\u00a0Hillsborough schools to eliminate 82 semester exams, reduce screen time in new school year\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\nRevive and Restore offers free clothing, shoes and personal-care items, but founder Lori Martin said she wanted the experience to feel different from a traditional clothing closet.<\/p>\n
“This is a boutique,” Martin said. “I want them to literally feel it’s a special event each week when they come in.”<\/p>\n
The boutique is located inside a Tampa resource center, where shoppers are able to browse the racks and choose the items they want rather than simply receiving whatever is available.<\/p>\n
Jonathan Ward has been visiting Revive and Restore for about a year and a half. He said the organization and the people behind it have had a lasting impact on his life.<\/p>\n
“When I met Lori, I’ll tell you this, everybody involved with her, it really changed my life,” Ward said. “I felt like somebody actually cared.”<\/p>\n
Ward said seeking help can be difficult because people experiencing homelessness often fear being judged or stereotyped.<\/p>\n
“It’s really a vulnerable thing,” he said. “You don’t want them to look down on you. You don’t want people to think you’re a drug addict or anything like that.”<\/p>\n
Ward said he has been clean for about eight years.<\/p>\n
Martin said the viral video has led to an overwhelming response from people across Tampa Bay and beyond who want to donate clothing, volunteer or offer professional services.<\/p>\n
“We had no idea,” Martin said. “Some of the most common comments are, ‘We want to help. What can we do?'”<\/p>\n
The need extends beyond people experiencing homelessness. Martin said families are also coming to the organization looking for clothing for their children.<\/p>\n
Revive and Restore accepts gently used men’s and women’s clothing, volunteers and financial contributions. The nonprofit said it helps feed and clothe more than 1,500 people each month across Tampa Bay.<\/p>\n
Ward hopes the attention surrounding the boutique encourages people to look beyond someone’s circumstances.<\/p>\n
“We’re just misunderstood,” he said. “Everybody goes through hard times.<\/p>\n
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\u00a0For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA, Fla. (WLFA) \u2014 A Tampa boutique created for people experiencing homelessness is drawing attention across Tampa Bay…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":350934,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[1192,143556,143555,135,1526,137,136],"class_list":["post-350933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-homelessness","tag-jonathan-ward","tag-lori-martin","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-bay","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350933","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=350933"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350933\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/350934"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=350933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=350933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=350933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}