The Spring of Tampa Bay

Residential programs (emergency shelter, peace village apartments, scattered site housing) The Spring exists to keep victims of domestic violence safe. Our emergency residential shelter consists of 24 bedrooms with 128 beds, plus a full- service dining hall and a large multipurpose room for groups/classes, all designed to provide a home-like refuge for adults & children in danger.in fy 21/22, The Spring provided safe emergency shelter to 534 adults & children. From our shelter, we operate a 24/7 crisis hotline to answer questions, provide safety planning, and connect victims to services with us & other community partners. Last year we answered 10,149 crisis calls on this hotline. At The shelter, resident children in preschool through 5th grade have access to onsite kids programs in our school complex daycare for toddlers/preschoolers, an elementary school run by hillsborough county public schools(hcps), and afterschool educational groups & activities run by our children's advocates. Adults in The shelter can participate in educational groups and one-on-one coaching that build financial literacy, job skills, & life skills through our economic empowerment program. Adults & teens can also learn tips on health and wellness and be connected to free medical and dental providers. Family pets are brought to The shelter and then kept safe through community relationships forged by The pet program. In partnership with The clerk of The circuit court & The hillsborough county bar foundation, deputized advocates can assist victims with filing injunctions for protection directly from The safety of The shelter. Last year, deputized shelter advocates assisted in filing 46 injunctions. In our peace village apartment complex, survivors have opportunities for a longer stay with us. When a domestic violence survivor is financially self-sufficient, her ability to be safe & move on with her life increases exponentially. The Spring's peace village program helps survivors become self-sufficient through generous support from catholic charities & The hillsborough county board of county commissioners. Our secure complex is supervised by two onsite advocates and provides up to one year of affordable housing to participants enrolled in post-secondary education or job training programs. Our advocates provide support groups, one-on-one advocacy & additional programs designed to help survivors & their children thrive. Potlucks, picnics, field trips & other informal gatherings all build a sense of community for these families. In fy 21/22, The Spring served 49 adults & children in this 12-unit complex. The Spring's rapid rehousing (rrh) program is The third service within residential programs. The Spring provides case management support through rrh advocates who work with each survivor to identify a permanent housing unit (i.e. Scattered site apartment or house) that meets their needs; is located near their social supports, school, work and childcare; and is affordable for them both while they receive 12-24 months of rental/financial assistance from The Spring and after they exit our rrh program and are expected to pay rent on their own. Their assigned rrh advocate connects with each survivor on a monthly basis and will provide as much or as little support as The survivor desires throughout their participation in The program. In fy 21/22, The Spring served 141 adults & children through rapid rehousing.

Legal services division at The Spring in fy 16/17, The Spring started its ifp project with two attorneys employed full time by The Spring. Since then we have continued adding attorneys and now employ nine full time attorneys, licensed by The Florida bar, who provide legal assistance & representation, completely free of charge regardless of income, to survivors of domestic violence who want to obtain an injunction for protection from The court as a means to increase safety from their abusers, or desire representation in dependency court to advocate for The best interests of their children. This project was supported by award no. Voca-2020-the Spring of Tampa bay-00596 awarded by The office for victims of crime, office of justice programs. Sponsored by The Spring of Tampa Bay and The state of Florida. In fy 21/22, our nine attorneys provided legal assistance & representation to 1,629 survivors in our community.

Outreach services centers many domestic violence victims/survivors don't want to enter a shelter to access services, so keeping them safe outside of The shelter is The responsibility of our outreach services centers. Using two locations in Tampa and plant city, and with generous support from The children's board of hillsborough county and The hillsborough county board of county commissioners, we provide safety planning, support groups, referrals for services, supportive and educational counseling, and advocacy on their behalf. In partnership with The clerk of The circuit court and The hillsborough county bar foundation, deputized outreach advocates assist with filing injunctions for protection from The safety of our outreach office, and last year assisted survivors in filing 143 injunctions. Additionally, two specialized advocates work with The hillsborough county sheriff's office, Tampa police department and other local law enforcement agencies to increase victim safety in potentially lethal cases and two specialized advocates are co-located with child protection investigations and child welfare case management agencies to advocate for victims when their children are part of The child welfare system. Also located in outreach, our prevention team works extensively with young people in schools and community organizations to prevent teen dating violence andp romote healthy relationships. The team also works proactively with teens and pre-teens who have been arrested for domestic violence offenses. In fy21/22, our outreach advocates provided face-to-face assistance (either in-person or via remote video platform) to 1,363 survivors of domestic violence.