With a little help from friends, Tampa’s Day Center for the Homeless reopens as ‘The Drop’

The Day Center for the Homeless reopened its doors Tuesday after closing this Summer amid funding cuts.

Previously known colloquially as “The Shop,” the Day Center is now reopening under a new brand, “The Drop,” complete with new community-led management.

Located at 6220 North Nebraska Ave., the center has long provided mail access, showers, laundry and a welcoming place to rest for people without homes.

But the center closed this Summer after losing federal funding, leaving hundreds without access to essential services they had come to rely upon.

Now, WellBuilt Cities, a Tampa-based nonprofit founded by social entrepreneur Jon Dengler, has joined forces with a coalition of churches, nonprofits and local supporters to preserve the site. The group raised more than $130,000 in just a few months — enough to take over the center’s lease, refresh the space and prepare for reopening.

“This reopening represents what’s possible when a community comes together,” Dengler said. “No single organization could have done this alone. Churches, volunteers, local businesses, and neighbors all stepped in because they knew this place matters — to the people it serves and to the city as a whole.”

For now, The Drop will operate two days a week, offering showers, laundry, coffee, mail access, internet access and a place to rest. But plans are already underway to expand operations to five or six days a week as funding allows.

The new management team is also eying its long-term sustainability by exploring possible property acquisition and facility upgrades to transform the center into a community resilience hub that can serve daily community needs, known as “blue sky” and disaster response needs, known as “grey sky.”

Under that model, the building would be used to coordinate volunteers and relief efforts during hurricanes and other local emergencies through the Respond Together network of churches.

“We chose the name The Drop because it captures both what we do and why we do it,” Dengler explained. “It’s short for drop-in center, but it also reminds us that small acts of love — the drop of coffee that starts your day, the drop of water that refreshes, or any ‘drop’ of hospitality — ripples outward into lasting change.”

The name also draws inspiration from activist Dorothy Day, who wrote: “People say, what is the sense of our small effort? They cannot see that we must lay one brick at a time, take one step at a time. A pebble cast into a pond causes ripples that spread in all directions.”

While The Drop is now open, the new management team is still raising funds. Operations require at least $240,000 annually. Tax deductible donations are being accepted online.

“Every drop matters,” Dengler said. “Each contribution helps ensure our neighbors continue to have a place of welcome — a space that refreshes, restores, and reminds us what community can be.”