TAMPA, Fla. \u2014\u00a0A critical resource for people experiencing homelessness in Tampa has reopened its doors \u2014 this time with a new name, new leadership and expanded hours.<\/p>\n
After closing due to federal funding cuts, the longtime Seminole Heights drop-in center formerly known as \u201cThe Shop\u201d is now back as \u201cThe Drop \u2014 Dignity and Resilience Operations Partnership.\u201d<\/p>\n
What You Need To Know<\/p>\n
After closing due to federal funding cuts, the longtime Seminole Heights drop-in center formerly known as \u201cThe Shop\u201d is now back as \u201cThe Drop \u2014 Dignity and Resilience Operations Partnership
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The daytime drop-in center provides showers, laundry, mail services, coffee,\u00a0internet\u00a0and free clothing \u2014 meeting basic needs for some of Tampa\u2019s most vulnerable residents
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Since connecting with The Drop, client Jonathan says he\u2019s slowly getting back on his feet
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The Drop is now open Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays \u2014 expanded hours aimed at serving more people in need<\/p>\n
A daily escape and support system<\/p>\n
For Jonathan, who didn\u2019t provide his last name, The Drop has become a place of consistency.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m here just about everyday they\u2019re open,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Reading at the center\u2019s library is what keeps him coming back.<\/p>\n
\u201cFavorite books are contemporary society. It teaches you about social science and things like that and different societies, and it really opens your mind,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He says it helps him cope with the challenges he faces.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt helps you escape some of the stresses that we go through.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jonathan says the past year has been life-changing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am currently homeless,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He says everything shifted during the COVID pandemic \u2014 after losing his job, then his father following an illness and accident, he eventually lost his home.<\/p>\n
At 28 years old, he says he never expected to be in this position.<\/p>\n
\u201cLife tends to throw curveballs at you,\u201d he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Since connecting with The Drop, he says he\u2019s slowly getting back on his feet.<\/p>\n
Services restored after sudden closure<\/p>\n
The daytime drop-in center provides showers, laundry, mail services, coffee,\u00a0internet\u00a0and free clothing \u2014 meeting basic needs for some of Tampa\u2019s most vulnerable residents.<\/p>\n
The center, now operated by WellBuilt Cities and founder Jon Dengler, nearly didn\u2019t reopen after federal funding cuts forced it to shut down.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have so many friends on the streets that this is their mailing address. This is where their medicine comes. This is where they shower. And all of a sudden the doors on it were locked. We came by and it\u2019s covered in \u201cSorry We Missed You\u201d stickers from FedEx. And we\u2019re like, \u2018That\u2019s people\u2019s medicine that was arriving.\u2019 And so it was like, to us, it was an emergency,” said Dengler.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dengler says the reopening shows what strong community partnerships can accomplish.<\/p>\n
\u201dThe things that stand in our way from doing that is concern with really, with our logos, or our egos, the things that we want to be known rather than necessarily going, hey, we lay those down for the sake of the greater work. I think that\u2019s what this place is trying to set the table for,” Dengler said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jonathan says part of his journey is challenging misconceptions about homelessness.<\/p>\n
\u201cTypically, when somebody, you know, I\u2019m walking down the street or somebody finds out I\u2019m homeless, they\u2019re automatically assume you\u2019re a drug addict, that you\u2019re trying to get high,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He says The Drop has opened the door to new possibilities.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor people to open their doors and want to help that meant the world to me,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Drop is now open Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays \u2014 expanded hours aimed at serving more people in need.<\/p>\n
Leaders say they hope to continue growing those hours and services in the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA, Fla. \u2014\u00a0A critical resource for people experiencing homelessness in Tampa has reopened its doors \u2014 this time…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":208758,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[16022,274,2375,276,1644,115,135,137,136,278,835],"class_list":{"0":"post-208757","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa","8":"tag-app-housing","9":"tag-app-top-stories","10":"tag-fadia-patterson","11":"tag-hillsborough-county","12":"tag-housing","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-tampa","15":"tag-tampa-headlines","16":"tag-tampa-news","17":"tag-top-stories","18":"tag-vod"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208757","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=208757"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208757\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/208758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=208757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=208757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=208757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}