Sarasota's summer learning programs critical amid major crises in learning and housing

Category: Stories of Impact, EMPOWERMENT AND SUCCESS: Career Development & Advancement, EMPOWERMENT AND SUCCESS: Lifelong Connections, EMPOWERMENT AND SUCCESS: Scholarship Opportunities, Empowerment and Success,

by Saundra Amrhein

Sarasota parent Zac Cox turned to the great outdoors for a classroom when the pandemic forced the closure of schools.

His two small kids – cut off from friends and wrestling with online learning – needed more, so he loaded them into the car and took them on road trips to national parks.

But even Cox couldn’t shield them from all that came next: the loss of his job and their child care to the pandemic, followed by a major housing crisis and skyrocketing rents.

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