WORDS: Shannon Evans
In the Outpatient Pediatric Therapy clinic of Manatee Memorial Hospital (MMH), you’ll see children at play. Board games and puzzles, climbing frames and swings—the kids are in their element. But they’re also hard at work.
“Therapy is play, because that’s how children learn,” says Director Elizabeth “Liz” Brown, M.S., CCC-SLP. “It’s their job. Adults come to work and type on a computer; kids go to work and …
WORDS: Shannon Evans
PHOTOS: Katelyn Disbro
On a quiet street in Bradenton Beach, among stately homes and rental cottages bathed in bright pastels, one property is not like the others. That’s because many of its residents wear fur, feathers, shells, and even scales. Here, Wildlife Inc. Education and Rehabilitation Center preserves and protects native wildlife, with its ultimate goal of releasing native species back into the wild.
Founded in 1988 …
WORDS: Shannon Evans
MAIN PHOTOS: Wendy Dewhurst
“A college education will adversely affect a woman’s health and fertility.”
Wait. What?
In the late 1900s, women pursuing higher education battled against widely circulated myths like the one above. For women who had obtained a college degree, opportunities were scarce. But in 1881, a group of women rolled up their sleeves and decided change would begin with them.
It started with …
WORDS & PHOTOS: Wendy Dewhurst
Since 1980, the mission of HOPE Family Services has been to promote safety, strength, and well-being for those affected by domestic violence in Manatee County.
HOPE Family Services CEO Char Young started as a part-time employee handling their new computer and accounting systems 25 years ago. Soon after, the Business Director left, and Char moved into a full-time job, which then led to a CFO …
WORDS & PHOTO: Wendy Dewhurst
Nine years ago, a group of three very influential and impactful organizations whose mission is to support early learning came together with the purpose of pursuing initiatives that would enrich the community, prioritizing collaboration while strengthening their individual agencies.
“This all began with the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading Program,” said Shela Halpin with the School District of Manatee County (SDMC). “We wanted to form a …
WORDS & PHOTOS: Wendy Dewhurst
We see the names Bishop and Parker on buildings throughout Manatee County, but who were Edward and Lillian Bishop and Mary Parker? How did they help to shape our community? What role does the Bishop Parker Foundation have in Manatee and Sarasota County today?
The first thing I found interesting was that they didn’t go by Edward and Lillian. Everyone knew them as Ned and …
WORDS & PICTURES: Gabrielle Versmessen
Between work, school, dinner, and family time, it can be difficult to find the time in your family’s busy schedule to fit in sports activities for young ones. However, HappyFeet Tampa Bay tries to combat this common problem with this solution: weekly preschool programs.
Offering weekly classes to over 220 preschools and early learning centers throughout the greater Tampa Bay area, the HappyFeet curriculum doesn’t …
WORDS: Sheri Roca
PICTURES: Wendy Dewhurst
When avid golfer and Waterlefe Golf and River Club member Bob Buchanan was looking for an avenue to help local kids after moving to Manatee County, he realized the community was lacking a program that would introduce the underserved and minority youth to the game of golf.
There are many occasions for kids to learn how to play basketball, football, soccer, baseball, and even …
WORDS: Gabrielle Versmessen
After reading about the events and powerful testimonies from students during the Kiwanis Key Leader program in a March 2020 issue of Kiwanis Magazine, Judge Ed Nicholas was sold on bringing the program to Manatee County.
Targeted toward eighth-grade through eleventh-grade students, the Key Leader weekend helps students develop leadership and team-building skills while assisting them in becoming the best they can be. According to the Kiwanis …
WORDS & PICTURES: Gabrielle Versmessen
Hailing from Delaware, working in management at Walmart, longing to sell snow cones on the beach somewhere, Stephanie Edwards made her dreams a reality in 2015.
Stephanie worked for Walmart for 23 years. She sat on the board of directors for a food bank and the local chamber of commerce through her management position with the company, as well as served in various local reading …
WORDS & PICTURES: Gabrielle Versmessen
Imagine living in a community where language barriers are broken, creating a common ground where we’re able to see ourselves as more the same than different. ¡HOLA! Elementary at Manatee School for the Arts is striving to do just that.
As an arts-infused dual-language public charter school, ¡HOLA! Elementary is the first and only school of its kind in Manatee County. It opened its doors …
WORDS & PICTURES: Gabrielle Versmessen
Have you ever wanted your child to be enrolled in an afterschool care program but worried about lack of transportation? Would your child benefit from free tutoring that’s done on at least a 3:10 teacher-to-student ratio? What about being secure in knowing that your child is in a safe, positive, and life-affirming environment?
Avenue941 is a local initiative that does all of these things and …
WORDS & PICTURES: Gabrielle Versmessen
Our local community has a plethora of established clubs and organizations that work hard every day to make Manatee County a better place to live. The Rotary Club of Bradenton especially strives to bridge the gaps in early childhood education to set young students up for educational success.
Rotary International focuses on six specific issues: teacher training, fighting diseases, saving mothers and children, supporting education, …
WORDS & PICTURES: Gabrielle Versmessen
Someone you wouldn’t necessarily think would be connected to every part of a community is the “trophy guy.” But chances are if you or your kids played sports in Manatee County in the last 37 years or have received an award in school or at work, you’ve obtained a piece created by Don Ide of The Trophy Case.
Don moved from south of Buffalo, New …
WORDS & PICTURES: Gabrielle Versmessen
When walking up to Prospect Riding Center, one is greeted by the sounds of chickens clucking, roosters crowing, cows mooing, and horses snorting. Not your typical equine therapeutic riding center, Prospect Riding Center offers a variety of hurdles to help folks with special needs overcome many different drawbacks, whether they be mental or physical.
“Coming here, you don’t know what you’ll come up on,” Susan …
