wcw SEPT 2023

good news department
Safe Children Coalition awards scholarships to
2023 Achievers
Bishop Parker Foundation Awards $ 400,000 to
Second Heart Homes
Achievers program graduates Ariel (second from left) and Anastasia Samedi (far
right) with mother Kanani (center), an Achievers PUSHY Parent Award recipient, and
other family members.
The Safe Children Coalition’s Achievers
program recently honored graduates and
awarded $31,800 in college scholarships
to “Class of 2023” high school graduates
as well as returning college students who
were engaged with the program as teens
and have continued their involvement
through Zoom career cluster sessions and
community service during the holidays.
A total of 38 scholarships – 12 incoming
freshmen and 26 continuing college students
– were awarded. Contributing to
this year’s program and scholarship funding
were: the Harry Sudakoff Foundation,
Bay First National Bank, the A. Jean Battie
Scholarship, Marilyn & James Heskett
Charitable Foundation, Tracy Ross Memorial
Scholarship, and others.
Addressing the guests were Kathleen
Cowan, SCC’s VP of Child Welfare, and
Chief Rex Troche of the Sarasota Police
Department as well as several program
alumni, who spoke about their Achievers
experience and how it helped them to
succeed in college.
The Achievers program empowers atrisk,
minority and other disadvantaged
students to set and achieve goals in both
their educational and personal lives, encouraging
continuous growth in the areas
of personal development, college preparation,
community service and leadership,
cultural enrichment, and career options.
The program ultimately increases student
participation in school programs, decreases
school absenteeism and dropout
rates, and prevents delinquent behavior.
The program, which has served thousands
of students in the community for
over 30 years, is open to all middle and
high school students in Sarasota County.
Approximately 113 students participated
in the Achievers program during the 2022-
2023 school year.
Neal Communities Supports Venice Main Street
Neal Communities has donated
$15,000 to Venice
MainStreet to sponsor its
Friday night concert series
and marketing efforts. It
is the second consecutive
year that the homebuilder
has supported the entertainment
series in downtown
Venice.
For more than 35 years,
Venice MainStreet has
hosted special events like the Friday night
concert series in the city of Venice’s historic
downtown district. On the 2nd and
4th Fridays of each month, free music performances
take place from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
in Centennial Park. Last year, the concert
series, which is open to the public, drew
an attendance of 15,000.
Last year, Neal Communities was the
first corporate sponsor of the event and
donated $15,000. This year’s sponsorship
makes a total of $30,000 that the homebuilder
has put toward the event.
Venice MainStreet is an accredited Main
Street organization through the Florida
Main Street Program and Main Street
America. Its mission is to preserve and enhance
the character, beauty and economic
vitality of historic downtown Venice. The
organization achieves its goals through
marketing, promotions, special events
and historic preservation advocacy.
For information about Venice Main-
Street’s events, visit www.VisitVeniceFL.org.
Adell Erozer, Executive Director of the Bishop Parker Foundation and Megan Howell, executive
director and founder of Second Heart Homes
The Bishop Parker Foundation recently
authorized a $400,000 grant to Second
Heart Homes, which provides housing,
support services and love to homeless
adults with mental-health challenges.
The grant – the largest single gift to
Second Heart Homes since its founding
in 2019 – will be used to purchase a third
home dedicated to taking homelessness
people off the streets of Manatee County.
An additional home will complement the
organization’s six properties in Sarasota:
All told, more than 50 homeless people
will be off the streets.
“We are so grateful, from the bottom
of our hearts, for this generous gift from
the Bishop Parker Foundation. It will help
us make a true impact on homelessness
in Manatee County,” said Megan Howell,
executive director and founder of Second
Heart Homes.
Human services and health are among
the Bishop Parker Foundation’s focus areas.
During their years in Bradenton decades
ago, Edward and Lillian Bishop, and
Mary Parker, supported many institutions
– and often individuals – responding to direct
human needs, especially those dealing
with hunger and homelessness.
“Our Foundation has long recognized
food insecurity, homelessness and lack of
accessibility for mental health services as
major challenges in our community. We are
excited to partner with Second Heart Homes
to address these complicated issues in our
community,” said Adell Erozer, Executive Director
of the Bishop Parker Foundation.
For more information, visit Bishop-
ParkerFoundation.org and Second-
HeartHomes.org.
Sarasota Memorial Recognized as Role Model
for Best Practices and Life-Saving Care
Sarasota Memorial Hospital received top
awards from the American Heart Association
(AHA) for providing life-saving care
to patients experiencing heart and stroke
emergencies.
Part of its national “Get
With The Guidelines” annual
quality review, the AHA recognizes
hospitals not only for
following best practices, but
for doing so consistently, year
after year, ultimately leading
to more lives saved, shorter
recovery times and fewer readmissions
to the hospital.
James Fiorica, MD, chief
medical officer of Sarasota
Memorial Health Care System,
credits the hospital’s superior performance
and patient outcomes to the
expertise of clinicians, as well as the
commitment of hospital leaders to research-based,
high-quality care. This year,
Sarasota Memorial’s Sarasota and Venice
campuses received awards with multiple
honors for their dedication to best practices
and life-saving care for cardiac arrest
and stroke patients.
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20 WEST COAST WOMAN SEPTEMBER 2023