SULPHUR SPRINGS RESOURCE CENTER GRAND OPENING

Through many months of hard work and marriage of community and agency, the Sulphur Springs Resource Center became a reality on Saturday, March 28 when the grand opening was celebrated.

“The center will provide training and services that the community identified that it needed, said Emery Ivery, vice-president of United Way’s Community and Partnership Development. “Teamwork is what makes this so special.”

Services and programs that will be provided include: financial literacy, financial assistance, employment training, legal assistance, and GED training.

The center will be open Monday through Friday and occasional Saturdays starting April 13. It will be staffed by United Way partner agencies: Tampa Metropolitan Area YMCA, Crisis Center of Tampa Bay, and Bay Area Legal Services. The Tampa Bay Workplace Alliance and Hillsborough Schools will also provide training.

“A lot of partners and committed individuals worked together – a neighborhood alliance, agency partners, schools – to support Sulphur Springs and the vision to make it a better place. It took awhile, but there’s been steady progress along the way,” said Paula Kay, United Way Community Partnership and Development Manager.   United Way partners include: Cy and Joanne Spurlino, J.P.Morgan Chase, Hillsborough County Schools, Time Customer Service and Allegany Franciscan Ministries, Inc. IBM provided in-kind donations of computers while Refurbished Office Furniture provided office furniture for the center.

As the efforts move forward, United Way will gather data from the center’s programs, continue to convene community partners, advance further training opportunities, and secure resources for the center to prosper.

“This is a cause for celebration. People came together with this shared vision to make it happen: to support families,” Ivery said.  More than 75 people attended the grand opening from throughout the region, but especially from throughout Sulphur Springs.

For more information about the Sulphur Springs Resource Center, contact Paula Kay, Community Partnership and Development Manager, at 813.274.0936.

Nonprofit leaders: Earn Executive MBA Scholarship from USF

Executives from charitable agencies seeking to hone their business skills, and apply them in the non-profit arena, are invited to apply for a $20,000 scholarship to the Executive MBA program at the University of South Florida in Tampa. 

Deadline to apply is June 1.

Applicants must have at least five years managerial experience, a proven record with a Tampa Bay 501 (c)(3) non-profit agency, commit to at least three additional years of service to a local non-profit upon graduation, currently hold an undergraduate degree from an accredited institution, and score 500 or higher on the GMAT. This scholarship is not limited to those with a business degree. Applicants who hold degrees in other fields, such as juvenile justice, psychology, social work, or education are eligible to apply.

The curriculum is practical, timely, and immediately useful. The fast-paced four-semester cohort program allows even the busiest senior-level professionals to maintain career responsibilities while earning an MBA.  Careful, day-long scheduling requires students to spend just one Friday and two Saturdays per month in the classroom, providing students flexibility and control over self-directed and team study.Program specifics can be found online at http://www.emba.usf.edu/.

The scholarship covers nearly half of the $40,000 fees for the 20-month program.  The remaining fees (plus mandated tuition increases) will be pro-rated and payable at the beginning of each of the four semesters of the program.    Applicants may apply for Stafford Loans through the USF Office of Financial Aid to help defray these expenses.   Some employers offer tuition reimbursement programs that may help offset expenses.

All scholarship applicants are required to take the GMAT.  Applications must include a completed Executive MBA Preliminary Application form (with a note indicating application is for the Not-for-Profit scholarship), two letters of recommendation, a statement of support from a current employer, university transcripts and a current resume. 

All documents can be found at http://coba.usf.edu/programs/emba/apply.html.  For more information, call 974-4876.

Girl Scouts of West Central Florida Inc.

In Girl Scouts, girls discover the fun, friendship and power of girls together. Girl Scouting helps girls develop their full individual potential; relate to others with increasing understanding, skill and respect; develop values to guide their actions and provide the foundation for sound decision-making; and contribute to the improvement of society through their abilities, leadership skills and cooperation with others.

Girl Scouts of West Central Florida serves more than 28,000 girls, ages 5-17, and 10,000 adult volunteers in Citrus, Hernando, Hillsborough, Marion, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk and Sumter counties.

