Pinellas Hope was established in December 2007 on a 10-acre plot of land through a unique partnership with Catholic Charities, the interfaith community, local government, businesses, and other not-for-profit organizations. They serve homeless adults living on the streets by providing them with 250 temporary, emergency shelter beds in tents.

Over the years, they expanded to include the Pinellas Hope II, which boasts a community center, permanent administrative offices, a kitchen, library, computer room, pavilion/covered dining area, men’s and women’s bathrooms, showers, a laundry room, and more than 150 efficiency apartments that provide supportive housing to residents, in preparation for a return to regular housing.

Residents receive assistance with food, transportation, employment, and numerous wrap-around social services – including medical and dental, eye exams, adult education/GED classes, mental health, and many more – as they work towards a return to self-sufficiency.

This model is growth-focused and provides a therapeutic community for the most chronically homeless, primarily those coming directly from the streets. Pinellas meets them right where they are, and at the same time, recognizes the place at which they entered. Pinellas need not define them going forward; instead, the clients shepherd themselves to a life previously unimaginable.