Grace House, the largest shelter for homeless families in Pinellas County, will stop accepting new occupants this month and convert to an affordable housing complex by October, the head of the facility confirmed this week.

The Clearwater-based shelter had 80 beds in 14 apartments, accounting for more than half of permanent shelter units that accepted families with children in Pinellas, said Kirk Ray Smith, CEO of Hope Villages of America, the nonprofit that runs Grace House.

The loss is expected to strain the county’s homeless network, which already has a waiting list of about 90 families, according to Amy Foster, CEO of the Homeless Leadership Alliance.

“We were already in crisis,” Foster said.

The current occupants, who normally stay up to three months while getting financial literacy training and counseling, will be phased out by attrition.

The Juvenile Welfare Board, which awards property tax revenues to social service programs, voted unanimously in December 2020 to terminate its $400,000 annual funding of Grace House over concerns about the nonprofit’s finances and management.

Grace House initially was able to attract private donations to cover operations. But Smith said the loss of the Juvenile Welfare Board funding left him no choice but to close the shelter, even though he had resolved the issues that led to the board’s scrutiny.

“JWB put us in this situation, let there be no question about it,” Smith said.

However, Juvenile Welfare Board CEO Beth Houghton said problems at Grace House, from financial to treatment of residents, were serious enough to revoke funding. It also allowed for the dollars to be reallocated to a “rapid rehousing” program that she described as more effective than a shelter.

The funds went to St. Vincent de Paul CARES’ Family Bridge Housing, a model that places families in apartments and hotel rooms for short periods before transitioning them to permanent housing.

“We’re very mindful that every penny we spend is taxpayer money, and we absolutely have to be, and are very responsible with the funds,” Houghton said.

The board placed Hope Villages on a corrective action plan in August 2019 after a review found the nonprofit did not have background screenings filed for all staff and volunteers, according to a 2020 memo. The review also found high staff turnover, a lack of sound financial practices and two deaths of occupants from suspected overdoses.

By May 2020, the initial deficiencies had been resolved, but the corrective action plan remained due to financial concerns, according to the memo.

Hope Village’s fiscal year 2019 audit, reviewed in August 2020, noted a series of material weaknesses, including grants and cash accounts not being reconciled, and revenues and expenses not recorded in the general ledger.

Smith said those issues were more the result of growing pains than grounds to lose critical funding. Houghton confirmed the last two financial audits submitted to the Welfare Board after it ended the Grace House funding showed no deficiencies.

When he took over the nonprofit in 2016, then called Religious Community Services, he said it was in a $1 million deficit and “three months from insolvency.” By 2020, it had grown to a $13 million operating budget and a $100,000 deficit.

Founded in 1967, Hope Villages serves 150,000 people between its food bank, a center for women at risk of domestic abuse, and Grace House, where 90 percent of residents graduated to permanent housing before the closure.

The Welfare Board is continuing to fund $452,250 a year for Hope Villages’ domestic violence shelter, The Haven.

Houghton said the board continues to fund the domestic violence program because persistent problems were specific to management of the Grace House shelter. In September 2020, three current and one former Hope Villages staff members told the Welfare Board about Grace House management treating participants and employees poorly. In one example, shampoo was not supplied to participants, Houghton said.

Smith said Grace House maintains a 91 percent approval rating from participants.

He said Hope Villages will continue its intensive services for the homeless, like counseling and financial literacy, but it is looking to the future with its affordable housing at Grace House.

Read the article at https://www.tampabay.com/news/pinellas/2022/07/12/pinellas-largest-homeless-shelter-for-families-closes-amid-funding-loss/

Book lovers, be on the lookout for a big, rainbow, retro bus on the streets of Pinellas. The Summer Book Bus will be making 45 stops from Tarpon Springs to South St. Pete before July 11.

The books (which are all new) are free, thanks to the Juvenile Welfare Board (JWB). Each child can take home two books.

“Of course, the kids just love it,” said Jennifer Dodd, Associate Manager of Communications with JWB.

Since launching in 2017, the campaign behind the Summer Book Bus, JWB’s Early Readers, Future Leaders Grade-Level Reading Campaign, has given more than 10,000 books to more than 5,000 children in Pinellas.

