Children First and Sarasota Housing Authority Transform Modular Building, Add Two New Classrooms
Front row: philanthropists Linda Monda and Joan Levenson; Newtown market manager Mary Mack; Children First staff members Ernestine Taylor, Michelle Bundy, and Brenda Babeu. Back row: Children First CEO Philip Tavill; Sarasota Housing Authority CEO William Russell; Sarasota Housing Authority board chair Dave Morgan; Children First board members Jacqueline Ray, treasurer; Tom Cail, chair; former Children First board member Lacy Ray, Jr.; Gulf Coast Community Foundation CEO Mark Pritchett, and Children First vice president of philanthropy Jessica Rogers.
Image: Courtesy Photo
Children First, in partnership with the Sarasota Housing Authority, has transformed a modular building into two classrooms that will provide early childhood education services to 16 at-risk infants and toddlers. The project officially broke ground in January of 2019 and finished in April. It's located at 1700 Gore Court in Sarasota. The modular will be the 14th location in Sarasota County where Children First will be offering services to the community’s most vulnerable youth. Services are currently being provided in North Port, Venice, and Sarasota.
Leading the charge on the project were philanthropists Keith and Linda Monda, Joe and Nora Stephan, and Bart and Joan Levenson, as well as PGT Innovations and Shue-Kauffman Building & Roofing. Children First and the Sarasota Housing Authority continue to seek further early childhood education expansion opportunities with plans for another capital project in Janie’s Garden, a three-phase redevelopment officially completed by the SHA in 2016.
