A Kid’s Place announces public phase of $8 million capital campaign

A Kid’s Place of Tampa Bay (AKPTB), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides a safe, nurturing home to children in foster care in Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties, today announced the launch of the public phase of its Building a Brighter Future capital campaign to raise $8 million.

The capital campaign will fund the acquisition of property and construction of a 12,000-square-foot activity center on AKPTB’s Brandon, Fla., campus, as well as the renovation of a home for additional extended foster care housing.

“For 15 years, A Kid’s Place has built a strong track record of providing the safe, loving home children in foster care need,” said Beth Bradburn, chair of the AKPTB board of directors and the capital campaign’s steering committee, as well as chief financial officer of Homes by WestBay. “The Building a Brighter Future capital campaign will enable us to provide more of the educational, health, therapy and family services, as well as recreational activities, our kids deserve.”

A Kid’s Place launched the Building a Brighter Future campaign in February 2023. To date, the campaign has raised $5 million.

“We are fortunate to have so many generous supporters in the community who have already donated to Building a Brighter Future,” said Samantha Mellen, director of development at A Kid’s Place. “We’re excited to move into the public phase of fundraising to secure the additional $3 million to reach our goal, and we encourage anyone who wants to make a real difference in the lives of kids to donate.”

The capital campaign will fund the late-2023 acquisition of 2 acres of property adjacent to AKPTB’s current campus, which includes vacant land and a 2,894-square-foot single-family home; renovation of the home for additional housing for male youth in AKPTB’s extended foster care program; and construction of a 12,000-square-foot activity center.

The new activity center will include larger indoor gathering space for birthday parties, holidays and other group celebrations; more rooms for therapy, family visitation, arts/crafts, vocational education and community involvement; dedicated educational computer lab; spaces for enhanced services within the “Stepping Stones” program, which teaches kids age 13 and up independent living skills; an outdoor basketball court; and an outdoor courtyard, exercise room and swimming pool.

Recently, A Kid’s Place expanded its Independent Living program and also added a sixth home to its campus, one specifically for youth ages 18 to 22. The capital campaign will cover renovations to create a second independent living home on campus – bringing the total number of homes to seven. The independent living homes provide young adults who have recently aged out of the foster care system a place to live semi-independently near their younger siblings and get help developing the life and job skills they need to transition to full independence.

“The Building a Brighter Future campaign is not about doing things differently – it’s about doing more of what we’ve already been doing,” said Brad Gregory, CEO of A Kid’s Place. “The new activity center and expanded services enable us to offer deeper, more frequent and more impactful interactions between the children in our care and our house parents, families, peers, program leaders, staff, therapists and medical professionals to help our kids find stability, heal and go on to live successful lives.”

A Kid’s Place of Tampa Bay expects to begin construction on the new activity center in January 2025. Construction Services Inc. of Tampa, which is owned by Fred Lay, a former member of the A Kid’s Place board of directors, is donating all general contracting services for the build.

AiC Architecture designed the building, and Hendra and Associates Civil Engineering is also involved in the project.

Over 5,000 children are in foster care in the Tampa Bay area. Since 2009, A Kid’s Place of Tampa Bay has served over 1,700 children and 753 families. The average length of stay at A Kid’s Place is 578 days, and the longest length of stay for a current child living at A Kid’s Place is seven years.

To learn more about the Building a Brighter Future campaign, call Samantha Mellen at (813) 381-3839 or visit akpcapitalcampaign.org/.

About A Kid’s Place of Tampa Bay

For 15 years, the mission of A Kid’s Place of Tampa Bay has been to provide a safe, loving and nurturing home for foster children. Founded in 2009, A Kid’s Place provides residential services to children from Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties who have been removed from their homes due to abuse, neglect or abandonment. A Kid’s Place provides a variety of services to meet the social, educational, medical and psychological needs of each child, with a primary focus on keeping sibling groups together in a safe, stable, home-like environment. Since inception, A Kid’s Place has served more than 1,700 foster children and over 753 families. For more information, visit www.akidsplacetb.org.