Problems we are solving

• Hunger & Food Insecurity

• Homelessness

• Poverty

*Hunger & Food Insecurity

A report by Feeding Tampa Bay one of the largest food banks here in Hillsborough County in their most recent report on food insecurity reported that:

• Florida is  is fourth in the nation for family hunger and food insecurity

• 60% of the population in West Florida is eligible for food stamps

• Hillsborough County has 204,420 number of food insecure people which is 16.5% of the County population

• Children and Seniors make up nearly half of the hunger & food insecurity population in Tampa Bay

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In our Sulphur Springs Neighborhood Dream Builders distributes over:

• 500 hot meals weekly to hungry and homeless guests and

• distributes food baskets over 600 low income families monthly. 

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*Homelessness 

Our “Homeless One-stop Resources & Services Center” is only of few gathering day place for people who are homeless in the City of Tampa to access services to help them get off the streets.  Each day between 75 to 100 Homeless men and women including women with children visit Dream Builders Mission seeking a Hot Meal, showers, clothing, hygiene Items, a place to wash their clothes. Employment services, counseling and most of all a place to live to get off the streets. Our Center also have a partnership of homeless service providers that visit our center to interface with our homeless guests to determine what services they need that we do not offer on site and then make the appropriate referrals to these off-site services.

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Homeless Individuals and families, including Veterans and Youths faces a number of substantial barriers to obtaining housing. Many suffer from co-occurring mental health and substance abuse issues that hinders access to housing and reentry into the workforce that can become mentally and emotionally challenging. Most homeless have not held a job in years, and many struggle with mental health disorders, including traumatic and anxiety disorders, that complicate their re-entry into employment and permanent housing. Many also face recent legal involvement and a lack of social and life skills that inhibit their reintegration process.

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There is a major gap in services/lack of/shortages of services throughout the entire Hillsborough County as there are not enough shelter beds and Day Centers like our “Homeless One-stop Resources & Services Center” that the homeless can access and find help to get back on their feet. Many of the shelters here in Hillsborough County are only temporary overnight shelters, where they are required to leave early in the mornings and cannot return until later that same evening. This is where our Innovative and Comprehensive strategy comes in, where we send our buses to these shelters, pick up the homeless, and bring them to our day center for the supportive services they desperately need to find permanent housing.

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We are embracing the challenging opportunities that are before us! We are strategically positioned, we have the heart and history of helping the homeless, and we have a plan to help even more in the future. The Homeless are calling out for our help – they are flocking to us for help – and we are ready to respond.

Our expansion Project : “Homeless Connect Mobile Outreach” will go the places where the homeless congregate, places such as soup kitchens, Metropolitan Ministries hot meal sites, parks where the homeless gathers and transport them to our center to access services they need to get off the streets.

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Tampa Hillsborough Homeless Initiative (THHI) street count

The Tampa Hillsborough Homeless initiative (THHI) the HUD’s Continuum of Care Lead Agency for Hillsborough County reported in their 2018 Homeless Annual Point-in-time (PIT) Street Count for Hillsborough Count including the City of Tampa; that there were:

• 1,795 people were experiencing Homelessness

• 1,155 were sheltered, living in Emergency or Transitional shelter

• 640 were unsheltered living in the streets

• 315 were Homeless  veterans

• 55 were homeless youths.

 

Florida Dept. of Education in their 2017 Annual report stated:

• That there are approximately 3500 children homeless in the Hillsborough County School District alone. These are children either living in shelters or living with family members or on the streets.

 

The Florida Council on Homelessness reported in their 2017 annual count that one night in January:

• 32,109 persons were living on the streets or in a shelter throughout the state

 

HUD’S Annual Street Count

The Housing & Urban Department (HUD) that administers the Federal Continuum of Care grants, reported in their 2016 Annual Homeless Assessment Report on Sheltered and Un sheltered Homeless in the United States on a single night in January 2017 was that:

• 553,742 People were homeless were experiencing homelessness

• 360,867 were staying in either an emergency or transitional shelter

• 192,875 were staying in unsheltered/living on the streets

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*Poverty amongst the Low Income Families we serve

About the Sulphur Springs Neighborhood where we operate our Center

Our Sulphur Springs Neighborhood, with a population of approximately 6,000 plus residents, is located within the City of Tampa and bound on the north by Busch Blvd and on the south by the Hillsborough River. Nebraska Avenue forms its western most boundary and Rowlett Drive forms its east boundary. A report by United Way Sun coast reveals that :

• 57% of the households have income under $25,000 (compared to 43% in Hillsborough County

• Per capita income is $10,600 (compared to $22,000 for the City of Tampa

• 48% of all families live below the poverty line (5 times the county average)

• 1,326 of the 1,864 household in Sulphur Springs receive public assistance

• The incidence of no-car ownership is nearly 200% above the county average

• 50% of the households have children under the age of 18; the vast majority of those households are headed by single mothers

• 35% of residents are children under the age of 14 (compared to 21% for the county)

• Homelessness in Sulphur Springs- We estimate that there are over 600 homeless living on the streets of Sulphur Springs. These are people sleeping on the streets, abandoned houses and buildings, in parks and anywhere where they can lay their heads for the night. We are seeing anywhere from 50 to 75 homeless daily visit our Center.

• At-risk of becoming homeless –These are those living with a friend or relatives, and sleeping on a couch, rather than sleeping on the streets.

• Motel Dwellers-We have discovered that the majority of the motels in the Sulphur Springs and nearby surrounding areas are occupied with people who were once homeless and are on the brink of becoming homeless again.

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