Hello First 1,000 Days Suncoast!

May 17

Since the pandemic, data shows the need for services is greater in our region. In 2020, the percent of babies born into low income or poverty-stricken families at SMH increased to 56 percent. Understanding the significant hardships these families can face, it is critical to ensure they have access to the tools, education, support, and resources they need to help their newborns thrive and children achieve their potential.

What we know from parent focus groups, data, and professional feedback is that families move across county lines fluidly to get the help they need. In order to create a regional “no wrong door” approach to care and address the top barrier of difficulty navigating the system, First 1,000 Days Suncoast will begin more extensive collaboration with community partners in Manatee, DeSoto, and Charlotte counties. From preliminary discussions, we have also identified these counties in the Suncoast region all have their own unique and successful programs; learning collectively from each other could help identify solutions that can be scaled across our region.

Learn more updates about the initiative below and some important events you won’t want to miss!

Save the Dates!

Unite Us: Advancing Health Equity

Join us virtually on Tuesday, May 25th from 1-2PM for a special presentation from Unite Us on how their organization is prioritizing health equity and advancing national and state policy conversations. The release of their new Health Equity dashboard helps communities look at race and place-based inequities in referrals and service delivery. This robust data can then subsequently drive decisions on where to allocate resources, build up partnerships, and develop innovative programs.

Click Here to register for the event!

First 1,000 Days Suncoast Full Partner Meeting

Join us virtually on Tuesday, June 8th from 3-4:30PM for a virtual First 1,000 Days Suncoast Full Partner meeting. Over the last several months, First 1,000 Days has been meeting with many incredible organizations across our region and the initiative workgroups have been diligently making great progress on identifying and addressing barriers to care. You won’t want to miss this fantastic update from community partners, learn more ways your organization can get involved, and hear about a free county-wide training opportunity.

Click here to register for the event!

Mind Matters Symposium

The Florida Center's inaugural “Mind Matters” Educational Symposium, will take place virtually on Thursday, June 24th. Thanks to the generous support of the Community Foundation of Sarasota County, Gulf Coast Community Foundation, Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation, and Manatee Community Foundation, there are a limited number of scholarships available for nonprofit staff and educators to attend for FREE! Click here to see the flyer about the event and e-mail Johnna.Brynn@thefloridacenter.org about the scholarship opportunity.

Partner Spotlight

This month’s partner spotlight is LONG overdue!

We would like to commend and thank Donna Love for the incredible work she does for families in the community. Donna is not only Sarasota County Libraries’ Early Literacy Outreach and Partners Coordinator, but also an active volunteer at Mothers Helping Mothers. She works hard to increase early childhood literacy, actively participates in initiative workgroups, constantly identifies ways to collaborate with organizations, and responds to incoming referrals through the Unite Us platform. For those of you who know her, you know Donna does not need praise or recognition, for she truly just does her work to help families. However, we want to take this time to celebrate her and the impact she has had on many families in our region.

#Color the Community

Venice Nokomis Community Preschool, Forty Carrots Family Center, and Sarasota Memorial Hospital Childcare Centers helped First 1,000 Days Suncoast Color the Community! Each organization had a fun and unique spin on the the movement. Forty Carrots used it as an opportunity to learn about shapes and colors by creating their own abstract art piece. SMH childcare talked about the activity with the children a couple of days before hand and encouraged them to brainstorm what they would like to draw; these masterpieces ranged from “spike ants” and spider webs, to Ferris wheels, dinosaurs and family portraits. Venice Nokomis Preschool took children on an imaginative trip to the circus, where the children had fun pretending to be clowns and “entering the tent”.

Join us in the movement and plan something with families and children at your facility! Be sure to tag @First1000DaysSuncoast and use #ColortheCommunity #First1000DaysSuncoast on Instagram and Facebook. We encourage you to use The Basics or the Bubble or Swing Out Into the World murals as inspiration!

The Basics Principles: