The following community-focused organizations were selected as subrecipients for the 2024–2025 and 2025–2026 fiscal years. These subrecipients received funding support to advance community development and enhance public services. Funded services include, but are not limited to: facility improvements, transitional housing, homeowner education, home purchase assistance, support for non-homeless/special needs populations, and job creation through salary support.
Metropolitan Ministries, Inc.
Metropolitan Ministries, Inc. is a private not-for-profit agency with the NeighborHOPE program in North Greenwood which helps families and seniors in crisis experiencing poverty and homelessness through community navigation, case management, employment, and other supportive services that can prevent homelessness, support families in achieving housing stability and self-sufficiency.
Westcare Gulfcoast-Florida, Inc.
WestCare GulfCoast-Florida, Inc. is a private, not-for-profit organization dedicated to empowering individuals through healing and growth. Guided by its mission to "Uplift the Human Spirit," WestCare provides a comprehensive range of services—including counseling, case management, recovery-based programs, job support, and housing assistance—to help individuals achieve their personal goals and transform their lives.
WestCare’s Turning Point Program offers vital support to individuals experiencing homelessness who are also living with a substance use disorder (SUD) and/or co-occurring mental health disorder. The program helps participants initiate recovery while working toward long-term housing stability. Through integrated services tailored to individual needs, Turning Point provides the foundation for a healthier, more stable future.
For more information, please visit https://westcare.com/.
Society of St. Vincent de Paul Upper Pinellas, Inc.
Society of St. Vincent de Paul Council of Upper Pinellas County dba St. Vincent de Paul (SVDP) is a private not-for-profit agency. The Community Kitchen and Resource Center has been in existence since 1982. SVDP provides a wide range of services such as daily nutritional meals, showers, clothing and laundry facilities, emergency hygiene, bus passes, notary services and assistance with navigation online applications.
Prospera is a private not-for-profit organization dedicated to empowering Hispanic entrepreneurs through bilingual training, resources, and individualized support, helping them build successful businesses. Prospera provides key services designed to support business success, including
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Business Seminars on critical topics like legal compliance, taxation, marketing strategies, and funding opportunities.
Access to Capital with hands-on assistance throughout the funding process to help clients secure the financial resources necessary to start or grow their business. Through these services, Prospera plays a vital role in strengthening economic development and promoting sustainable growth within the Hispanic business community.
Upwards Care, Inc., implements The Boost Program, a community-engaged initiative designed to strengthen local economies through expanded access to quality childcare. Boost supports home-based childcare providers by offering business coaching, technology tools, and professional training to help them remain operational, increase capacity, and enhance the quality of care.
By stabilizing these small, often under-resourced businesses, the program ensures:
Homeless Emergency Project, Inc.
HEP is a registered 501(c)(3) charitable organization. Since 1986, its mission has been to provide homeless and low-income families and individuals, including Veterans, with housing, food, clothing, and support services necessary to obtain self-sufficiency and improved quality of life.
Founded January 9, 2013, the mission of LiFT is to inspire and empower people with neurodiversity to learn, thrive and succeed. Their goal is to level the playing field for individuals with learning differences and neurodiversity. LiFT provides learners exceptional academics, life skills, career training, and opportunities to strengthen social skills and build meaningful friendships. They have a passion that each student comes to value and view their diversity as a gift to be celebrated. Equally important is for each student to respect the differences found in each other.
For more information, please visit https://liftfl.org/.
Willa Carson Health and Wellness Center
The Willa Carson Health and Wellness Center (formerly the North Greenwood Health Resource Center) was founded by Willa Livingston Carson, RN to meet the needs of uninsured residents in her community. Her vision was to bring a free, easily accessible clinic to the heart of the North Greenwood community in Clearwater, Florida.
Through her compelling personality, Willa Carson was able to secure volunteers from the community’s churches, various agencies and local government offices. The original Center opened May 4, 1997 in two rooms at 1001 North Greenwood Apartments. Immediately after opening, Mrs. Carson worked tirelessly to secure the additional funding of $300,000 to build a permanent facility for the North Greenwood Community Health Resource Center on city-owned Brownfield property. The Center moved into the new facilities in December 2000. Services are provided to uninsured adults (ages 18-64) who meet the income criteria.
