VOL. 27 NO. 7
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JULY 2026
Dancing With The Martin Stars 2026 Set To Dazzle The Audience And Raise Funds For Martin County Healthy Start Coalition Dazzling sequins, energetic music, bright lights, and a little friendly competition will take center stage on Saturday, September 26, for this year’s exciting and glamorous Dancing with the Martin Stars event. Eight community members will trade their day jobs for dance shoes and step onto the Lyric Theatre stage alongside seasoned professionals to support the work of the Martin County Healthy Start Coalition. Each dancer will be competing to wow the judges with their fancy footwork and also to raise the most funds to support the Martin County Healthy Start Coalition vision: every baby born healthy, every mother supported, and every father involved. “Dancing with the Martin Stars is always a high-energy evening,” said Martin County Healthy Start Coalition CEO Samantha Suffich. “The audiences love the competition, and our dancers are excited to step out of their comfort zone for a good cause.”
This year’s dancers and the professional instructors they are paired with are Michelle Hance with Isabel Lowe, Laurie Laramie with Daniel Elhaddad, Brooke Lewis with Brian Spector, Kalista Kaplan with Antonio Torres, Michelle Massa with Chris Waterman, Zac Rockefeller with Emily Matos, Pete Lashenka The spectacular cast of the 2025 Dancing with the Martin Stars brought down the curtain on with Marianella Tobar, and last year’s event with a standing ovation from a grateful audience. The event promises to be as Michael Sihvola with Daisy much fun in 2026, while raising funds to help ensure that every baby born in Martin County is healthy, every mother is supported, and every father is involved. Krakowiak-Wiebe. Dr. Michelle Massa explained why she has chosen to embrace the challenge of learned about the resources Martin County Healthy Start competing on the Lyric stage. “As a single mother for 15 provides for the community, I knew it was a cause I could years, I know the struggle and the worries about providing give my full support to.” adequate health care and basic living needs for my daughter. I often wished I had better community resources. When I Dancing With The Martin Stars on page 4
CareerConnect Martin Strengthens Martin County’s Workforce By Angela Hoffman, Executive Director, Martin Chamber Foundation Finding a path back into the workplace after an eightyear absence wasn’t easy for Ariadna Atkins, a mother who took time off to care for her special-needs child. When it was finally time for her to re-enter the workforce, she didn’t know how to start the job search. She applied to the CareerConnect Martin program, and she met with Gina Masters, a workforce development coordinator. One of the first things they worked on was identifying her strengths and skills, which were used to bolster her resume and help her gain self-confidence. “In those eight years, she became an amazing multitasker, keeping things organized. These are skills she used at
home, and I helped her see she could transfer those into the workforce,” Masters said. “It’s about changing perspective and focusing on the positive things.” Atkins brushed up on her interview skills and completed her DISC assessment to learn more about how she can best fit into a team. Through CareerConnect Martin, she was placed in a Trial Employment Opportunity – a paid apprenticeship – with Audra Creech, an attorney at McCarthy & Summers. “Utilizing CareerConnect and trial employment has helped our firm fill a much-needed position, increased the likelihood of a successful long-term placement, and allowed us to discover if there was a good fit,” Creech said. “This significantly decreased the upfront costs of onboarding a new
Martin County Commissioners Advance Plans For Treasure Coast Maternity Center For more than a year, Martin County families have been forced to travel outside the community to deliver their babies. On Tuesday, May 19, the Martin County Board of County Commissioners took a major step toward changing that. The board agreed to lease county-owned property along S.E. Tower Drive in Stuart, where the proposed Treasure Coast Maternity Center would be developed, approving a 25-year lease at $1 per year. The approval marks a major milestone in restoring local maternity care access following the closure of Cleveland
Clinic Martin North Hospital’s labor and delivery unit in 2025, which left Martin County without local hospital-based maternity services. Healthcare leaders and community advocates described Tuesday’s vote as a defining moment in the effort to restore safe, accessible maternity care close to home for families throughout Martin County and the Treasure Coast. “No mother should have to worry about whether she’ll make it to the hospital in time,” said Samantha Suffich, CEO of the Martin County Healthy Start Coalition. “This vote represents hope for restoring local maternity care and creating a healthier future for mothers, babies, and families across the Treasure Coast.” The Board’s approval allows the Treasure Coast Maternity Center initiative to proceed Maternity Center on page 6
employee. The CareerConnect team was able to add a major asset to our firm, for which I am exceedingly grateful.” After completing trial employment, Ariadna was hired full-time earning more than expected. She was also pleased with her experience in the program, which is part of the Martin Chamber Foundation. “From start to finish, my experience was beyond what I’d hoped for,” she said. “Thank you so much for giving me the support I needed to take the leap and make the change.” CareerConnect Martin, is a free workforce development program funded by the Stuart/Martin County Chamber of Commerce, United Way of Martin County, Martin County Health Services Department, the Children’s Services Council of United Way, Bank of America Foundation, the Community Foundation of Palm Beach & Martin Counties and other generous corporate and individual supporters. CareerConnect Martin is looking for new business partners and clients to join the free workforce development program. To learn more, log on to careerconnectmartin.org or call (772) 287-1088.