This year, you still have time to catch the bus.

Here’s an online list of where the Summer Book Bus will stop through July 11.

Read the article on The Gabber.com: https://thegabber.com/summer-book-bus-brings-free-books-to-pinellas/

Climb aboard the Book Bus for a summer full of reading fun. The Juvenile Welfare Board’s Book Bus is traveling throughout Pinellas County neighborhoods, giving away books to curtail summer reading loss. 

To date, the Book Bus has given away more than 5,000 books. 

Upcoming stops include:

• NFC: Clearwater 900 N MLK Ave. Clearwater, July 11 at 10 a.m.
• Ross Norton Recreation Center (Camp AWESOME) 1426 S MLK Jr. Ave, Clearwater, July 11 at 9 a.m.
• NFC: HOC, 612 Franklin St, Clearwater, July 12 at noon.
• NFC: CAP Center, 401 E Martin Luther King Jr Drive, Tarpon Springs, July 12 at 9 a.m.
• TS: Cops & Kids, 555 E Harrison St., Tarpon Springs, July 12 at 9:45 a.m.
• TS: YMCA Elementary School, YMCA 555 E Pine St., Tarpon Springs, July 12 at 10:30 a.m.
• Rclub: East Lemon, 1019 E. Lemon St., Tarpon Springs, July 12 at 11:15 a.m.
• TS: Boys and Girls Club, 111 W. Lime St., Tarpon Springs, July 12 at 1 p.m. 
• Dunedin Public Library, 223 Douglas Avenue, Dunedin, July 13 at 11 a.m. 
• YMCA Suncoast – Dunedin Bridge, 900 Union St., Dunedin, FL 34698 7/13/2022 12:00
• YMCA Suncoast – Curlew Creek Bridge, 3030 Curlew Road, Palm Harbor, July 14 at 11:45 a.m.
• Tarpon Springs Public Library, 138 E Lemon St., Tarpon Springs, July 13 at 12:30 p.m. 
• YMCA – Lake St George Bridge, 2855 County Road 95, Palm Harbor, July 14 at 12:45 p.m.
• Largo Public Library, 120 Central Park Drive, Largo, July 12 at 10 a.m. 
• Coral Heights, 3718 139th Ave. Largo, July 13 at 1 p.m.
• YMCA Fuguitt Elementary & Starkey, 13010 101st St. SE, Largo, July 12 at 9 a.m.
• NFC: GRAYDI, 13420 Adams Circle, Largo, July 13 at 10 a.m. 
• B&GC: Ridgecrest, 13420 Adams Circle, Largo, July 13 at 10 a.m.
• YMCA: Ridgecrest/Tuskegee YMCA, 1801 119th St. N, Largo, July 13 at 9 a.m. 
• Barbara Ponce Library, 7770 52nd St. N, Pinellas Park, July 11 at noon. 
• Broderick Recreation Center, 6101 66th Ave. N, Pinellas Park, July 13 at 9 a.m. 
• Forbes Recreation Center, 6401 94th Ave. N, Pinellas Park, July 14 at 10 a.m. 
• B&GC: Pinellas Park, 7790 61st St. N, Pinellas Park, July 14 at 9 a.m. 
• Johnson Community Library, 1059 18th Ave. S, St. Petersburg, July 11 at noon. 7/11/2022 12:00
• Pinellas PAL – Landings, 6835 54th Ave. N, Building F, St. Petersburg, July 11 at 10 a.m.
• Police Athletic League of St. Petersburg 1450 16th St. N., St. Petersburg, July 13 at 11 a.m. 
• NFC: Sanderlin, 2335 22nd Ave. S, St. Petersburg, July 13 at 1 p.m. 
  Magnolia Day School, 2701 54th Ave. S, St. Petersburg, July 14 at 10 a.m.

Click here for more information. 

Read the article on Patch.com: https://patch.com/florida/clearwater/calendar/event/20220711/1894551/book-bus-travels-pinellas-county

Click over to WTSP.com to watch 10 Tampa Bay’s recent news story on the Summer Book Bus: https://www.wtsp.com/video/news/local/free-book-bus-aims-to-combat-summer-reading-loss-in-students/67-a242f85c-ee82-4648-808b-66fd96ff71f8

A school bus filled with books is rolling through the Bay Area giving away thousands of publications to children. 

