Urban Update: Thank you for investing in our community!

Every day, the Kriseman Administration is working with you to help empower our neighbors in South St. Petersburg! I want to highlight a few new and innovative ways community champions have rolled up their sleeves and made a commitment to positively impacting the lives of our neighbors. During this holiday season, it is also a time to say thank you for all you do!

Thank you to the Deuces Live Mainstreet organization, which successfully launched a Sunday Market with entertainment in the middle of one of our city’s largest food deserts. They have tirelessly worked to grow the market every Sunday. We salute you for connecting through cultural affairs and for being a catalyst for commerce by providing an opportunity for our neighbors to start and grow a business with very little initial investment.

Thank you to the Pinellas Ex-Offender Re-entry Coalition for committing to open a location in the heart of the city. This location allows our returning citizens to best be served by your organization. We salute you for having the foresight to provide opportunities for employment at the soon to open Center for Progress.

Thank you to the Wrap Around Services (WAS) Collaborative led by the Childs Park YMCA and JWB, for reminding all of the hard-working servant leaders of our non-profit community that we can “play well in the sand box together.” We don’t have to reinvent the wheel to achieve some of our common goals! We salute you for bringing these organizations together to network and hear from various funding sources to help better nurture our neighborhoods and families.

Thank you to ACT Right for practicing the old saying of “putting your money where your mouth is.” You continue to make the basic gesture of patronizing a new business a novel concept. We salute you for being a catalyst for commerce. Every month you bring together people who really want to see businesses thrive. These visits showcase our community’s purchasing power and provide important support for local entrepreneurs.

Thank you to the Community Co-op and Moving Forward with a Purpose for working with our young men and helping to redirect them on a path for personal success and community service. We salute you for nurturing our neighborhoods and families by working with the young men from the Britt House to assist seniors with their lawn maintenance needs.

Thank you to the Police Athletic League (PAL) for opening a Midtown PAL in partnership with 20th Street Church of Christ. We salute you for becoming an active part of the solution by engaging our youth in academic enhancement and healthy activities afterschool and during the summer months to come.

Thank you to the 2020 Plan organizers and the Pinellas County Urban League for working with the City to develop a Family Wrap-Around Services Pilot program that helped to lift several families out of poverty, while training their children in leadership and employment.  This is exactly the type of activity coupled with job creation that will spark endless opportunities for parents and children for many years to come. We salute you for nurturing our neighborhoods and families by making a personal connection with them even if it required visiting them at home!

Thank you to the Tampa Bay Black Business Investment Corporation for coming back to St. Petersburg and providing microloans to businesses who are ready to access capital and for opening a business incubator on 22nd Street that will encourage our entrepreneurs to take their businesses to the next level. You are a real catalyst for commerce and we salute you.

Thank you to the 16th Street Business Owners for reorganizing into a much larger Business Association that will help to advocate and lead a rebranding renaissance for business to better thrive in South St. Pete. We salute you for stepping up to the plate and being a catalyst for increased commerce.

I am excited to lead an Urban Affairs Agenda that works diligently to move forward so many initiatives and programs like these and to work with outstanding servant leaders, especially those city staff members from various departments who have worked with me this year to make such a powerful impact.

These leaders are committed to walking the walk, to being forward thinkers, trailblazers, and innovators. So many of you have helped with the progress and momentum that has happened in the last year, and for that, you have my thanks, and the gratitude of Deputy Mayor, Dr. Kanika Jelks-Tomalin and Mayor Rick Kriseman. We will continue to work together in purpose and let our light shine so brightly that opportunity is the fruit of our labor!