It's not difficult to identify the number one complaint we hear about our programs:  so few people are aware of them.  So consider yourself lucky!  You are one of the select, the engaged residents who know about the well-kept secret of Sarasota County Neighborhood Services.  How did you come to be acquainted with us?

          Perhaps you are one of our current, or former, Civics 101 students.  We happily stereotype you as a passionate citizen who is dedicated to learning about your community and ensuring it is on the right path for a bright future.  Or maybe you guided your neighborhood through a Neighborhood Initiative Grant; in that case, we consider you to be a determined do-gooder who is willing to roll up their sleeves and take action for the betterment of the community.  It might be that you recently discovered us through the announcement of our new program, the Neighborhood Challenge.  You must be the competitive type, who likes to rally a team and achieve victory!  Then again, you may have come to us through the registration of your neighborhood with our Neighborhood Online Directory.  You're a leader and decision-maker who  wants to make sure your neighborhood is on top of any news, projects, or proposals that may affect the quality of life for your community.

          Whatever brought you to us, we're asking you to let the cat out of the bag.  Please don't keep us a secret any longer!  We've learned over the years that our best source of advertising comes from residents who've experienced our programs firsthand.  If you're a Civics grad, encourage a friend to get on the list to be notified of any upcoming Civics sessions (email [email protected]) and keep an eye out on our Facebook page for lots of county facts to come during April (National County Government Month).  If you've been through our grant program, attend our upcoming Share-Shop with a friend (don't know what a Share-shop is?  Read more below.)  Participant in the Neighborhood Challenge?  The more the merrier!  And for those representatives from our Online Directory, visit our booth #320 when you're checking out CA Day, an event focused on connecting community associations with helpful resources, next Thursday, March 9.  

          Oh, and hey!  Feel free to share our newsletter with your awesome colleagues, too.

Attend the First Ever Grant Share-shop!

Does your neighborhood have a landscaping eyesore or other project that gets discussed, but never acted upon?  Come to our first ever Neighborhood Initiative Grant "Share-shop" on Tuesday, March 28 from 4:00pm-5:00pm at the Nokomis Community Park.  Residents from the Venice Avenue Condominiums will share their experience of transforming this patchy triangle of grass with financial assistance from the grant program, and will be accompanied with insights by Wilma Holley (Florida-Friendly landscaping professional from UF/IFAS Extension Services) and a member of the Neighborhood Initiative Grant Advisory Committee (which evaluates and scores grant applications).  Please pre-register for this event.

Sarasota County Neighborhood Challenge - In a Minute

If you are looking for a brief introduction to the Neighborhood Challenge, check out this quick video.

I don't know what neighborhood I am a part of.  How do I find out?

We humbly offer, as our first suggestion, that you ask a neighbor - but we recognize that in a modern era of platted subdivisions, it's easy to overlook neighborhoods that don't have private roads, gated entryways and grand entry signs.  There are several ways to begin investigating if you live in a once-defined neighborhood, but the explanation takes more space than we have available here.  Email us at [email protected] with your address and inquiry, and we'll see if we can help you out.