The buses are part of the Summer Book Bus, a partnership between Pinellas County Schools and the Juvenile Welfare Board. The goal is to encourage summer reading by giving away thousands of books. 

“Just over half of our kids are reading on grade level by third grade, and that number really needs to change,” Hintz said. 

Over three weeks, the buses will visit 70 sites, servicing 5,000 kids and giving away more than 10,000 books. The sites vary from libraries and child-care centers to schools and community centers. 

“If you start early enough, and we start with really little children and get them to want to be read to or to read, then it becomes part of who they are and what they are doing each day,” stated Juvenile Welfare Board community collaborations manager Danielle Hintz.

The new books also help combat what teachers call “summer learning loss.” 

“Some don’t have books in their homes, or maybe they can go to the library to borrow books, but to be able to pick out a brand-new book to take it home and start to build their own library is just wonderful,” Hintz said. 

LINK: Click here for more information and to see where the Summer Book Bus schedule. 

Read the article and watch the video here: https://www.fox13news.com/news/childrens-library-on-wheels-cruises-through-bay-area-giving-out-10000-books

School may be out, but there’s still good reason for kids to hit the books this summer. On Monday, July 11, the Barbara S. Ponce Public Library in Pinellas Park will be giving away free books to kids throughout the area.

From 12 – 1 pm, Pinellas County’s Juvenile Welfare Board is bringing their Book Bus to the library, where kids of all ages are invited to hop aboard and pick out a free book. Advance registration is recommended to cut down on the wait time, and slots can be reserved by calling 727-369-0664.

The Barbara S. Ponce Public Library is located at 7770 52nd Street, and attendance is free and open to all. The book giveaway is part of the Juvenile Welfare Board’s commitment to making children a priority, advocating for their best interests and investing to improve their futures. A need for access to books and the urgency of developing reading skills led to the creation of JWB’s Book Bus, which tours Pinellas County, offering free books to youth throughout the summer.

Of course, the Book Bus is only one of many free events the Ponce Library puts on as part of its summer programming. Other fun experiences for children include afternoon movies, Creatures of the Deep (an exploration of the deepest, darkest zones of the ocean on June 29), free community ASL classes all summer, a chess club, a gamer guild, and an end-of-summer pool party weekend coming July 30-31. Several ocean-themed programs are worth checking out as well, including Ocean Guardians, sea creature storytimes, and Seuss Under the Sea.

Learn more about Pinellas Park’s Barbara S. Ponce Public Library and their programming here, and also check out all the great things being done by the Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County.

Read the article on ILovetheBurg.com: https://ilovetheburg.com/book-bus-pinellas-park/

With Father’s Day just around the corner, there’s a relatively new program in our area dedicated to helping dads stay in their children’s lives and become more positive role models.

It’s called Gold Medal Dads — and its impact could last generations.

“This program was definitely a lifesaver for me,” said Jaycob Strubbe, a proud father of three sons.

“My world. They’re my world,” he said.

But Strubbe wasn’t always sure he’d be a good dad since he didn’t have what he considered an ideal father figure of his own growing up.

“Me knowing that, and me knowing that that’s how I was raised, I wanted to do better by my kids. So, I started learning about how I could have tools and other ways of interacting with my kids that wouldn’t require me being angry or me hitting them or me yelling at them,” Strubbe said.

That’s what led him to Gold Medal Dads — a program that started just a few months ago in Pinellas County helping men who may have themselves had absentee or abusive fathers fill that gap.

“The response has been great,” said Reggie Randolph with Healthy Families’ Father Services, which operates Gold Medal Dads.

The program provides men whose children are newborn to age 17 with the tools they need to become supportive fathers such as educational materials, home visits, referrals to other community services and resources.

“Bring them back into the families,” Randolph said. “And show them and share with them their importance.”

In April, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill setting aside $70 million for programs aimed at equipping dads with the tools they need to be better parents.

