DeSoto County

And we've had this spirit of volunteerism in our chapter for many, many years.

And I think it's a testament to the nonprofit community that we have represented in Sarasota, Manatee, and DeSoto counties with hundreds upon hundreds of organizations that are cause-driven.

And so many of our members in the Central West Coast chapter are also representing nonprofits or foundations.

And so there has always been this drive on the board to give back.

i would really love to see it become something statewide because i know that there there's i think it's comms for a cause something like that in another chapter which i'm sure does amazing work but if they were called mission mavericks who knows how much better that work might be.

But no, I think I'd love to see it just grow out more so.

I mean, we're across Sarasota, Manatee, DeSoto right now, and Sarasota is not necessarily the most in-need county in the state.

So I do think there are other counties that could use CWC FPRA or any FPRA getting in there and helping out and chipping in more in their communities.

So Helene and Milton comes through, and data centers local here to the Tampa Bay area had to maintain power and connectivity to the internet.

So I want to go over an example in DeSoto County.

This is a hyperscale example and something that I think we as the city would probably want to not see and how the regulations or lack thereof have led to these.

So this is in DeSoto County, just east of the city of Arcadia.

They had originally approved just a very, very small portion.

Let me see if this

If you can up here, this small section right here was a 30,000 square foot data center and was approved as a PUD in May.

I'm sorry, in March of this year.

And because I think they can play different roles in moving this kind of work forward.

I think one of the most important things I need to keep emphasizing is you don't have to start with some large community change initiative like we did in Alamance County, North Carolina, or even writing Pennsylvania or North River Manatee County in Florida or DeSoto County, Florida.

You can start small.

We've worked with a team of five people in a community to help create change.

No.

This is a DeSoto County, Florida, which is a little bit s- uh, east of Sarasota-

Ooh, wow

... kind of in the literal middle of nowhere.

Earlier this week, we talked about a lack of debates among Florida's statewide races, but we are getting debates for some local races, like Congressional District 16.

That covers some of Pinellas, Hardy, and DeSoto counties.

In an online debate yesterday, Democratic candidate Kelly Kirshner talked about restricting AI.

I think these companies need to be held liable for some of the things that are going on right now, and we need to have an understanding on what happens to the dignity of work and the future of our economy as AI advances.

Today, I've got Becky Sue Mercer on the call with me.

She's the executive director of Arcadia Housing Authority and an absolute mover and shaker in DeSoto County and a longtime Remake Learning Days host.

So I'm super thrilled to have you.

Welcome to the podcast, Becky Sue.

Yeah, you're really leaning into collaboration to build such a strong structure of resources for them and not just, you know, giving a band-aid, but offering tools that continue to support them, whether or not they're with you or they move on to somewhere else, which I think is really important.

Well, thank you for sharing so much about the work that you're doing and the different things you've done with Remake Learning Days and the different things we've partnered on between the Patterson Foundation and Arcadia Housing.

And we're just grateful to have you in DeSoto County.

We know how wonderful you are there and all the work that you're doing.

The boys had been getting blood transfusions for years, and all three were diagnosed with HIV in 1986.

After the diagnosis, their house was firebombed, and the DeSoto County School District would not allow the boys to go to school.

By the time that Ricky and Robert were 13, they had full-blown AIDS.

They had gotten the disease when they were eight.

The fundamentalist Christians swore that AIDS was God's wrath on the gay community, IV drug users, and sex workers.

Goodbye and good riddance, they said.

One of these fundamentalist groups made it a point to firebomb the Rays' house in DeSoto County, Florida.

You know, the preteen kids who got AIDS from blood transfusions? Also in 1991...