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Pinellas Hope

A program of Catholic Charities of the DIocese of St Petersburg

Background and History of Pinellas Hope a Program of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of St Petersburg


A campus of tents, cottages and apartments for homeless individuals who dedicate themselves to goal achievement and end to homelessness


Summary & History

Catholic Charities partnered with local city and county governments, the homeless coalition and a host of service providers to address a chronic homeless problem and created Pinellas Hope in 2007. Bishop Lynch donated 20 acres of land in the central part of the county to create a soft shelter that will bridge homeless men and women to permanent housing. Since 2007 Pinellas Hope has sheltered more than 7,100 people, successfully placing 52% in stable housing. Pinellas Hope builds a culture of love, discipline and goal accomplishment to serve homeless that represent a wide range of challenging conditions from first time homeless facing a financial crisis to chronic homeless with addictions, disabilities and mental illness. Pinellas Hope is the second largest homeless shelter in Pinellas County averaging more 225 residents each night and is an essential part of the system to solve our chronic homeless problem in Pinellas County.


According the Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) submitted to HUD annually, Pinellas County recorded 10,607 homeless people in 2016. While these numbers vary from year to year, local, state and national data trends indicate Florida and the Tampa Bay area remain a focal point for the homeless community, especially during the winter season.
Permanent Housing at Pinellas Hope

An essential solution to ending homelessness is moving them to permanent supportive housing (PSH) and Pinellas Hope has recently completed construction of 76 new efficiency apartment units, bringing the total number of apartments on campus to 156 units, housing close to 200 single men/women and couples. Catholic Charities serves more than 400 people every day between the shelter and apartments. This requires an annual operating budget of $2.5M, of which 30% is government (city & county) grants, 40% is private donors/grants (including Diocesan funds) and 30% is in-kind donations (including daily meals).


The second most critical solution is support and services, delivered by Catholic Charities and its many partners. Their primary service delivery partners include PEMHS for substance abuse counseling & treatment, Directions for Living, BayCare/St. Anthony’s and Pinellas County for behavioral and primary health care and respite care. Pinellas County School District provides ABE/GED and workforce readiness services. While these are our primary partners, many other businesses and service providers partner with Pinellas Hope daily to serve the homeless. The commitment of Pinellas Hope is to provide essential wrap around services is results driven and focused on outcomes. Current support services included intensive case management, the foundation for building a culture of performance, followed by access to substance abuse and behavioral health treatment, primary health and medical respite care. Case Management focuses on the creation of achievable life goals for every resident. Once these services are provided the focus turns to educational outcomes, workforce readiness and attainment and financial stability. A return on the investment at Pinellas Hope is measured by successful housing, attainment of education, placement, retention and advancement in the workplace and increases in earned income. 

Hope Cottages

While tents at Pinellas Hope have been the solution to street homelessness in our cities and beaches since 2007, Hope Cottages™ is now our most nationally recognized innovative “tiny house” solution to dignified shelter living.  Hope Cottages™ are 20 foot-long, steel shipping containers that are repurposed into 3 separate, 50 sq. ft. living bed spaces. A multi-level improvement over tents, in addition to enhancing residents’ sense of dignity and community, they provide:

• Safety: built to withstand Category 4 Hurricane winds (Miami-Dade code)

• Privacy: individual room, lockable door & security peephole and exterior light

• Comfort: air-conditioned, bed (vs. mat on ground), LED light, and window

They are intended to enhance residents’ quality of life and self-esteem, hastening a return to stable, permanent housing and becoming an essential educational and workforce ready environment  for our residents increasing our return on investment by increasing job placement and successful permanent housing placement. Our Hope Cottages™ initiative repurposes 50 shipping containers into sleeping quarters for 150 residents.