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Community foundation: 2025 needs update shows housing and health gaps despite progress
Summary
Jeff Pickering of the Indian River Community Foundation presented a 2025 Community Needs Update showing progress in some health and education metrics but significant concerns about housing affordability, student homelessness (655 students reported homelessness during the year), prenatal care gaps and food insecurity. The foundation emphasized data-driven partnerships and philanthropy to fill gaps.
Jeff Pickering, president and CEO of the Indian River Community Foundation, presented the foundation’s 2025 Community Needs Update to the county commission, summarizing years of research, surveys and comparative data.
"For the members of the public who don't know me, I'm Jeff Pickering. I'm president and CEO of Indian River Community Foundation," Pickering said, and noted the foundation has awarded more than $150,000,000 to charities since 2008. The update highlighted mixed trends: improvements in infant and maternal health, expanded community-based care and rising median household income ($72,000), alongside troubling indicators including 30% of pregnant women receiving no first-trimester prenatal care, a county mental-health hospitalization rate 60% above the Florida average, and an unprecedented number of students reporting homelessness — 655 children said they spent at least one night without stable housing during the year.
Pickering urged stronger public-private partnerships and targeted investments to address child readiness, housing affordability and health-care access. The foundation proposes using its new Indian River Indicators database — which draws on GIS data and local surveys — to identify neighborhoods and programs where philanthropy and government resources can be aligned. Commissioners thanked Pickering for the update and asked that staff and local partners continue to use the data to guide funding and program decisions.
