PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Many local nonprofits have halted their fundraising because of the pandemic. Because of that, they need monetary donations now more than ever.
Alpha House of Pinellas County’s Executive Director Jennifer Stracick says that holds especially true for them right now.
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Alpha House of Pinellas County is the only home for homeless pregnant women and teens and new mothers in the county. Their doors have been closed since mid-March, even though their house isn’t quite full.
“We have four beds that are empty that are designated for foster care youth and those that are removed from an abusive environment of some form and they would be going in those beds,” said Stracick.
That’s not due to a lack of need, Jennifer has had to turn away five teens in foster care in order to protect the mothers and babies who are already living at Alpha House.
“If we let one person in and they infect everybody that’s here, we’ve already compromised the whole house,” said Jahmira Myrick, a mother who lives at Alpha House.
But if those four empty beds were full, they’d be bringing in nearly $17,000 a month, funding from the Department of Children and Families that Alpha House relies on to keep going.
“Not only am I losing the revenue of not filling that bed, which is in our budget, it’s also really frightening because most nonprofits are doing the same thing, of not letting people in,” said Stracick.
Alpha House of Pinellas County is an operation that takes more than $60,000 a month to run, helping mothers from ages 14 to 41 across the Tampa Bay area get back on their feet, and now Alpha House needs your help to make sure they can stay on theirs.
“We were able to receive the SBA forgiveness loan,“ said Stracick,
She says that loan will get them by for about four weeks, but after that, she’s unsure what Alpha House will do.
”Your guess is as good as mine. We’re going against the grain already, nonprofits in general are just trying to get by,” said Stracick.
To donate to Alpha House of Pinellas County, click here.
