Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/129431
Sarasota News Leader May 10, 2013 About 200 people participated last year, according to Highland, and she expects the numbers to be strong again this Saturday. "It doesn't seem to be a problem getting people there," she says. Page 50 whole lot of things happening," says Highland. "We've lost a small number of women, but the women we have served have more needs." Healthy Start state funding has been tenuous, too. The Legislature last year restored cuts from previous years, and this year it moved Healthy Start money to the state's recurring fund, an encouraging sign, according to Highland. "We're happy that we didn't get a cut," she says. "We were just so thin already. Another cut would have been devastating." Highland's organization, dedicated to supporting new mothers and infants, served approximately 1,500 women last fiscal year — a decline from previous years. But that doesn't mean need has decreased. According to Highland, the lower number is likely a result of people moving away during the economic implosion, and the women the nonprofit does The Sarasota Community Baby Shower runs see have been struggling more than in previ- from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, May 18, at ous years. the Boys and Girls Club of Sarasota, 3100 "The women we do see tend to have more Fruitville Road, Sarasota. Call 373-7070 or problems and more issues, more stress in visit healthystartsarasota.org for more intheir lives, and stress is the first domino of a formation. %