As faith leaders, we are called to shepherd.
Our calling is to serve our neighbors.
To be a source of comfort in times of trouble.
To uplift the vulnerable.
And we share one urgent, strongly held conviction:
We are failing the children and families of Newtown – and we are facing a profound moral test.
Sarasota is a community of extraordinary and conspicuous blessings.
We are rightly celebrated for our world-class arts, our thriving economy and our glittering skyline.
But in the shadow of this abundance is Sarasota’s only community that is experiencing deep, generational poverty. It has been tragically – and consistently – left behind.
As men of faith, we believe a community’s soul is not measured by its skyline.
We believe it is measured by how it cares for, as scripture says, “the least of these.”
When disaster strikes, as it so often does on our coast, storms reveal the deep inequities that already exist. It is always “the least of these” who are hit hardest and left to recover with the least resources.
That is why we are writing in fervent, prayerful support of the HUD Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery grant application to build the Newtown Family Center in Sarasota’s historic Newtown neighborhood.
This is not just a line item on an agenda; it is a moral imperative.
These federal disaster recovery funds are explicitly intended to mitigate and build human resilience, which is our only proper defense before the next storm comes.
We believe it is a God-given opportunity to solve a local generational problem with federal dollars – and it would require no new taxes.
Tragically, when similar HUD funds for Hurricane Ian were distributed two years ago, Newtown was overlooked. This new application represents a chance to correct that course.
The proposed Newtown Family Center accounts for less than 5% of the total federal funds available to Sarasota County from these grants.
It is a small and long-overdue investment in our most vulnerable and historically underserved population.
This building is more than brick and mortar.
It is a critical piece of social infrastructure.
A Newtown Family Center will anchor the community and provide critical resources.
It will offer a hand up – not a handout.
It will deliver missing health care for most Newtown children, who are currently using the public-school clinic as their primary medical care provider.
Other resources would include child and social services, a food pantry, job training and education and critical supports.
Numerous Florida counties have seen the benefits of providing a physical, trusted location where many streams of support can converge into a single, mighty river of hope and healing.
The family center’s return on investment is calculated to be nearly $5 for every $1 invested.
We must finally and fully – and with open hearts – recognize the problem.
We cannot call ourselves a resilient county while one of our neighborhoods is barely surviving.
We urge the Sarasota County Commission to seize this rare and blessed opportunity – and we ask for the community’s support as well.
Let us invest these federal funds to help break the cycle of poverty in one generation.
Sarasota has proven it can build world-class institutions for the arts.
Let us now prove that our passion for compassion is just as deep.
Let us create this anchor of hope, dignity and grace for the families of Newtown.
We believe that if we collectively work for the benefit of the least, our communities will grow and flourish as we all desire.
Pastor Danny Preston is the pastor of Mt. Calvary First Baptist Church in Newtown and president of Newtown Community Ministries United. Deacon Humberto Alvia is a faith leader at St. Jude Catholic Church and a member of the board of the Sarasota Ministerial Association. For details on the Newtown Family Center, email info@newtownfamilycenter.org or call 941-867-0779
