community members to date have contributed a wealth of knowledge and proposed solutions for the plan. With grant support from Gulf Coast Community Foundation and private contributions, the Suncoast Partnership’s executive director Richard Martin began assembling a leadership team to turn workshop recommendations into a plan of action.

“We’re setting ambitious but achievable goals,” says Richard Martin. “If we are to achieve excellence in our mission, community members from across Sarasota County need to be engaged. Everyone is both an ambassador for the plan and stakeholder in its success.”

Advising members of the leadership team include: James McNemar, data specialist at the Center for Social Innovation; Bonnie Greenball Silvestri, J. D., Senior Fellow for Arts, Culture, and Civic Engagement at the Institute for Public Policy and Leadership, University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee; and research assistant Grace Fisher, New College of Florida.

Next, Martin tapped Florida Journeys Communications to develop and create a brand

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identity for the ten-year plan. “Our goal was to shine a positive light on a challenging subject and create a brand that is uplifting and inclusive,” reflects Caroline McKeon, owner of Florida Journeys Communications. Graphic artist Linda Kubecka’s logo design captures that essence and encourages all stakeholders to be part of the solution – Step Up: End Homelessness in Sarasota County Now. To assist Suncoast Partnership in assembling the data and developing cost-effective implementation strategies, Avoir Faire Consulting Agency, a Sarasota-based firm, is working with the leadership team to write the plan and see it through to formal adoption.

“Step Up is truly a community plan,” said Sarah Shumaker, Avoir Faire’s President and CEO. “We’ve engaged the public through workshops and focus groups. We’ve toured regional facilities and studied other plans to end homelessness across the nation.” The leadership team is working closely with the National Alliance to End Homelessness as well as federal and state agencies. “We know what works,” Shumaker said. “With this plan, Sarasota County has the potential to become a model community that others look to for best practices.”

While the mission of Step Up is to end homelessness in Sarasota County, the plan acknowledges homelessness as a symptom of poverty and extends initiatives to address the cause of homelessness at its core. The plan’s vision states: “Everyone deserves a safe, stable place to call home. In Sarasota County, we have the capacity to prevent and end homelessness and improve the health, safety, and quality of life for every citizen. Stakeholders from across the county will unite to establish best practices, identify funding, and form community partnerships to end homelessness and break the cycle of poverty in Sarasota County.”

Step Up: End Homelessness in Sarasota County Now is in final draft development and currently being shopped to key stakeholders for feedback on the plan’s five objectives.

1. Streamline systems countywide to develop, fund, implement, and monitor programs for homelessness, poverty, and economic stability.

2. Raise public awareness and funding to meet the immediate needs of individuals who are experiencing homelessness now.

3. Establish community-wide emergency intervention programs to stabilize housing and prevent homelessness for individuals and families at risk.

4. Implement proactive, cost-effective housing strategies to create “steps” that continually move individuals and households along the housing continuum toward permanent and affordable housing.

5. Cultivate economic stability by creating “steps” toward self-sufficiency, permanent housing, and financial stability.

The plan includes several goals and specific action steps to achieving these objectives.

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Step Up: End Homelessness in Sarasota County Now will be released to the public on Wednesday, December 21, 2011 in conjunction with the Longest Night Homeless Memorial Vigil. While under development, the website www.stepupsarasota.org is counting down to that event.

A thirty-day comment period will follow the public release of Step Up to ensure the community will and support is behind in the plan before presenting it to the county and municipal governments for adoption. “We’re still meeting with community partners and shopping it to key stakeholders to ensure everyone’s voice is represented,” said Richard Martin. “If you haven’t come to us, we’ll come to you.”

For more information on the community plan, Step Up: End Homelessness in Sarasota County Now, call (941) 565-1540 or email info@stepupsarasota.org.

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The mission of Suncoast Partnership to End Homelessness, Inc., a designated 501(c)3 public charity, is to support education, outreach, and advocacy programs, services, and initiatives for those experiencing homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. Designated by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development as the lead agency for the Manatee-Sarasota Continuum of Care (CoC), Suncoast Partnership provides training and administration of the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) in both counties.

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