“When you take kids that do not have a father present during their upbringing the chances of them dropping out of school, getting in trouble with the law, having other difficulties, increases dramatically,” DeSantis said.

Gold Medal Dads aims to break the cycle of abuse or absenteeism by holistically helping fathers become responsible role models and an influence not just in their children’s lives but, perhaps, for generations to come.

“When you’re a kid, you don’t really see why the person you love the most and that is your superhero is treating you that way,” Strubbe said. “So, I wanted to fix that for my kids.”

Gold Medal Dads is one of several programs in Pinellas County dedicated to fostering fatherhood. For more information, people are encouraged to contact the Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County or the Florida Department of Health office.

“Every day is Father’s Day,” Randolph said. “And the celebration is what we’re trying to have fathers understand and understand their importance. Not only for the children, but for our communities. We need more dads involved in our communities.”

Read the article and watch the video at https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/local/pinellascounty/gold-medal-dads-pinellas-county/67-b536d855-5168-41ae-874d-736d00ac6385

The summer break has just begun, but it’s not too early for families to get a jump on next school year by taking care of their child’s health screenings starting Monday, June 13.

The Florida Department of Health in Pinellas County is again offering its annual summer Back-to-School clinic services to students in kindergarten through grade 12 to prepare for the 2022-23 school year. Note that children going into pre-k are not eligible.

The school-based health clinics will provide school, sports and well child physicals, including immunizations, at no cost for clients.

Vision screenings provided by Preserve Vision Florida will be available at select locations, and basic dental services will also be available.

The last day to receive services is Monday, Aug. 8.

The services will be provided at no cost by appointment only between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the following locations:

• Boca Ciega High School Clinic: 924 58th St. S.
• Gibbs High School Clinic: 850 34th St. S.
• Largo High School Clinic: 410 Missouri Ave.
• Pinellas Park High School Clinic: 6305 118th Ave N.

For appointments, call 727-824-6900 and select menu option 4. A parent or guardian must bring the child’s immunization and medical records and be present for services. If the parent is not able to be present, a consent must be obtained prior to receiving services.

Forms are located here.

All Pinellas children entering kindergarten on Aug. 10 are required to present a school entrance physical, dated within one year of school enrollment.

DOH-Pinellas’ school-based health clinics are a partnership with the Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County.

For more information about DOH-Pinellas, click here.

Read this article on Patch: https://patch.com/florida/largo/pinellas-county-begin-offering-physicals-immunizations-week

May was National Drowning Prevention Month, as the lead-in to the summer swimming season is an ideal time to raise awareness to the sobering facts about drowning deaths in America.

According to the National Drowning Prevention Alliance, drowning is the single-leading cause of death in children ages 1-4, and the most common cause of drowning is not knowing how to swim. As drownings can happen in as fast as 30 seconds and often occur with at least one adult present, organizations and agencies use May to get the word out and hold programs designed to promote water safety for kids.

At the North Greenwood Recreation Complex in Clearwater, a collaboration between the city, Pinellas County Schools, the Juvenile Welfare Board and Clearwater for Youth saw more than 170 Belleair Elementary School students learn how to swim as part of a free program held over two weeks in May.

“This program recently took place for the first time at the Long Center, and it was amazing to see so many children learn how to swim,” Clearwater Recreation Division Manager Sandy Clayton said in an email promoting the new program, which was held at the North Greenwood Recreation Center Pool at 900 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. According to Clayton, the students traveled on a bus provided by CFY to attend the swim lessons during their regularly scheduled PE time before returning to school to resume their day, and she said the goal is to expand the program and “to add a new school to the list each year.” 

On May 18, a group of Belleair first graders were led by aquatics supervisor Thomas Heine to the pool, where they were given lessons by certified instructors and treated to free swim googles, caps and T-shirts, as well as some fun time in the spray pool following the half-hour classes.

According to Brooke Bennett, the three-time Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer and CFY board member who was overseeing the kids’ transportation, the importance of the program can’t be overstated.

“It’s hard to put into words the importance of this program and the emotions I feel seeing it come to fruition,” Bennett said as she helped Heine get the group situated. “It’s very moving to me.”

