Community Impact Fund
Learning to cope
before you flourish
Ready For Life
(RFL) is engaging
foster care youth,
private citizens, and public resources to assist Pinellas
County foster youth in a successful transition to adult-
hood. This public-private partnership works in
conjunction with Eckerd Community Alternatives
and JWB Children’s Services, and is always looking
for dedicated volunteers.
This is where Barbara Peck comes in. As Director
of Development at St. Petersburg’s Academy Prep, a
middle school for disadvantaged students, Barbara
has a keen interest in helping young people who face
difficult challenges. She became chair of the Life Skills
“One young girl said Ready for Life was the
springboard she needed to move on. When
you hear it from the kids themselves, it’s a
moving experience.”
Barabara Peck, Volunteer with Ready for Life
Committee, which connects kids with services that
help them with things like financial management,
food management, and home safety. “Things we,
as experienced adults, think are so simple become
daunting for these kids,” she explains. Things like getting
to work when you don’t have a driver’s license, or setting
up an apartment when you’ve never lived on your own.
Barbara recalls one young girl telling the committee
about the devastating things she experienced in her
life as a foster child. “She said Ready for Life was the
springboard she needed to move on. It really affected
me. When you hear it from the kids themselves, it’s a
moving experience.”
Ready for Life youth
at a recent gather-
ing at the Morean
Arts Center.
Finding the high road
HYPE is a gang prevention program
of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Tampa
Bay that provides effective prevention
programs for youth who are the most
likely targets of gang recruitment by
providing out-of-school time activities
and youth development programs.
Outcomes from the HYPE program include:
• 89% of participants showed increased
academic competencies based on pre- and
post-test data
• 84% had consistent school attendance
• 87% were on grade level and progressed
to the next grade level
• 99% had no reported involvement with
a gang or the juvenile justice system
HYPE creates opportunities for participating
youth to master creative skills and artistic expression,
for teamwork, for health-enhancing social activities and
for making a difference in the community through
volunteer work and service learning. The results
(above) speak for themselves.
Annual Repor t 2010 | Community Foundation of Tampa Bay
Bria Fleming, a HYPE graduate, is an outstand-
ing example of these possibilities. Overcoming the
distractions and challenges of her youth, she is now
attending Florida A&M University studying veterinary
medicine and has been
selected to serve on
the 2010 National
Keystone Steering
Committee of
the Boys & Girls
Clubs of America.
Bria Fleming (l) and
Boys & Girls Clubs
Outreach Coordinator,
De’Anna Irizarry (r). 9