BY DAYLINA MILLER, WUSF Public Media – WUSF 89.7
ST. PETERSBURG — A St. Petersburg nonprofit group will be creating “community one-stop shops” that take a different approach to social services.
The city is investing almost $8.6 million it received through the American Rescue Plan Act to start the Community Support Hubs. They will provide trauma-informed therapy, case management, community outreach — and additional services.
LaDonna Butler is founder of the Well for Life, picked by the Pinellas Community Foundation to design and implement the hubs, with Gulf Coast Jewish Family and Community Services and People Empowering and Restoring Communities as its co-collaborating partners.
Butler said the model involves listening to — and not assuming — what community members need.
“The impact is real-time, on-time, right-size services. I think leaning in and taking the model of listening to what community members need and then providing that service in a way that allows them to experience the full dignity of themselves that’s going to shift the way that clinical and social services are being provided over time.”
The announcement that The Well was leading the creation of the hubs came at the group’s Healing While Black Conference last month.
“In recognition of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) Mental Health Awareness Month, it’s critical that we empower those who intimately understand the community that we’re trying to positively impact,” said St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch.
“I’m excited to see the impact that Dr. LaDonna Butler and her team at The Well will make on St. Pete in the coming years. With Neighborhood Health and Safety as a major priority, St. Pete’s Community Support Hubs will be a key point of progress.”
Butler said the idea of the social series hubs being embedded in communities that need it most, led by individuals who have not only personal experience but the educational and academic background to really provide the support, has really encouraged her.
“I am so proud of the boldness of the city … We believe those who have been impacted by a problem or our situation are closest to the solution. Those who are most harmed and least helped know what they need, and we trust them.”
The hubs will be developed one by one, so the team can learn from the community along the way. The first one could launch later this year.
The Well, Gulf Coast JFCS, PERC, the City of St. Petersburg, and Pinellas Community Foundation invite you to help shape the first Community Support Hub in St. Pete by attending one of the upcoming engagement sessions in August.
These focus group-style conversations will provide attendees with an opportunity to share ideas and discuss together what the future of these Community Support Hubs will look like. This is a community-led process. Residents will give insight on timing, location, services needed and specifics that will drive the rollout of the series of Hubs over the next three and a half years.
You’re invited to help shape the first Community Support HUB in St. Pete by attending one of the upcoming engagement sessions:
Saturday, August 5, from Noon to 5 p.m. (Drop in any time!)
Saturday Shoppes Back to School Event (Location: Tropicana Field – Lot 4, 198 17th St S)
Wednesday, August 9, from 6-8 p.m.
(Location: Enoch Davis Center, 1111 18th Ave S, St. Petersburg, FL 33705)
Sunday, August 13, from 1-3 p.m.
(Location: The Studio@620, 620 1st Ave S, St. Petersburg, FL 33701)