Bennett, who earned three gold medals, including two in the 800-meter freestyle event during the 1996 and 2000 Olympics, has enjoyed a busy post-competition career that’s included a stint in television as well as coaching kids. She said she believes drowning prevention and water safety should start at an early age.

“I think swim lessons for 3-year-olds should be covered by insurance, and every child under the age of 1 should have an introduction to water,” Bennett said. “They spend 40 weeks in water before being born and are very instinctual in water up to the age of 1. That’s why I love teaching babies, because there’s no fear at that age whereas the older they are, the more the fear is there.”

Before heading out into the blistering heat, Bennett praised the program and its ability to save lives.

“This program can be an example at the county, state and national level because we need to educate people that drowning is preventable,” she said. “Accidental drowning is the leading cause of death in 1- to 4-year-olds, so by doing water safety programs like this, we’re changing this statistic.”

For more information on Clearwater’s swim programs, visit myclearwater.com.

Read the article on TBNweekly.com: https://www.tbnweekly.com/clearwater_beacon/article_aea1b85e-e10a-11ec-8994-3b833edd64e3.html

Drownings in Florida reached a somber record in 2021 with 98 children across the state. In 2022, 21 children have already drowned in Florida and we haven’t even reached the peak summer months. Now, local and state leaders are on a mission to combat the growing numbers and make swim safety more accessible to kids.

At the North Greenwood Recreation Center in Clearwater Tuesday, 6-year-old Aliyah Bonilla Turcios slowly dipped herself into the pool. The kindergarten student, like many of her classmates, is a little timid around water. Yet, within just a few seconds, her smile widened as she clutched onto a kickboard and slammed the top of her feet and calves across the water’s smooth surface.

Turcios is one of 350 Clearwater students from Belleair Elementary School who traded their physical education classes for two weeks of swim safety.

“Swimming lessons are fun,” she said.

Clearwater Parks and Recreation leaders have spent at least five years helping students get acclimated to the water during the late spring months leading up to summer break, but they skipped the last two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some of the kindergarten through fourth graders are getting their first experience in a pool.

Belleair Elementary School PE teacher Luis Ramos said he loves watching his students enjoy the experience.

“Just after one or two weeks of lessons, the confidence you see in so many of them makes it all worth it,” he said.

The lessons may not be long enough to truly teach the kids to swim, but lifeguards are able to focus on teaching the kids what to do if they fall into a pool, how to help a friend or sibling in trouble and how to use safety equipment like life vests.

Thomas Heine, the Aquatic Coordinator at North Greenwood Recreation Center, said those are critical lessons.

“If you think about Pinellas County, we are a peninsula on a peninsula surrounded by water, and drowning statistics here in Pinellas County and the Tampa Bay area are really frightening,” he said.

ABC Action News dug through DCF reports of the 98 drownings in Florida in 2021. Of those, 24 were in the Tampa Bay region. Many of the reports indicated a pattern: kids “wandering away from home,” ”Getting out of the home undetected” and sadly, many “left unattended,” according to paperwork filed with the state.

The Red Cross said adult supervision is the most important factor, but swim lessons can reduce the risk of a child drowning by 88%.

Shaun Beasley said that’s what makes their partnerships with the Juvenile Welfare Board, Clearwater for Youth, Stingray and ION Physical Therapy Network, to provide the swim lessons during the school day so important.

“This is something that literally gives me goosebumps when I watch it,” Beasley said. “We will potentially never know the impact we are having but if we can teach a kid who falls into the pool to get to the side without panicking then we are doing our jobs in these classes.”

Clearwater, like many cities, offers extremely affordable swim lessons. Just $10 total will provide kids with between six and eight classes. They also hope to expand the classes during the school day to every rec center.

State leaders are also stepping up to prevent drownings.

The “Every Child a Swimmer Law” takes effect for the 2022-2023 school year and requires public schools to ask parents if their kids have taken swim lessons. If the answer is no, schools must provide swim safety education materials.

The YMCA is also offering a long list of summer swim courses.

Watch the newscast and read the full article at https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/region-pinellas/98-children-drowned-in-fl-in-2021-tampa-bay-leaders-are-on-a-mission-to-save-childrens-lives