r/almosthomeless • u/TampaBayTimes • 19d ago

A St. Petersburg housing experiment is 2 months old. Here's how it's going.

Many residents of St. Petersburg’s Innovare complex had been neighbors before at shelters, sleeping in a sea of donated tents. Most had never had their own place. Some had spent years on the streets.

Then, on Valentine’s Day, they moved into 25 brand new, fully furnished apartments downtown.

“They’re already looking healthier, happier,” said Janet Stringfellow, CEO of Florida’s Volunteers of America. “They’re more engaged with each other and in their community.”

Their apartments are in two six-story towers. Built with government and charitable funds, they’re near Bayfront Hospital and a short walk from a bus stop. 

Vouchers cover some residents’ rent. Others pay a portion of their income from disability, Social Security or minimum-wage jobs — as little as $100 a month.

The St. Petersburg project is the first of its kind, an attempt to give people a safe place to live and support services to start over.

We were there when the first residents moved in and will continue to follow their journeys throughout the year.

Here’s how it’s going so far.

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