By LINDA CHION KENNEY
linda@observernews.net
From a volunteer in the clothing room to chief executive officer, Eleanor Saunders ends her official association with the Emergency Care Help Organization in Brandon and Riverview, to take on leadership duties at a special needs camp supported by Rotary clubs statewide.
The transition from ECHO to Rotary’s Camp Florida is a bittersweet moment for Saunders, who leaves behind a nonprofit that under her tenure expanded with space in Riverview, long-range plans to open a center further south in Hillsborough County and plans underway to open a center in Thonotosassa next year, in partnership with Suncoast Community Health Centers.
Eleanor Saunders, third from right, at a past ECHO event with then board members
“We need a new location for Brandon before we can open a fourth center, but that doesn’t negate the needs in south county that we eventually need to address,” said Saunders, who in 2023 was named Riverview Citizen of the Year, by the Greater Riverview Chamber of Commerce, now known as the Brandon Riverview Chamber of Commerce.
Overall, the need is deep and growing, with ECHO serving nine ZIP codes in the Greater Brandon area and eight ZIP codes in the Greater Riverview area. Together, that amounts to roughly 32,000 neighbors served, Saunders said, for the fiscal year set to end June 30. That’s roughly a three-fold increase since her second year as CEO, when in 2016 alone, 10,500 people were served.
Twenty years ago, Saunders started as an ECHO volunteer, later hired by then CEO Stacey Efaw to work eight hours a week for front desk check-in duties. “When I left the first time, I left as center director, and came back six years later as CEO,” Saunders added.
At the time, ECHO provided food and clothing for emergency situations and a few classes covering three topics — the GED high school equivalency diploma, employability and healthy living. Also at the time, a person could receive ECHO emergency services for a limited time, only four times in a lifetime.
“I knew we wanted to go deeper, to really connect people to long-term solutions,” Saunders said. Under her tenure, “four no more” took hold, allowing for more flexibility in delivering services; people in need no longer were called clients, but instead, neighbors; and more services were added, as reflected in a new motto: “Bridging the gap between crisis and stability.”
“In the business it’s called case management, but we’re more like resource navigators,” Saunders said, providing one-on-one advocacy for subsidized child care, reliable transportation and affordable housing.
“We also have a back-to-work program, involving one-on-one coaching,” Saunders said. “Neighbors meet with a job coach and together they find employment. If the neighbor is not ready, then we find training and additional programming to help them get ready for employment.”
With her replacement set to be named earlier this week, Saunders is ready to take on new duties July 3 at Rotary’s Camp Florida, at 1915 Camp Florida Road, north of Brandon Boulevard (State Road 60) off Lakewood Drive.
The Rotary-supported accessible camp, located between lakes Chapman and Gornto, serves children and adults with disabilities and special needs through inclusive recreation and respite programs. Its spacious lakeside grounds and facilities are used also for a variety of offerings, including leadership training, the annual Brandon ’86 Rotary Seafood Festival and Faces of Courage camps for adolescent and adult cancer warriors.
As for Saunders, a Rotarian herself, “I’m a builder, I’m a starter, that’s what I’m created to be,” she said. “At ECHO the bench is strong, the vision is so clear, and the programs are so cohesive and working together, that it was okay for me to try something new.”
