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January 2008 Newsletter
Looking forward to 2008
We are looking forward to a very active year for the Renaissance Group in 2008, as you will see in the paragraphs below. Many of our activities of the past few years are bearing fruit and providing new opportunities where we can have a major, positive impact on Bonita Springs.
We hope you will choose to participate in some of these activities this year!
Our new website
We are developing a web site for the Renaissance Group which should be operational by early February. This web site will provide information about our background and history,
activities of the group, volunteer opportunties, status of our major projects, and links to other sites of interest.
This web site will also provide an easy mechanism for our regular communications with members and partners. Once it is operational, I will send members an email advising when a newsletter is available, and all you will have to do is click on a link to see it.
The web site will also provide an easy mechanism to communicate with the board.
There will be a variety of domain names which will get you to the web site, but the primary one will be http://www.RenaissanceGroupBonitaSprings.org . Click on this link and see how easy it is to get there, and be sure and add us to your favorites!
Renaissance at Rosemary Park update
Our flagship community, Renaissance at Rosemary Park, is progressing nicely. This is a green community using construction techology and materials that will make these affordable workforce homes incredibly energy efficient… would you believe a $50 electric bill in the dog days of summer?
The first three homes will be finished and occupied in early February, and there is an open house planned for Saturday January 19 at 1 pm. Come on over and see how nice these affordable homes are. There will be 26 affordable homes in the north section of RARP currently under construction, and 17-19 homes in the adjacent south section currently in the permitting process. More details can be found at the web site of the Bonita Springs Area Housing Development Corporation, http://www.BSAHDC.com .
This community was only made possible by our Corporate partners, individual donors, and the partnerhips with BSAHDC and the City of Bonita Springs.
Red Hibiscus
Our next major affordable housing partnership with BSAHDC and the City is known as Red Hibiscus. Red Hibiscus will provide 26 affordable homes in Bonits Springs located just west of Southern Pines Drive and north of West Terry. BSAHDC has owned this property for a few years, but it is only through a public/private partnership which will pay for the infrastructure that the houses can be made affordable.
We will be embarking soon on a major fundraising drive to raise $165,000 from Corporate partners, businesses, and individuals which will be matched by the City to provide the infrastructure. We hope you will consider contibuting to this fund raising effort with a personal donation, and we would welcome the help of any member in our fund raising drive. We would welcome any ideas of businesses or individuals that you think we should contact. Please contact any board member with ideas.
Director Rusty Whitley has already secured a donation of $8,000 in 2007/2008 from the DeVoe Group.
Board matters
Your Board of Directors is making good progress in implementing the committee structure Pete Mootz mentioned in his December newsletter. These committees will make us more effective , but will also provide opportunities for members who would like to help on one of the committees.
The committees and the lead Director are:
• Government Relations Bruce Wheatley
And Public Affairs
• Special Projects
o Paint Your Heart Out Fred Weinman
o Environmental Activities Bill Rummler
o YMCA Liaison Ross Roberts
We would welcome member participation on any of these committees… Please contact us!
One of our Founding Directors, Bob Culberson, has decided it is time for him to step down from his board position . He will remain an active and supportive member of Renaissance. Bob has been a major contributor to Renaissance intiatives including Rosemary Park Rallies, neighborhhod initiatives, Fund Raising, Youth Soccer, liaison with the City,and PYHO. We are deeply grateful to Bob for his leadership and tireless efforts in support of The Renaissance Group.
We are pleased to announce that Fred Weinman has been elected to the Board of Directors of BSAHDC. He joins Dennis Wilkie and Lyman Phillips on that Board. Dennis and Lyman have been members for 3 years.
Other news and initiatives
• Paint Your Heart Out Bonita (PYHO) , Chaired by Director Fred Weinman, is being moved to a November activity at the request of City Administration. This is because there are heavy demands in the spring on City staff as well as on the merchants who donate. The date this year will be November 8, so mark your calendars for this wonderful colunteer activity.
Fred reported that we have received a $3000 grant for PYHO from Home Depot’s Corporate Headqurters in Atlanta! That’s great news and important recognition of this initiative.
• Ross Roberts is leading an ongoing dialog with the Bonita Springs YMCA to determine if there are mutual opportunities for community service
• Bill Rummler has ongoing dialog with the City about a planned nature center on land the City owns near the YMCA. The construction of this center may provide exciting volunteer opportunities for Renaissance members.