To introduce this day in the words of Chloe Coney, CEO of Community Enterprise Group, LLC., and program guest speaker, “You can’t just stay in the office to make an impact – you have to get out in your community to make a difference.”
The LT’24 Community Outreach Program Day kicked off at the Tampa YMCA Training Building, where LT classmates enjoyed breakfast by Good to Go Catering through Goodwill. Programming began with a thorough overview on the state of social services in Hillsborough County by Clara Reynolds, President & CEO of the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay, and Thomas Mantz, Executive Director of Feeding Tampa Bay. Social services are the entities in our community that are designed to help community residents in the realms of education, employment, food, health, and housing. These entities are made up of our area’s non-profits, which are created where gaps exist, and success is unlikely for the community without added support. Although it can be a common misconception that social services are only utilized by specific populations, many of those served are individuals in our daily lives and around 20% of those are active in the workforce.
Next, an overview of the 2023 ALICE report (Asset Limited Income Constrained Employed) was provided by Jessica Muroff, CEO of United Way Suncoast. ALICE consists of households that earn about the Federal Poverty Level but cannot afford the basic cost of living in their country and do not qualify for public assistance. This report also shows a threshold of financial survival, which is the minimum average income that a household needs to afford basic costs of living (housing, childcare, food, transportation, healthcare, phone plan, and taxes) (United for ALICE, 2023). Key takeaways from this presentation were that more households are falling below the ALICE threshold compared to the previously completed 2021 ALICE report, pandemic recovery has lessened but struggles continue, and demographic disparities also continue within the findings of the report.
The morning continued with a breakout experience for LT’24 with small groups of classmates visiting various non-profits in the local Tampa area. Our group’s particular experience took us to Cove Behavioral Health, whose mission is to support the community’s overall wellness by providing accessible and compassionate behavioral health care, spanning from mental health disorders to substance abuse and addiction. Most of the individuals treated at Cove are unemployed and experiencing homelessness, with court-ordered or mandated attendance. Our small group toured many of the offered services for its residents, including outpatient services, residential services, medication-assisted treatment, acupuncture, case management, and family services programs. As a summary, Cove strives to help those they serve find success: The family being safe, connected, employed, with housing, clean, and sober. This experience also emphasized that relapse is part of the recovery, and that program success includes a relapse recovery plan to empower the individual with the tools needed to best support them.
Picture 1: LT’24 classmates Larissa Baia, Cortney Young, Douglas Griesenauer, Dean Whaley, and Rikiya Thomas with Catherine Munch, Director of Development and Public Relations, at Cove Behavioral Health.
Back at the Tampa YMCA Training Building, the day continued with lunch from Inside the Box by Metropolitan Ministries, with an overview of the Tampa Metropolitan Area YMCA Strategic Plan and vision to empower every individual in the community to live their most fulfilled life. This was followed by remarks from Chloe Coney, the CEO of Community Enterprise Group, LLC, which centered around the primary social issues in our Tampa region today and how to get involved. Transportation remains a major barrier in Tampa for those seeking employment and convenient access to necessities such as food. In addition, there continues to be a great need for affordable and low-income housing with the rising costs from inflation and population influx. Furthermore, more training and upscaling needs be done for high-paying jobs for individuals to live above the ALICE threshold. OnBoard Tampa Bay is a current & local workforce development initiative sponsored by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) with a mission to build a large, continuous pipeline of local labor to support upcoming roadway and bridge construction and promote economic opportunity throughout Tampa Bay (OnBoard Tampa Bay, 2023). Supporting initiatives such as these provides one example of ways to target these continued community social issues.
The afternoon progressed with the second program breakout experience, where different small groups of LT’24 classmates met with more of our area’s non-profits. Our afternoon group first met at Metropolitan Ministries with Cindy Sofarelli, Senior Director of Development, and Tim Marks, President & CEO, to receive an impactful overview of the incredible work being done through this organization. The mission of Metropolitan Ministries is to care for the homeless and those at risk of becoming homeless in our community through services that alleviate suffering, promote dignity, and instill self-sufficiency, as an expression of the ongoing ministry of Jesus Christ (Metro Ministries, 2023). Metro team members then shared staggering statistics on the ongoing state of housing in the Tampa area, revealing an average cost of rent being above $1900, with less than 2% of available housing currently being within a range of $700-1000 – an important metric for those living with significant financial constraint or experiencing homelessness. Our small group then embarked out to the metropolitan Tampa area near Portico Café with Metro’s mobile support unit called BrigAIDe to hand out supply bags to homeless individuals. It was truly moving to see first-hand the gratitude, kindness, and grace of supply bag recipients, with one individual sharing with our group “Your team (Metro Ministries) got me into a safe place. Thank you so much.”
Picture 2: LT’24 classmates Jounice L. Neely-Brown, Mike Smith, Heather Bragdon, Larissa Baia, Cortney Young, Brad DeBeaubien, Joshua Kwasnicki, and Ray Hawat, with team members from the Metro Ministries mobile support unit (BridAIDe).
The LT’24 Community Outreach Day neared an end with all small groups sharing their respective experiences and reflecting on the magnitude of the overwhelming support and resources currently available within our Tampa region. In total, our LT’24 class underwent immersive experiences at 18 different non-profits (AMI Kids, Community Tampa Bay, Cove Behavioral Health, Created Women, Crisis Center of Tampa Bay, Goodwill, Gulf Coast JFCS, Junior Achievement BizTown, Macdonald Training Center, Meals on Wheels, Metropolitan Ministries, Sulphur Springs YMCA, Tampa Police Department SVU, Tampa Well, The Spring of Tampa Bay, UACDC, University of Tampa, and YMCA Reads). The key class takeaways from this meaningful day centered around the evident passion in our area’s non-profits. These organizations live and breathe the work being done every day, and they thrive on collaborations with our Tampa businesses. Our LT’24 learned to be intentional, find what moves you, and take that next step by becoming involved!
Picture 3: LT’24 classmates Evan Zaslow, Nadine Bailey, Dean Whaley, Kelli Yeloushan, Kara Guagliardo, Matt Newton, Curtis Delaquil, and Marie Whelan experienced shopping with $100 for groceries without transportation within the food desert nearby the Sulfur Springs YMCA.
Picture 4: LT’24 classmates Ray Hawat, Sherri Day, Nicole Travis, Mike Augustine, and Matt Newton with LT’24 Class Chair Terrie Daniel at AMI Kids.
Picture 5: LT’24 classmates Juan Pablo (JP) Lopez, James Bennett, Lily Li, Matt DePasquale, Nicole Travis, Dionne Holt, Jamie Whitehurst, Jen Fleischman, and one of the LT’24 Community Outreach Program Day Chairs, Candace Culver, at Tampa General Hospital.
References: Metro Ministries. (2023)., United For ALICE. (2023).