Focus on Manatee | Programs aimed at lifting Manatee-Sarasota residents out of poverty

Back in May, I had the chance to attend the Florida Chamber’s Prosperity Summit. Held at the Westin in Sarasota, the Prosperity Summit was the Chamber’s first in-person event in a year with hundreds more streaming the conference.

With a theme of prosperity, the message was clear that where you live matters. Poverty is concentrated and in order to get the 20 percent of Florida kids (the percentage is the same here in Manatee) living in poverty out, we’re going to have to go where they are.

Thanks to a couple of key partnerships, CareerSource Suncoast has been doing that.

This month, the United Way Suncoast renewed a $50,000 commitment to provide more training opportunities in North Sarasota. The funds will go to help ALICE families, those working but barely making ends meet, get in demand training (online and self-paced to accommodate their schedules) in areas like digital court reporter, web development and certified production technician.

“We are proud to support high-impact programs that will do so much good across our region,” said United Way Suncoast CEO Jessica Muroff. “Through our partnerships and expertise, we will continue to create bold solutions to our biggest challenges — uplifting lives and achieving equity for generations to come.”

A lack of equity was in stark contrast from the Chamber’s data as the 34234 zip code had 48 percent of children in poverty while that number is a quarter just one zip code over, heading east on University Park to zip code 34235.

In Manatee County, we’ve helped residents with similar trainings through CARES Act dollars and have had a targeted program for Samoset residents since late 2019, when 12 percent of Samoset and 34 percent of West Samoset residents were living in poverty. As a part of the Inclusive Manatee program, CareerSource Suncoast coaches attended the May outreach event at the Oneco Farmers Market and have spent time on assessing Samoset residents’ needs to land new and better paying jobs.

In its goal to reduce child poverty under 10 percent, the Florida Chamber identified 10 roots causes, the first two firmly pointed toward us: a lack of employment opportunities and inequities in education and workforce development.

“The battle of this generation is between economic equality and economic opportunity,” Florida Chamber CEO Mark Wilson said.

With continued partnerships and support, CareerSource Suncoast is bringing those opportunities right to the areas that need it most.

Ted Ehrlichman is the president and CEO of CareerSource Suncoast.