The spark that created the Englewood Community Coalition was born out of tragedy. Over a decade ago, a small group of concerned citizens came together in response to a string of teen drunk driving fatalities and the early, devastating waves of the fentanyl crisis in Charlotte County. They formed a private 501(c)(3) nonprofit with a singularly urgent mission: keep Englewood safe, healthy, and drug-free.
For ten years, federal grant money from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) sustained their efforts. They taught drug prevention education, cleaned up local beaches, and hosted “Fun Night Done Right”—monthly drug-education pizza parties at Christ Lutheran Church that gave youth ages 10 to 15 healthy, informative alternatives to the dangers of the street.
The program was a massive success, but when the federal funding reached its natural term limits, the organization faced a critical crossroads. To survive, they had to adapt and find a new way to reach kids before they ever reached for a substance. The answer arrived through an unexpected partnership, a free blueprint from the state of Georgia, and a lifelong love of live theater.
Meet Kay Tvaroch and Jeff Dillon
Three years ago, Kay E. Tvaroch, the Executive Director of the coalition, reached out to Jeff Dillon, a local theater veteran. Kay brought decades of executive experience in community health, youth substance abuse prevention, and crisis response, having previously managed a $1 million annual budget at the Center for Abuse and Rape Emergencies (C.A.R.E.) and served on disaster counseling teams after Hurricanes Andrew, Charley, and Katrina.
Jeff, a true Suncoast local, grew up in a prominent arts family; his father Sam was the longtime editor of the Venice Gondolier, and his mother Joan spent 25 seasons as the Venice Theatre’s costume designer. Jeff himself had spent his entire life in live production, wearing every hat from director to production manager, including managing the world premiere of the play “Clowns Like Me” on its journey to an Off-Broadway debut.
Kay saw a glaring void in Englewood, a quiet, mature area with very few activities tailored to adolescents. Worse, the structured extracurriculars that did exist were rapidly becoming a luxury that local working-class families could simply not afford.
Believing that traditional “just say no” programs had historically failed, Jeff and Kay decided that the only way to fill the void was to give children something meaningful to say yes to.
Englewood Creative Arts
Discovering a free instructional guide published by the arts centers of Georgia on how to establish a community arts alliance, Jeff spent a Labor Day weekend drafting the strategic plan for Englewood Creative Arts. Created in 2023, the new arts alliance operated under the coalition as its fiscal sponsor, serving as the vehicle to bring music, drama, and visual arts directly to local youth at absolutely no cost.
The program began utilizing free public spaces at the Elsie Quirk Library and the Englewood Charlotte Library. Because the spaces were public, the alliance could not charge admission, which aligned perfectly with their goal of total accessibility.
The guitar program became an immediate anchor, accumulating a fleet of thirty-three-quarter-sized Yamaha student guitars. Any child from fifth grade up to age 17 could check out a guitar, complete with a nylon case, tuner, and strings, to take home for the summer under the sole condition that they kept showing up to class.
The music classes quickly yielded an unexpected byproduct as intrigued parents began scouring local thrift stores for instruments or borrowing extras from the alliance to learn alongside their children. What began as an after-school program transformed into a shared family experience, building deep emotional bonds across kitchen tables throughout Englewood.
“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life,” Pablo Picasso
The impact of the arts went far deeper than simply learning chords or mixing paints; it became a vital therapeutic tool for a generation of youth wrestling with severe post-COVID social anxiety.
Isolated by years of remote learning and digital screens, many children had lost the ability to navigate live human interaction. Jeff witnessed this transformation firsthand with a quiet teenage girl who arrived at visual arts classes cloaked entirely in defensive black clothing. Under the gentle philosophy of the art instructor, who taught that art has no room for judgment and simply needs to exist, the student’s confidence blossomed.
Over months of sketching, studying Cubism, and interacting with ten peers in the room, her dark wardrobe gave way to bright, expressive colors. By the time she graduated and headed off to Florida Gulf Coast University, she had discovered the coping mechanisms she needed to balance her anxiety.
To keep children engaged, Englewood Creative Arts relies on an elite roster of local instructors across diverse artistic disciplines. Paul Quinn of the Panic Masters Band teaches guitar at the Elsie Quirk Library, while Kellen McCarthy of the Seamus McCarthy Band leads the guitar classes at the Englewood Charlotte Library. Visual arts are taught by Janessa Tamsett, a prominent state-wide artist who guides students through watercolor, charcoal, pen and ink, and colored chalk. Ce’ Schafler serves as the creative dramatics instructor, bringing a career’s worth of experience combining theater with social environmental sciences.
When Schafler had to step away temporarily due to personal matters, Jeff pivoted by recruiting Chuck Sidlow, a legendary Sarasota circus performer Chuck Sidlow (World Of Chucko) Master Clown and Caricature Impressionist, and JP Theron to host intensive sessions on the historical art of clowning.
This theatrical exposure helps students build vital life skills, including diction and elocution to project the voice, physical presence to walk and greet others confidently, and critical acumen to examine the world with curiosity.
These skills were beautifully put on display when the alliance partnered with the local Boys & Girls Club to produce a Reader’s Theater version of Shel Silverstein’s “The Giving Tree.” Armed only with five stools, minimal props, and script binders, the young actors performed for an audience of proud parents, leaving with a tangible sense of achievement and allegorical life lessons they would carry into adulthood.
New Chapter, New Challenges
Today, Englewood Creative Arts is entering a challenging yet exhilarating new chapter as an independent, private entity operating without the safety net of federal funding, relying entirely on the generosity of the community it serves.
Programming is scheduled to resume in January 2027, featuring guitar and visual art classes at the Elsie Quirk Library and guitar classes at the Englewood Charlotte Library. Ultimately, the goal was never to manufacture famous actors or virtuoso musicians, but rather to build curious, empathetic, and resilient human beings who recognize the design of the world around them.
To sustain these vital services, the organization will host the Southern Nights Fundraising Gala on Saturday, November 14, 2026, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the Rotonda Hills Golf & Country Club. Tickets are priced at $125 per person and include an extensive lineup of entertainment, such as live music from a Dixie Land Band and Steve Roiland and The Romantics, a dedicated happy hour, an open bar, authentic Southern cuisine, dancing, casino games, and a live auction.
The evening is made possible through the generous backing of local community sponsors, including Grande Aire Services LLC, the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, Drug Free Charlotte County, Faith Lutheran Church of Rotonda West, and Crews Bank & Trust.
For ticket information, reservations, or to support the mission of keeping Englewood safe, healthy, and drug-free, community members can reach the coalition office directly by emailing [email protected] or by calling or texting 941-681-0091.
Community members looking for scheduling details or enrollment can follow their active Facebook page or contact Jeff directly via email at [email protected] or by calling 941.302.8783.
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