Since Mayor Greg Oravec will start his new job as Islamorada village manager July 1, a Port St. Lucie special election will likely happen in September or October
Donors rely on accountability
We relied on Nate Bruckner, who in five years as United Way of Indian River County’s director of community impact has become an expert on the agencies. He also knows how much donors care about nonprofits successfully reaching goals to help people in need.
“You want to make sure they’re being run as businesses, even if they’re nonprofits,” he said, adding that transparency is critical.
Meredith Egan, who became CEO in January after almost seven years with the agency, concurred.
“It really needs to be about the impact (these agencies have),” she said, noting the agency hoped to distribute about $1.8 million this year. “We’re trying to get away from being seen as just a fundraising organization.”
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INDIAN RIVER COUNTY In a state with a year-round swimming season and a county with 26 miles of shoreline, a handful of area nonprofits are working together to ensure minority and low-income youth are skilled and confident swimmers.
Nearly 400 children have learned to swim for free in just five years, thanks to a partnership between Float Hope of Indian River County, the Gifford Youth Achievement Center and the county s three Boys & Girls Club chapters.
Float Hope provides swimming lessons, equipment and registration to USA Swimming competitions at no cost to combat the cyclical pattern of children from low-income families not having the resources to learn how to swim, said Jeff Powers, the organiztion s chief executive officer.
To me, it’s indicative of a Florida county struggling with growth and how to handle it.
We’re facing the reality that the city of Vero Beach, with an estimated 18,000 people (50% fewer than Sebastian), is the second biggest city in the county and only a fraction of its 165,395 population.
While it has many of the county’s top assets beach parks, shopping areas, hotels it no longer controls a larger area by serving it with electricity. That means folks adjacent to the city no longer prop up Vero Beach’s general fund, which pays to maintain so many of the city’s parks.