Directions for Living (DFL) is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to serving individuals, children, and families of low- to- moderate income in Clearwater. DFL offers a broad range of services, including behavioral health and homelessness support, to address the diverse needs of the community. At the Clearwater Center location, services include, but are not limited to: Adult and Children’s Intake and Assessment, Adult and Children’s Therapy, Adult and Children’s Psychiatry, Certified Recovery Peer Specialist Services, Pharmacy Services, Headquarters and Administration Facility. These services aim to improve the mental health and well-being of individuals and families, helping them achieve stability and a better quality of life.
Suncoast Housing Connections has provided homebuyer education and counseling and built homes for low- to-moderate income households since it was founded as Tampa Bay Community Development Corporation in 1982 by Gregory (Gregg) E. Schwartz. As President and CEO, Gregg served the local affordable housing community for 31 years until he passed in 2013. Over 42,000 clients were served during his tenure, and thousands since. In the past three decades we have built and restored over 600 houses, worked with over 8,000 clients to prevent foreclosure, and assisted over 4,000 customers in securing down payment assistance loans. Our work continues to focus on revitalizing neighborhoods throughout the Tampa Bay area by providing safe, stable and affordable housing.
Tampa Bay Neighborhood Housing Services (TBNHS) – formerly known as Clearwater Neighborhood Housing Services – provides communities across Hillsborough, Pasco, and Pinellas counties a selection of essential services, including education and homeownership assistance, credit counseling, property rehabilitation, real estate development, and other community economic development services. The seeds for TBNHS were planted by a group of concerned residents seeking to address the decline of Clearwater’s South Greenwood neighborhood, which at the time had more than 6,600 residents and some of the most historic homes in the city.
CHA was created in 1941, and our mission is to enhance the lives of those we serve by creating innovative communities, providing dignified environments and nurturing self-sufficiency. CHA has many rental and self-sufficiency opportunities for low-to- moderate income persons. For over 25 years we have expanded our portfolio of communities to increase and preserve the affordable housing stock within the City of Clearwater.
The Mattie Williams Neighborhood Family Center is a private nonprofit organization whose mission is to address critical needs, helping families break the cycle of poverty and to find financial independence through their Family Support, Youth Education and Food Pantry Programs. In addition, the Center is used for future emergencies, including weather events.
For more information, please visit https://mwnfc.org/.
Intercultural Advocacy Institute, Inc., dba Hispanic Outreach Center
The Intercultural Advocacy Institute (ICAI), widely recognized as the Hispanic Outreach Center (HOC), is a private, not-for-profit organization and the only multi-service, bilingual center in Pinellas County dedicated to serving the Hispanic community. HOC offers comprehensive, wrap-around services designed to empower individuals and families through advocacy, education, and community engagement. Services Offered HOC provides a wide range of culturally responsive programs, including but not limited to:
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Youth Support Groups (including programs at Oak Grove Middle School), Community Information Seminars, English Language Classes, H12, Immigration and Legal Clinics,
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Social Development and Support Groups, Youth Programs, including summer camps, in-school support groups, and the Youth Leaders Partnership (YLP) program.
Through these services, HOC strives to foster resilience, enhance community integration, and promote the well-being of Hispanic individuals and families in the region.
Gulfcoast Legal Services (GLS) is a private not-for-profit agency. Attorneys maintain licensure with the Florida Bar Association and all attorney caseworks are supervised by a deputy director. Gulfcost legal’s team is committed to providing free legal assistance to individuals with low incomes or in difficult circumstances. Services provided but are not limited to: Housing Advocacy, Family Law, Financial Stability, and Immigration & Human Trafficking.
Pinellas Opportunity Council, Inc. (POC) mission is to help alleviate conditions of poverty, revitalize the local community and promote self-sufficiency by mobilizing resources to develop and implement programs that deliver an array of services to address various individual, family and community needs. Programs offered are not limited to: Youth Development Program, Emergency Home Energy Assistance Program (EHEAP), Emergency Services Program, Family Development Program and Getting Ahead Program.
In 1967, fifteen local congregations of varying faiths and ethnicities came together to provide help & hope for people in need. Pinellas County grew, and with it grew the demand and the need for a helping hand. Eager to lend a helping hand, these congregations found themselves with fewer resources to serve a growing population. Determined to make a difference, these leaders studied the needs of the community and pooled their resources to provide efficient, secular services to the people of Pinellas County. Together they founded Religious Community Services, or RCS.
RCS focused on serving individuals and families with dignity, helping them along the path to self-sufficiency. That focus remains strong today as RCS has become Hope Villages of America, directing resources to people facing hunger, homelessness, domestic violence and the lack of basic needs.