For more information, call: 813-281-4475 
Website: http://www.gswcf.org 
United Way provides funding to the Girl Scouts of  $257,000 

Featured Partner: RCS

RCS is a registered 501 (c) 3 organization with four distinct yet interwoven programs working together to provide basic needs to people in Pinellas County

RCS Food Bank is the largest distributor of food to those in need in Pinellas County, serving between 4,000 and 5,000 individuals monthly at RCS’s warehouse and through 62 sub-sites.

RCS Grace House provides 8 weeks of apartment-style shelter to homeless families along with all of life’s necessities, maximizing their opportunity to reach self-sufficiency.

The Haven of RCS empowers victims of domestic violence to become survivors, offering shelter, legal advocacy, 911 phones, individual and group support, preventative education and more.
 
The RCS Thrift Store offers a dignified shopping experience at no charge to participants in RCS programs while providing revenue to RCS through sales to the public, including household items and furniture.

For more information: http://www.rcshelps.com
Telephone: 727-584-3528

United Way funds The Haven and the Food Bank.
 

More About Imagination Library

by Debra Faulk

Amidst a fanfare of front page news and features on-line and on television and radio, Imagination Library of Hillsborough County made its debut on February 26, 2008.

Imagination Library is not an actual building, but a program founded more than 10 years ago by Country-singer Dolly Parton as a gift of encouragement to children in her hometown of Sevier County, Tennessee.

Today, there are almost 800 Imagination Library programs in three countries; with Hillsborough County’s program having the potential to be the largest in the world. 

Imagination Library gives eligible babies and toddlers a new, age-appropriate book each month, free. Eligible children are all children living in Hillsborough County born on or after September 1, 2006, regardless of income. Upon registration, hardback books are mailed to the child’s home. Research tells us that children get ready to read years before they start school. This “getting ready” — or “early literacy” — is what children know about reading before they can actually do it by themselves.

Why bother reading to your baby? Clearly, he or she can’t understand what you are doing or why. But do you wait until your child can understand what you’re saying before you start to speak? Do you bypass lullabies until your baby can carry a tune? Or wait until your child can shake a rattle before offering toys? No, no, and no. So why wait to read 

Reading aloud to your baby is an important form of stimulation. It teaches them about communication; introduces concepts such as numbers, letters, colors, and shapes; builds listening, memory, and vocabulary skills; and gives babies information about the world around them.

Best of all, it is a wonderful shared activity that continues for years to come. Like all members of Hillsborough County’s Imagination Library partnership, the United Way of Tampa Bay is committed to help improve early learning opportunities for all children by providing easily accessible, age appropriate books in the home.

To learn more, register, or make a donation,   visit www.unitedwaytampabay.com/imaginationlibrary. 

United Way and Bucs ‘Huddle’ to benefit Sulphur Springs school

The United Way of Tampa Bay and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers teamed up on October 10, 2007 to provide new sports equipment to Sulphur Springs Elementary School as part of the National Football League’s nationwide collaboration, Hometown Huddle. 

Through the efforts of the United Way’s community impact initiative, Buccaneers players Sammy Davis, Ike Hilliard, Matt Lehr, and Maurice Stovall joined team mascot, Captain Fear, in personally delivering the equipment for the school’s Physical Education Department. Jump ropes, baseballs, footballs, soccer balls and goals, basketballs and nets were donated for use in the school’s Physical Education curriculum.  

Led by Sulphur Springs principal Cora Wimberly, the school was in frenzied form for the arrival of their beloved Buccaneers. Handmade pennants, hats, banners adorned the school’s playground, while many children and teachers were dressed in Buccaneer jerseys and t-shirts honoring their hometown team. Chants of ‘Let’s Go Bucs’ were echoing throughout the school’s playground as the players arrived. 

The Buc players joined Emery Ivery, Vice President of Community and Partnership Development, in talking about the community impact efforts of the United Way and the importance of hard work and success. They then put the new equipment to good use, playing basketball, jumping rope, and participating in parachute games with the kids.  The NFL and United Way’s Hometown Huddle is a collection of hands-on volunteer projects implemented simultaneously on a single Tuesday in different NFL cities across the country. 

Thanks to Hometown Huddle 2007, the Buccaneers and United Way ensured that the children in Sulphur Springs will enjoy their physical education experience on a daily basis.