TAMPA, Fla. — Families in the Thonotosassa area will soon see relief and support from the Emergency Care Help Organization, or ECHO for short.
The nonprofit is opening a new location in Thonotosassa to reach families that have to travel long distances to get help.
What You Need To Know
ECHO is a nonprofit aimed at helping bridge the gap to stability for families.
It offers resources to help people get a job and housing, as well as food and clothing.
The nonprofit is expanding to a new location in the Thonotosassa area.
Stepping inside the nonprofit, it’s all about making people feel at home.
“It’s neighbors helping neighbors,” said Eleanor Saunders.
She is the CEO of the ECHO, which is focused on helping families in need with resources like clothing and food, which they can shop for three times a year.
“Our neighbors can come and shop for themselves, make the choices they need to make for their own families, so it’s based on family size and people just take what they need,” she said.
It depends on volunteers to make it all happen. But that’s not all — Saunders says the organization’s goal is to offer long-term solutions to help people get back on their feet.
“We make connections with local hiring employers and literally use our social collateral to make those connections,” she said.
Just last year, ECHO served nearly 1,500 people through its services.
Saunders says that number grew because of the government shutdown.
Along with those challenges, the nonprofit is seeing the need grow in areas beyond its reach.
“In Thonotosassa, one in three children live below the poverty line, one in five people live food insecure. We need to be there, and there are no resources there,” said Savanna Thompson, the director of advancement for ECHO.
She says there has been a 36 percent growth in need for the Thonotosassa area, and transportation has been a big issue.
“They’re not able to get to get to where food is, and they don’t have options there,” Thompson said.
The nonprofit says the new location will help make resources more accessible.
“When you see people being able to shop for themselves and they’re empowered and they’re finding resources, you can’t help but say, ‘We want to do more of this,'” said Saunders.
The nonprofit says its goal is to open the Thonotosassa location within the next year. Then the shift will focus on a potential new location in south Hillsborough County.