About FPCDA :
- Designation Year: 1999
- Contact Information:1523 16th Street South; St. Petersburg, FL 33705
- Phone: (727) 898-6144 Fax: (727) 898-4845
- Email: FrontPorchCDA@aol.com
- Website: www.ourfpneighborhoods.org
- Board Chairman: Lois Lowery
- Governor’s Front Porch Florida Initiative Funding to Date: $300,835
- Leveraged Funding: Approximately $1,818,835
Principal Partnerships:
- FL Department of Community Affairs (DCA)
- Rays Baseball Foundation
- Rays Baseball Organization
- Gannett Foundation/10 Connect News
- City of St. Petersburg-Weed & Seed
- Worknet Pinellas, Inc.-Access Florida
- Welch Rentals/Accounting
- Breaking Free By Faith Outreach Ministries, Inc.
- Design & Time, Inc.
- Read Pinellas, Inc.
Awards Presented to FPCDA:
- 2006 FL Department of Community Affairs (DCA) Project of the Year
(FP Training for Success project) - 2007 City of St. Petersburg Beautification & Water-wise Award
(FP Courtyard Garden)
Recent History of our Front Porch community
Since its designation in 1999, St. Petersburg’s Front Porch community has undergone a series of positive transformations intended to lead the community it serves towards holistic revitalization.
The results of these efforts are reflected on almost every corner of the community. The opening of the first full service grocery chain, SweetBay, the first full service United States Postal Service facility and the first full service health facility Johnny Ruth Clarke Health Center at the Historic Mercy Site, and most recently the construction of a National Job Corp site -- are several examples of this transformation.
Investments in store locations by corporations such as Walmart, Subway, and Hungry Howies, along with local businesses, have increased employment opportunities. These developments, coupled with the reduction in crime, have resulted in an influx of new residents into the neighborhood.
Housing opportunities and property values have increased approximately 25-30 percent in the last three years.
Corporate Sponsorships:
- Rays Baseball Foundation
- Gannett Foundation/ 10 Connect News
Programs
Front Porch YELDA Program-Youth Empowerment Leadership Development Academy:
For the past four years, Front Porch has successfully implemented and facilitated the YELDA Program. The program is designed to help youth develop strong professional skills, while receiving on-the-job (OJT) training. Over the course of the four-month program, youth are exposed to numerous essential tools they will be able to use throughout their lives. Participating youth attend a State sponsored Youth Leadership and Development Summit after successfully completing the developmental workshop and summer employment (OJT). Key topics discussed at the Summit are development of positive communication and leadership capabilities, resume writing and interviewing skills, appropriate professional and social etiquette, dressing for success, self-esteem and personal finance.
Participating youth must be in high school and between the ages of 14-18. Youth must also have a minimum of 2.0 GPA.
Front Porch Youth Spring Camp-
Selected youth between the ages of 8-13 attend a five-day gardening camp during school's spring break. In 2008, the Spring Camp was funded by the Rays Baseball Foundation. The camp is free and held in the Front Porch Multi-Purpose Outdoor Classroom. During the week-long camp, youth learn how to recycle and compost, how to conserve water and other sources, attend one educational field trip, and receive one-on-one instructions on planting a spring vegetable garden. Participating youth also receive free lunch and nutritional snacks and drinks during the camp.
Front Porch 4H Gardening Summer Camp-
This free summer camp provides 10-15 Front Porch youth ages 8-13, whose parents cannot afford to enroll them into a summer youth program, with the opportunity to explore the areas of mathematics, language arts, and science utilizing gardening as a reference. In partnership with the Pinellas County Cooperative Extension/4H Club, camp participants layout an herb garden based on the 4H Agricultural Adventure curriculum. The six-week camp is held in the Front Porch Multi-Purpose Outdoor Classroom/Courtyard Garden. Camp is held Monday through Friday, from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Participants are provided a free nutritional lunch, and two daily snacks to include drinks. Additionally, camp participants attend a minimum of two educational field trips. Upon participants completing their research and planting of the herb garden, participants orally present their projects, showcase the herbs and spices they planted and what they learned during camp. All participants of the camp receive a Certificate of Attendance & Completion.
Front Porch Trade Library/Volunteer Program:
The FP Trade Library is ongoing, and officially opened in April 2007. The Trade Library located in the Front Porch Administrative Office provides traditional and non-traditional trade employment assistance activities that accomplish the objectives of; producing employment opportunities, stimulating economic development activities, and enhancing the quality of life and employability skills. Trade training, trade business development services, employment placement assistance, and other services such as; resume and cover letter creation, current job postings, Internet access for online job searches, email creation and usage training, computer training, and job referrals are also provided at the Trade Library.
The Trade Library is a spin-off of Trading for Success Project, which received the 2006 Project of the Year Award from the State Department of Community Affairs.
Volunteer Program component: FPCDA in partnership with Worknet Pinellas provides services and training to individuals enrolled in the Worknet Pinellas Food Stamp Employment Training and Volunteer Community Service Work Experience Program. While receiving food /cash assistance, participants are required to complete volunteer hours, under go employment training, and conduct monthly job services at the Front Porch Office utilizing the services of the Trade Library.
