As published in Sarasota Herald Tribune 4/23/2026

Major gifts total­ing $325,000 from the Gulf Coast Com­munity Found­a­tion and a group of the found­a­tion’s fund hold­ers recently marked the suc­cess­ful com­ple­tion of Phase I of the Safe Chil­dren Coali­tion’s Youth Shel­ter Cam­paign.

The fun­drais­ing effort is sup­port­ing the con­struc­tion of a new Youth Shel­ter for home­less and other vul­ner­able chil­dren in Flor­ida’s Judi­cial Cir­cuit 12 (Sara­sota, Manatee and DeSoto counties). Phase II of the fun­drais­ing effort is expec­ted to be com­pleted in the near future.

The donors included in this group were the Gould Family Trust Foundation, Ken and JoAnn Johns-Johns family Charitable Fund, Tim Kolschowsky and the Gerald A. and Karen A. Kolschowsky Foundaiton, the E. Liberty Fund, Keith Monda and Veronica Brady, Peter Powers, and the Sonya Weinfeld Charitable Fund. For most of these donors, this was not their first gift to SCC’s Youth Shelter Campaign.

The Phase I funding of the $9 million covered the construction of the new facility. Phase II involves outfitting the backyard to make it suitable for teens and furnishing the shelter with beds and all of the furniture and supplies needed to make it a safe and comfortable place for its temporary young residents.

“This project shows what’s possible when donors come together around a shared purpose to support our community’s most vulnerable kids,” said Sasha Pyatte of the Gulf Coast Community Foundation. “By combining their resources and dedication, they’re creating a space where young people in crisis can find safety and stability.”

For the past four years, the SCC Youth Shelter has been the first or second in facility utilization out of the 16 shelters in the Florida network, exceeding contracted bed days.  The new Youth Shelter will enable the organization to serve and protect more at-risk youths in the coming years.

We are immensely grateful to all of the foundations, businesses, and individuals who believe in our vision for a new Youth Shelter and have entrusted us to carry out this important project,” said SCC president and CEO Brena Slater. “We were thrilled to partner with these donors and Gulf Coast Community Foundation for the Phase I capping gifts, which enable us to move to Phase II of our Youth Shelter Campaign.”

SCC’s new Youth Shelter will be located on Sawyer Road in north Sarasota; the exterior construction is nearly complete. For more information or to contribute to SCC’s Youth Shelter Campaign, visit sccyouthshelter.org or contact Jacqueline House at jhouse@sccfl.org or 941-371-4799 ext. 1127

Source: Sarasota Herald Tribune published 4/23/2026