SBA offers disaster aid for cold weather-affected businesses<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON \u2013 The U.S. Small Business Administration is offering low interest federal disaster loans to small businesses and private non-profit organization affected by the freezing weather between Jan. 23 and Feb. 5.<\/p>\n
The disaster declaration covers 22 Florida counties, including Hernando, Hillsborough, Pasco, and Pinellas.<\/p>\n
The SBA\u2019s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program is available to eligible small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, nurseries, and PNPs with financial losses directly related to this disaster. Agricultural producers, farmers, or ranchers, except for aquaculture enterprises, are not eligible.<\/p>\n
EIDLs are available for working capital needs caused by the disaster and are available even if the small business or PNP did not suffer any physical damage. The loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable, and other bills not paid due to the disaster.<\/p>\n
Mobile clinic offers child health care<\/p>\n
TAMPA \u2013 St. Joseph\u2019s Children\u2019s Hospital is offering well-child physicals and immunizations through its Mobile Medical Clinic at no cost for children who are age 18 or younger<\/p>\n
The mobile clinic will be available at various sites throughout Hillsborough County through the end of May. The clinic is provided by the Children’s Board Family Resource Centers for Hillsborough County residents.<\/p>\n
Well-child exams and immunizations will be available for children ages 18 and younger who are enrolled in Medicaid or have no health insurance or who are American Indians or Alaskan natives.<\/p>\n
In-person registration is required; visit a local Children\u2019s Board Family Resource Center to register. All children must have their parent or legal guardian present. A notarized guardianship letter is required to show legal guardianship. The parent or legal guardian must bring their photo ID.<\/p>\n
Each child scheduled will need to bring their most current immunization record, even if they do not need shots.<\/p>\n
Sports physicals are not provided.<\/p>\n
All children qualify for child development, hearing and vision screenings, with or without insurance.<\/p>\n
The Family Healthcare Foundation can help families explore free or low-cost health care coverage for their family.<\/p>\n
The clinics will be held at the following Children’s Board Family Resource Center locations and times:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Brandon, 1271 Kingsway Road, 813-740-4634: April and May to be determined, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Central Tampa, 1002 E. Palm Ave., 813-204-1741: April 2 and May 7, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.<\/p>\n
\u2022 North Tampa, 116 W. Fletcher Ave., 813-558-1877: March 19, April 16, and May 21, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Plant City, 301 N. Palmer St., 813-752-8700: April 14 and May 26 \u2013 2-6 p.m.<\/p>\n
\u2022 South County, 3030 E. College Ave., Ruskin, 813-641-5600: March 24, April 28, and May 12 \u2013 2 p.m.-6 p.m.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Temple Terrace, 5892 E. Fowler Ave., 813-435-3032: April 7 and May 5 \u2013 2-6 p.m.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Town ‘N Country, 7520 W. Waters Ave., Suite 8, Tampa, 813-356-1703: March 26, April 23, and May 28 \u2013 11 a.m.-5 p.m.<\/p>\n
Blake student wins award at Gasparilla film fest<\/p>\n
TAMPA \u2013 Cisco Betances, a digital cinema student at Howard W. Blake High School, has been named the Audience Choice Award winner at the Gasparilla International Film Festival High School Competition.<\/p>\n
Betances, currently in his third year in Blake\u2019s Digital Cinema program, earned the honor following the public screening of his latest film, \u201cThe Book,\u201d at the festival. The film is a story of a young man who is able to accept a breakup through the reading of a book to start a new chapter in his life.<\/p>\n
Audience members selected his project as their favorite among submissions from high school filmmakers across the region. The Audience Choice Award is one of the festival\u2019s most sought-after recognitions, highlighting not only technical excellence but also a filmmaker\u2019s ability to connect meaningfully with viewers.<\/p>\n
\u201cCisco\u2019s work demonstrates a level of creativity, technical skill, and emotional depth well beyond his years,\u201d said Joe Papadopoulos, instructor in the Howard W. Blake High School Digital Cinema program.<\/p>\n
Multiple projects by Betances have been selected for screening at GIFF and his work has also been accepted into the Young Directors Festival at the Tampa Museum of Art, along with other youth film competitions.<\/p>\n
Housing authority to transform downtown sites into affordable housing<\/p>\n
TAMPA \u2013 The Tampa Housing Authority has been selected to redevelop four properties in the northern portion of downtown Tampa\u2019s central business district.<\/p>\n
The sites, located between North Tampa Street and East Ashley Drive, are owned by the city of Tampa and the Tampa Community Redevelopment Agency. Among the properties are the former Army\/Navy Surplus Market building and the Royal Street parking lot.<\/p>\n
THA\u2019s development team includes PMG Affordable, Bank of America Community Development Company, LLC, and DuCon, LLC.<\/p>\n
The development team plans to create a mixed-use community featuring approximately 1,150 residential units, with 70% of the units dedicated to affordable and workforce housing. The development will also incorporate commercial space and public elements aimed strengthening connectivity and walkability within the surrounding district.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are still early in the development process, but it is incredibly exciting to move this vision for North Downtown Tampa forward,\u201d said Mayor Jane Castor. \u201cWe can\u2019t overstate the importance of workforce housing in our community. Not only will existing neighborhoods benefit from the improved connectivity, but this project will create hundreds of affordable, downtown homes for teachers, first responders, technicians, service employees and others who make our city great.\u201d<\/p>\n
“This is a milestone for Downtown Tampa and our affordable housing goals,” said CRA Chairman Luis Viera. “As the first affordable housing development in Tampa’s Central Business District, we are opening countless opportunities for the individuals and families that need it most. We want to ensure everyone has a chance to live in our flourishing downtown and enjoy a lifestyle that keeps them close to jobs and the places they enjoy most.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SBA offers disaster aid for cold weather-affected businesses WASHINGTON \u2013 The U.S. Small Business Administration is offering low…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1076,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[1571,17268,135,137,136],"class_list":["post-195079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-affordable-housing","tag-st-joseph","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195079"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195079\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}