Front Porch Employment Training (FPET) Program:
The Front Porch Employment Training (FPET) program currently funded by Gannett Foundation/10 Connect News provides services and training to individuals whom are enrolled in the Worknet Pinellas Food Stamp Employment Training and Volunteer Community Service Work Experience Program. In order for participants to advance to the Front Porch Employment Training (FPET) program, the participant must complete a minimum of 50 mandatory volunteer hours at the Front Porch Office, must be in good standings with Worknet Pinellas, (i.e. no sanctions), and must demonstrate the ability to follow instructions and conduct themselves in a professional manner at all times. Qualified participants receive (8) weeks of on-the-job (OJT) training, for a maximum of 12 hours weekly. Participants are compensated at a rate of $9.00 hourly for the OJT stiffen. Upon successful completion of the FPET Program, participants receive a Certificate of Completion and continuous job-placement assistance.
Front Porch Multi-Purpose Outdoor Classroom/Courtyard Garden (MPOC):
The MPOC, which was a vacant lot adjacent to the Front Porch Administrative Office, officially opened on April 1, 2007, and presently houses more than 20 different plant species, 6 different tropical citrus trees, a vegetable and herb garden, gazebos, a hand crafted 6 ft. mosaic fountain, and decorative seating benches and tables. This unique outdoor facility provides a serene atmosphere for various business, private, social, and community events. The Front Porch MPOC received the 2007 City of St. Petersburg Water Wise Award.
Porch With A Vision
By STEVE KORNACKI The Tampa Tribune
Published: Apr 11, 2007
ST. PETERSBURG - It was an unlikely spot for a "breath of fresh air" to blow through the south side community.
But a place to learn, relax and enjoy has been created where a bail bond office and vacant lot that was once a drug den existed at 1523 16th St. S.
The Front Porch Courtyard Garden and Outdoor Classroom - with a jungle mural, a gazebo, pavers, fruit trees, foxtail palms, sitting areas, and a mosaic fountain and patio - had its grand opening this past weekend.
"It was a spot that attracted transients and drug users," said La'Kesha O'Neal, communications manager for the Front Porch Community Development Association in St. Petersburg. "But now something bad has been turned into something good to be used by the whole community.
"Now, walking in here is like going home. It's a breath of fresh air."
The project received $200,000 from the state through the Front Porch Florida Initiative, created in 1999 to help rebuild distressed communities.
O'Neal and Lolita Dash, executive director of the association, visited St. Petersburg's Green Thumb Festival last April in search of a planner for the project.
"We started asking people there for ideas," O'Neal said. "And somebody told me, 'You need to see the Garden Fairy.'"
That would be Siobhan Nehin of Tarpon Springs, one of a group of women who call themselves the Garden Fairies and create art and gardens together.
"She's a real driving force," O'Neal said. "And some of her Garden Fairy friends helped a lot, donating their time and skills to help make this happen."
At least 150 people worked on the project, which took about a year to complete. Also pitching in were neighborhood adults and children, work-release prisoner crews and local contractors who provided discounted work rates and materials.
Rodney Green, owner of Tym's Seafood Restaurant across the street from the Front Porch offices and courtyard, smiled when asked about the project.
"It looks real nice and was done for everybody," Green said. "It's pretty positive - that's what it's all about. It's something good for kids and business owners. I hope to cater some of the things held there."
Dash and O'Neal have created a collaborative network with many area businesses.
"People come to us and say, 'How can I help?'" Dash said. "It's a contagious feeling."
The nonprofit organization has begun renting out the courtyard for graduations, wedding receptions and family reunions. Call (727) 898-6144 for information.
"The state has provided us seed-planting money, but the time is coming when we have to be self-sufficient," Dash said.
No fees will be charged for the outdoor classroom, where life skills, 4-H, money management, business and tai chi classes will be offered for students in fifth through eighth grades. After-school programs and summer camps also are planned. Trade and home improvement clinics will be offered, and movies will be shown for children.
"What they are doing is a great thing," said Jay Simpson, manager of Scorpio's Tee Shirt University on 16th Street. "And it breaks the barriers that say you can't come to the south side and enjoy things or visit businesses."
Dash said, "Our goal is to assist individual businesses and the community with economic development, education and collaboration."
O'Neal said the renovations have opened the group to the community. "Instead of us going to them, they come to us," she said.
She said the beauty of the courtyard, less than a mile south of Tropicana Field, draws people in.
The Garden Fairies used profits from a gallery showing their work to pay for materials used on the project. Mosaic artist Melissa Haist and gardener Heather Richardson were among Garden Fairies who helped.
The mural Nehin painted was inspired by impressionist painter Henri Rousseau.
"He's famous for jungle paintings and bringing the outdoors to the city," said Nehin, who was paid to plan the project and paint the mural but worked many hours as a volunteer. "There was a hard edge to this spot, and I wanted to soften it up."
She used blues and greens in the wall mural of tigers at a watering hole amid palms and lotus flowers. Lotus flowers also are in the mosaic fountain design, and real hibiscus, bougainvillea and red sisters brighten the courtyard.
"I am just in love with this place," O'Neal said. "Now it's a hard place to leave."
Reporter Steve Kornacki can be reached at (813) 731-8170 or skornacki@tampatrib.com.