Baycross Christian Family Foundation awarded a matching grant for the development of a new state-of-the-art career resource center located on the Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota County’s Fruitville Road campus in Sarasota.
“Our goal for the career resource center is to put all Club members, ages 9 – 13, on a pathway to success with a plan for the future after high school graduation,” said Bill Sadlo, president and CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota County.
The 1,500-square-foot center will replace an older maintenance building currently on the campus and will provide technical training for Club members who may or may not be college bound and are seeking full-time, long-term careers when they graduate high school.
“Eighty-six percent of the families we serve make less than $42,000 a year,” said Jaime DiDomenico, chairman of the board of directors at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota County. “Typically, we see that between the ages of 12 – 14 many kids either become latchkey or have to work part time to help with the household income. The track for these kids is either college or no college; there is no middle. We want to create the middle with the career resource center. We have a great need for skilled trades in our region, and this is a way to fill that need with local kids and keep them here. Our goal is to place 100 percent of our trained graduates in competitive community employment.”
The facility will feature two rooms including the John Cox Teaching Lab, named for the former president of Halfacre Construction Company. The lab will enable kids to work with their hands with tools like small pumps and motors, as well as, technology to serve 12 – 15 students at one time.
The second room will be a classroom that includes STEM Smart technology, which is a simulated design to enhance the Sarasota Middle School learning experience and serve 20 – 30 students at one time.
“We believe that this exciting initiative will break the cycle of poverty for the participants,” said Sadlo. “We are taking a two-generational approach, allowing the career resource center to serve kids during the day and their parents or guardians at night.”
The renovation for the career center is set to begin in January with a targeted completion date in the spring.