TAMPA, Fla. — For the last year, Shelevia Dawson has volunteered with Better Together to mentor and open her home to families in crisis.
What You Need To Know
Better Together is a statewide nonprofit that works to keep families together and out of the foster care system
It is facing a critical shortage of volunteers in the Tampa market, which includes Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties
In Tampa Bay, Better Together urgently needs 33 host families and 41 mentors to meet the current demand
These volunteers provide short-term care for children while parents work through crisis situations, as well as one-on-one mentorship and community support to help families restore stability
Dawson’s first mentee was a young mother of two named Danaee.
“It’s been a wonderful journey,” said Dawson. “We still keep in contact, even though the mentorship is only three months. She wanted to just maintain a relationship afterward. So we still keep in contact and, you know, touch base from time to time.”
Better Together, a statewide nonprofit, and Dawson helped Danaee navigate through some tough times and helped her find stability in new housing.
“I was there when she got her keys and got all settled in,” Dawson said. “So that was a wonderful experience to see the progress that she made from being homeless in a homeless shelter to now having a space for her and her daughters to share with their own beds and their own rooms.”
Better Together’s mission is to help before families require the foster care system. The nonprofit offers professional support, resources and a network of trained volunteers to help families in crisis find stability.
The organization said it has served thousands of children statewide, preventing family separation and building stronger, more resilient communities.
“Individuals who maybe are experiencing job loss or medical emergencies or incarceration or homelessness, we try to step in and be able to provide a community for those individuals to help prevent foster care and to just help them navigate their way outside of that crisis,” said Joy Harris, executive director of Better Together Tampa.
This year, Better Together is facing a critical shortage of volunteers in the Tampa market, which includes Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties.
Harris said this year in the Tampa Bay area, Better Together has served 310 children through hosting and mentoring.
“And that can’t happen without an army of volunteers,” said Harris. “Right now, unfortunately, the need is really urgent. We only have approximately seven families who are able to step in and host children in Hillsborough County, and about 15 mentors who are able to step in and provide mentoring support to families.”
Better Together needs 33 host families and 41 mentors to meet the current demand.
Hosts provide short-term care for children, while the parents work through crisis situations. Mentors work one-on-one with families to restore stability.
“Better Together is a great start. And again, you don’t have to be perfect. You don’t have to have the perfect home setup. You know, like, it just needs to be a safe space,” said Dawson.
Dawson wants those interested to know, she also was provided with training before she began hosting and mentoring.
Families in need do not pay Better Together for this help — everything is free.
For those interested, they will need to go through a level two background check and home study to make sure their living space is safe.