Pinellas Hope started out as a
temporary emergency shelter for over 250 homeless men and women, located in Clearwater on 20 acres provided by Bishop Robert N. Lynch and the Diocese of St. Petersburg. It opened its doors on December 1, 2007. Background checks are done on all the residents and case managers meet with them on a regular basis to set goals towards self-sufficiency. They also assist the residents with job and housing placement and perform follow up visits with them six months after they leave the shelter.
“We were only supposed to be open five months, but today, we remain open and continue to help the homeless get off of the streets.”
Since this early beginning, Pinellas Hope has added numerous buildings (education, clothing closet, medical respite care in partnership with BayCare) and services to its campus, including a Common/Community open-air pavilion with attached (warming) kitchen, offices, separate men’s and women’s bathrooms, including showers, laundry room, library, and computer room. Each resident is assigned a case manager who assists the residents in their pursuit of self-sufficiency. Services expanded to include adult education, mental health services, dental, eye and medical services, and much, much more (check our ‘Services’ page on this site to learn more about all the services we provide).
In 2015 Pinellas Hope added 5 apartment buildings providing 76 efficiency apartments subsidized to be affordable for low income adults who had “graduated” from Pinellas Hope. Eighty more units were added in 2017, bringing the total number of efficiency apartments to 156. These units are knows as permanent supportive housing as the residents still receive case management support and support services as needed. They are not, however, provided meals as each unit has its own kitchenette.