Page 13 - Martin Downs Bulletin - October '22
P. 13

Martin Downs, Page 13



                                              BuSinESS















         OctOBER 2022                                        Palm city cOmmunity cEntER, 2701 S.W. cORnEll avE., Palm city
                                                                              PhOnE: (772) 286-8121 Fax: (772) 286-3331
                                                                                  WWW.PalmcitychamBER.cOm


      President’s message




        A shout out to  The                                The  Children’s Museum has had a  special  place in   at The Children’s Museum of the Treasure Coast. Guests
      Children’s Museum of the                           my heart since my son, Anthony, was four years old. He   had the opportunity to purchase raffle tickets for some great
      Treasure Coast.                                    wanted to be a fireman and at The Children’s Museum of   prizes for a small donation.
        We are very fortunate to                         the Treasure Coast, many moons ago, you could dress up as     Thank you to everyone who came out to support me and
      have many nonprofits in our                        a firefighter and get on the fire truck! I have the best photo   all the wonderful people at The Children’s Museum of the
      community. They all work                           and memory of that day!                           Treasure Coast. Remember that to our local nonprofits, no
      very hard providing help to                          When I was asked to be a part of the ShipWrecked   donation is ever too small to help.  Reach out to your favorite
      our those in  need locally.                        Fundraiser for their new exhibits, I jumped at the chance to   nonprofit and offer your time or your financial support. The
      The best way to support                            participate. I chose to feature the Light Cubes Exhibit for   return will be beneficial to you and others in our community.
      these organizations is to                          Sensory Friendly Days. They look like they are so much fun
      participate in their fundraising efforts.          and would be a great addition to Sensory Days.                                  christina l. Franco
       I wanted to share with you one of my favorite nonprofits that     Contestants dressed up as castaways and were held        President, Palm City Chamber
      I recently had the privilege of  supporting and assisting with   “captive on the island” until we raised enough money to get             of Commerce
      fundraising, The Children’s Museum of the Treasure Coast.  rescued. The community was invited to attend a themed party               Hampton by Hilton
      Executive Director’s corner




        The Palm City Chamber                            paycheck to paycheck and have a health emergency or car
      of Commerce has heard from                         trouble, that could mean the difference between keeping your
      many of our business owners                        home or losing it. As homeowners’ insurance rates increase and
      struggling to recruit and retain                   home prices rise, many landlords are finding that they must raise
      talent in their industries.                        rent to cover their expenses. We have out-of-state corporations
      We are working with key                            coming into Martin County and buying up all the real estate
      community leaders to be                            they can and then charging huge amounts to our local residents.
      a part of crafting effective                       There is not a quick fix to this issue. We must all work together
      change. While most in our                          to create new opportunities for homes for our workforce, seniors,
      community and our nation                           and families.
      recognize there is a housing problem, few understand     We are very grateful to the members of our 3 panels, one
      the short- and long-term effects it is having on our local   from nonprofits, one from businesses, and one from the HSC
      workforce. Some still do not realize how deep the issue runs.   for participating. We truly appreciate Martin County District 5   Kim Johnson with the Salvation Army, David Bradford with
        On September 7, the Palm City Chamber of Commerce held   Commissioner Ed Ciampi for his support and presentation. HSC   Edward Jones, and Madeleine Bozone Greenwood with
      a symposium to cover how the housing crisis is affecting our   has shared with the Palm City Chamber of Commerce and our   Family Promise
      local businesses and began to delve into what got us here. We   guests, that they will be putting on another Affordable Housing
      asked the Housing Solutions Council of Martin County (HSC)   Summit to continue the conversation in November 2022 to share
      to sponsor a panel in the discussion with local experts to discuss   real solutions to bring about positive change.
      barriers to affordable housing for our workforce and touch on     I would recommend that Martin County residents attend
      some solutions in the works.                       meetings, like the Housing Solutions Council’s upcoming
        Sadly, this crisis is affecting many members of our local   summit in November, and engage in the conversation to develop
      community. Homelessness is REAL for people and families   solutions. Martin County is an amazing place to live and work.
      of all ages. Families, seniors, and young professionals are one   We ALL need to come together and work on a solution to keep
      financial crisis away from losing their homes. If you are living   it that way! There are options to explore but it will mean change,

            2022 Palm city chamber of commerce                                                             Missi Campbell, Executive Director with the Palm City

                                                                                                           Chamber, Martin County District 5 Commissioner Ed
                                   Board of Directors                                                      Ciampi, and Nikki Leserra with Sky is the Limit



         President                  Christina Franco                Hampton Inn and Suites
         President Elect            Don Pipes                       Atlantic Aviation
         Vice-President             Anne-Marie Persaud              iThink Financial
         Treasurer                  David Bradford                  Edward Jones
         Past President             Tyson Waters                    Fox McCluskey Bush & Robison
         Director                   Keith (Fletch) Fletcher         Boys & Girls Club of Martin County
         Director                   Gigi Suntum                     Caring Children Clothing Children
         Director                   Cheree Ramirez                  Children’s Services Council of MC
         Director                   Peter Sicoli                    Sailfish Insurance                     Joe Flanagan with the Martin County Affordable Housing
                                                                                                           Committee, Dr. John Millay, Superintendent of Martin
         Director                   Robin Hall                      Out2News                               County Schools, and Mark Sechrist, Martin County Schools
         Director                   Tara Biek-Robison               Tara Biek Creative
         Director                   Shaun Plymale                   Treasure Coast Legal                   and no one likes change. However, if we don’t change, Martin
                                                                                                           County will not be able to stay sustainable. There needs to be
         Director                   Meghan Shirey                   Ocean Republic Brewing                 equity between a working wage and housing. Let’s step up
         Director                   Rob McLaughlin                  Access 365 Urgent Care                 together and be the change that Martin County needs!
          Director                  Patrick Gleason                 State Insurance                                       Photos courtesy of www.Out2News.com
         Ex-Officio                 Toby Overdorf                   State Representative
         Ex-Officio                 Ed Ciampi                       Martin County Commission                                                 missi campbell
                                                                                                                                           Executive Director
         Ex-Officio                 Michael DiTerlizzi              Martin County School Board                                 Palm City Chamber of Commerce
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