- September 15, 2024
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Harvest House’s newly reopened space, The Venue @ LEC, is positioned to serve as more than just an affordable events venue for the community.
It will also be a significant driver of revenue for the emergency shelter services offered at the nonprofit.
On June 5, the Sarasota County Commission voted to cut all funding to the organization, which offers the county’s only emergency shelter for families.
On July 1, on the other hand, the City Commission voted unanimously in favor of the venue's reopening.
“We’re able to use this revenue to fulfill our mission, which is to take care of the most vulnerable, so it's meeting several needs,” said Erin Minor, CEO of Harvest House.
However, she and her brother Dan Minor, lead pastor at Harvest Sarasota, believe users will be pleased with the offerings in store at the event space at 3650 17th St., which shares its facility with the church.
“It's incredible what we have,” said Dan Minor. “It's state of the art and modern and really great. Most of the nonprofits can afford it. It's a great space. We make income off of it. They get benefit from it.”
The community has seen a significant demand for an affordable venue, Dan Minor said, noting that Riverview High School Performing Arts Center is booked months in advance.
The space brings professional lighting and sound equipment including a 16 x 9 LED wall, as well as seating for 480 people in an auditorium setup, or 300 people around banquet tables.
Other features include a reception area, a catering kitchen and smaller breakout rooms.
Events that can be hosted include nonprofit functions and private events like celebrations, funerals and memorial services.
The space promises lower rental rates in comparison to other local venues, with rates of $450 an hour for nonprofits and $500 an hour for private events, with a four-hour minimum.
Prices are all-inclusive, encompassing the event staff and all features of the facility.
Although the venue had initially been open for events from December 2022 to March 2023, it was closed from March 2023 to July 2024 as the City Commission undertook a review of permitted activities on the property.
The area is residentially zoned, although an exception exists to that category for religious institutions.
Dan Minor said to keep the city on board with their plans, they agreed to avoid hosting for-profit ticketed events unless they were in line with the nonprofit’s mission or featured a co-sponsorship aspect.
“At this point, there's enough nonprofit, enough weddings and private parties, we think we can fill up our schedule without even having to thread that needle,” he said.
Dan and Erin Minor emphasize the mission of the events space is twofold.
They say it will be essential for the community following the decision by the county commission not to fund the nonprofit.
The organization had contracted with the county for 10 years to provide the county’s only emergency shelter for homeless families and was listed as third in priority, out of the 51 organizations to apply for funding, by the county’s Human Services Advisory Council.
However, the meeting introduced a requirement for participating organizations to have filed a 990 tax form, something Harvest House is not required to do as a faith-based organization.
The more than $310,000 that were cut comprised 55% of the organization's shelter budget, and 7 to 8% of its full budget, Erin Minor said.
The decision, which also impacted other area nonprofits, resulted in multiple community foundations sending a letter asking the commission to reconsider its decision.
The Minors believe the decision was made for political reasons.
“They view us as a progressive organization because we're inclusive and affirming of the LGBTQ community,” Dan Minor said.
Operating across both Sarasota and Manatee counties, Harvest House provides supportive housing with a total of 380 beds, and services including addiction recovery and food security.
“The only way I can really put it into words, for me, is that it's cruel," Erin Minor said. "It's a cruel decision to take the only emergency shelter, to defund it in this community, when housing costs are at some of the highest rates we've seen in our history."
Dan Minor said those who benefit from the services do not even necessarily have addiction or mental health issues, such as a mother who could not afford her increasing rent.
"She was going to Wawa gas stations with her teenage son, to get cleaned up and get ready for school and work, and that's going to happen more now, when they're not going to have a resource, because we're going to be limited in what we can do," he said. "We hope that's not the case, but as it looks now, there's going to be more people like that that are not going to have anywhere to go."
As of last year, Erin Minor said, the nonprofit had 70 referrals for families in Sarasota County who were homeless, only 46 of which they could house.
“Now, instead of serving more than half of those families, we'll be able to serve even fewer,” she said.
They say the venue, as well as the philanthropic nature of the community, will help to keep the shelter operational until next year when they can reapply for county funding.
Currently, they are contracting with nonprofits like the Community Foundation of Sarasota County, which plans to host a graduation ceremony for participants in its 2Gen Scholarship program.
