Welcome everyone! Who We Are - How to Use This Blog - Joining the Facebook Group

WHO WE ARE

In Oct. 2019, a Seminole Heights Community member posted about a family in desperate need of help. Volunteers organized quickly to pull together resources, reach out, investigate, and support however we could until professional organizations stepped in. It took over a week for that to happen. The processes were convoluted and required having a stable phone number and residence, which they didn't always have. THEN there was the problem of a massive shortage of emergency beds in Hillsborough County- they suggested moving the entire family to another emergency shelter, cities away, to see if they could be hosted short-term there. A family of eight. One with a major heart condition that required hospitalization, six small children, one that required SSD support. In an open shelter far-off with little infrastructure, like buses. With no car.

That is the state of support services for the most dire emergencies for families in Hillsborough County.

Since then, we would like to keep this group open to anyone in Tampa, FL who needs the same resources. The aim here is to prevent people from needing more later  by helping connect you to what you need now. Think about it: assistance with a $150 TECO bill NOW is cheaper than fixing a $400 shut-off/turn-on fee PLUS the $150 back pay on TECO, right? It's better to get help NOW than to risk things getting worse. Whatever you can do to help yourself and others, please do it. You are important. You deserve care, just like everyone else.

 

We try to include posts with the name of the company/organization, who they serve, what they do, contact info, and hours of operation whenever possible. Volunteers can join our original Facebook to add info on a specific organization or to message an admin on there.

 

Please use these resources and donate to any possible. 

 

They do as much as they can to help all of us. Check their pages for the most updated info. <3 

 

Anyone can end up in a bad situation after just one illness, one car accident, one divorce, one fire, one setback. Give to our neighbours!

 

WHO SHOULD JOIN

 

- Anyone in Tampa
- Anyone who might need resources in Hillsborough County
- Anyone who wants to volunteer or donate in Tampa

Why Tampa only? Because it was SO. FRUSTRATING. to find a potential resource that might help me... in St. Pete. Or Largo. Or way out in like, Thonotasassa. While I barely had a running car. Sure, I'll just walk right over there! On my way! uguguhghhh.

 

The point here is to provide links to resources for Tampa residents who need assistance. We tend to already have issues getting proper transportation, having extra gas money, getting childcare long enough to go GET the resource-related thing done, etc. It just makes sense to keep the resources listed as close to home as possible! Many food banks and other resources are even accessible by bus, which is slightly easier for disabled people who are, by nature, often low-income.

 

 

HOW TO USE THIS BLOG

- Scroll through the posts for your topic. Each organisation is in Bold.

- Scroll through the tags to see your topic. Click on it to search quickly. It will bring up relevant posts.

- Contact the organisation you want to use. Do not contact me. I will have no idea what the organization will say because I do not work for them. I just list them so that you can find people that hopefully can help. <3 Ask them your questions! They know best, and might be able to send you to more contacts that can help! 

- If you find an organization that we should list, please join the Facebook group and post about them! Even if all you have is a name and phone number, tag "admin" and I can call to get more details.
- Not everything here or on the FB Group may be up to date. COVID is changing everything very quickly. Places operating two weeks ago might have closed, temporarily closed, or stopped certain programs.  

JOINING THE FACEBOOK GROUP

Our Facebook group (<--- click link) 

 

Our Facebook group has quite a few members and like the blog, focuses on Tampa proper, not the entire TB area. To keep out spammers, we have some questions that must be answered before member approval. I am the only moderator and do not have much time each week to babysit, so I need members to be respectful and keep out people who mean to take advantage of others and people who intend to steal your accounts via memes that reveal password info easily, like "Make your 90s name! Your first car, hometown, fave colour, first pet's name!"
 

The worst is having to kick out a few people who did answer our entrance questions and then they spammed members with prosperity gospel- messages where they claimed free this or that, but THEN tried to sell them "resume review services" targeting jobless and low-income people for *only* hundreds of dollars. .... really? That's just hateful. We have FREE services for that. There's no need to bait and switch already struggling people. That's a fake church, fake gospel, fake people targeting our members. Those are the people I'm trying to keep out. And that is why I had to put up the rules we have, and why we have the questions we do on the Facebook page.

- People who do not answer the questions will have the request denied.
- If your request is denied, please read the rules and answer ALL the questions again.
- Please respect other members. It doesn't MATTER why they need a resource. It isn't up to us to judge if someone "deserves" something or not. Leave that up to the organization to see if they can support a need right then. We will ALL need one of these EVENTUALLY. All of us are in this together!

PLEASE DONATE! ITEMS WANTED + VOLUNTEER SERVICES

 

You don't need money to help! Many of these groups want and NEED donations and volunteers. Some NEED certain items only, like home decor goods and furniture and people to move/decorate. Some take mostly everything, like Hope Thrift Store of Tampa off of Fowler Ave, just before 275. Call ahead to see if there is anything they AREN'T currently taking. 

 

There is also a post discussing where to donate items or to volunteer time.  

 

Some people need Community Service Hours for school scholarships or other arrangements, like grants and such. Some people just want to unload extra stuff and feel less stressed about it, knowing it's going to a better place than just Goodwill. We have SO. MANY. great local charities and organizations that need and want the help! Why not fund them? Even if you don't have cash money, if you have free clothing in great condition or a pile of art supplies, local charities want them! 

 

Please consider bookmarking and sharing this blog, even if you never need to ask for assistance.  

Someone you know does not want to host a garage sale. Someone you know has five hours a week to walk dogs at the Humane Society. Someone you know wants to just toss out three bags of clothes their kids haven't worn in two years, and they could be going to TRIBE of Seminole Heights free kids' clothes closet or to the Autism Thrift Store on Hillsborough Ave to benefit autistic adults who need employment. That someone could be you! <3