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Alpha House of Tampa offers homeless pregnant women and mothers with young children safe housing
and the tools they need to become self-sufficient and effective responsible parents.
MISSION MINUTE
Artemis Guild sold out their August fundraising event at Painting with a Twist, raising $542 to sponsor a painting session for the residents of Alpha House on September 26th. Special thanks to event organizer Elizabeth Cullivan, Painting With a Twist co-owner Marvin Gay and Beef O’Brady’s for offering this wonderful evening of dinner and painting for our residents. Please join us in supporting Painting with a Twist when planning your next event.
 
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WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING
CHILDREN’S BOARD OF HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY GRANT AWARDED FOR PROGRAM EXPANSION
We are proud to announce that Alpha House of Tampa has been chosen to receive $371,966 in funding from the Children’s Board of Hillsborough County in the 2012 competitive grant process. This grant will enable us to expand our on-site Parents As Teachers (PAT) program to continue to serve mothers and children currently in residence at Alpha House and to provide home-visitation and case- management services to clients on the waiting list as well as clients who leave Alpha House for independent housing.
Parents As Teachers is a national child-development curriculum based on the belief that a parent is the child’s first and best teacher. The Parents as Teachers program provides ongoing “ages and stages” child development assessments for babies and toddlers and includes ongoing parent education and training to increase parent knowledge of early child development, improve parenting practices, provide early detection of developmental delays and health issues, prevent child abuse and neglect, and increase school readiness and school success.
Our “pre-admission” program will give homeless pregnant or newly-parenting mothers a head start in receiving pre-natal care, medical care for their young children, financial benefits, and setting appropriate goals. The “aftercare” services will help mothers and children who have completed the residential program at Alpha House continue their progress toward their goals through home visits and support services from PAT parent educators and case managers.
GABLES DAY AT ALPHA HOUSE: HARD WORK AND OPEN HEARTS
*click here for more photos!
“When two of our pre-schoolers first saw the new playroom, they roared, "WWWOOOOWWW!!! Monster Trucks!" and immediately got down on the new play mat to race cars, then ran to the play kitchen and the reading area to check out all the new toys, books and art supplies.”
In the space of two days, the volunteers from Gable Residential worked their glorious magic at the Rosalie Center. Gables Residential chose Alpha House of Tampa as their designated charity for Gables Day, a company-wide day of service at Gables offices around the country. This amazing crew, led by Senior Regional Manager Laurie D. Cavito with their partners at Sherwin Williams, gave the Rosalie Center a complete makeover, literally from floor to ceiling. Their donations included attractive new flooring and paint in the hallways on both the first and second floors, new landscaping at the entrance, A/C maintenance, stocking the food pantry, and the absolute TRANSFORMATION of the 2nd floor playroom, which now features a play space, kitchen, reading and art area. The pictures tell the story – hard work and open hearts have brightened the lives and living spaces of our residents. To each and every Gables volunteer, THANK YOU!
Keynote speaker Gaby Rodriguez (seated) signs her book for Board member Cynthia Keenan.
We are thrilled by the success of the Second Annual Alpha House of Tampa Parent Conference held on September 21 at Hillsborough Community College Ybor City. This year’s Parent Conference keynote speaker, Gaby Rodriquez, is the author of The Pregnancy Project, which premiered as a Lifetime network movie earlier this year. Gaby pretended to be pregnant in her senior year in high school in an effort to explore stereotypes about and the treatment of pregnant teens as well as promote teen pregnancy prevention. Her message of perseverance through adversity and her emphasis on education had a powerful impact on the audience.
This free community event attracted over 100 teen and adult mothers from throughout the community, including clients, staff and Board members of partner agencies such as Hillsborough County Schools, Healthy Start and Champions for Children.
Special thanks for event sponsors Sweetbay Supermarkets, Hillsborough Community College and Inkwood Books.
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ALPHA ANGELS KICK-OFF MEETING
Not quite “sleigh bells jingling” yet, but we are getting ready to celebrate the holiday season here at Alpha House. Alpha Angels is our holiday giving program for volunteers and donors who are interested in helping to make the holiday special for our residents. Please join us for the Alpha Angels kick-off meeting Thursday, October 14, 2012 from 12:00pm – 1:00pm at the Bonnie Center to learn more about how you can be a part of this seasonal celebration. The “Angels” secure donations/gift cards, coordinate/host holiday activities and decorations, shop for our residents and host the agency holiday party for our residents. Please RSVP for the kick-off meeting or request more information.
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UNITED WAY CAMPAIGN KICKOFF
Alpha House of Tampa kicked off its own United Way campaign earlier this month and we have already exceeded our fundraising goal! We are grateful for the significant program support we receive from United Way Suncoast and welcome the opportunity to give back to our community. Kudos to Program Manager Catarolyn Glen for leading this effort as Campaign Chair. Thanks to all our Alpha House of Tampa employees for their generous contributions to United Way Suncoast.
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