The Patricia Sullivan Metropolitan Ministries School on MiraclePlace Campus will provide classroom space for 150 students.

Groundbreaking was held this week for a new school that will offer opportunity for those most vulnerable homeless – school-aged children. Working together as a team, Metropolitan Ministries and Hillsborough County Public Schools will build and operate a school with capacity for up to 150 K-5 students. This school will be located on the campus of Tampa's MiraclePlace, a facility that currently offers transitional housing for 52 formerly homeless families, along with job training and other services. It is expected that half the students will be residents at MiraclePlace, and the remaining will be recent graduates of MiraclePlace programs who live nearby.

Having a school on site has significant advantages, offering a safe and convenient environment for both children and parents. Students are used to moving around and enrolling in new schools – sometimes two or three times a year – creating an instability that is common among children of homeless families. Parental involvement is maximized by having the school on campus; and personalized services will be offered to maximize educational and behavioral outcomes for traumatized children.

The school, along with other improvements in both Hillsborough and Pasco Counties, is financed through the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program. Florida Community Loan Fund provided  $11 million in NMTC allocation for the $16.7 million project. The investor is JPMorgan Chase. Additional NMTC allocation and investment is provided by Whitney Bank CDC/Hancock Bank. 

Recent articles about the school groundbreaking:
Tampa Tribune, Oct. 28:  Work begins on new school for homeless children in Tampa
Tampa Business Journal, Oct. 28: Metropolitan Ministries and Hillsborough County to build new school for MiraclePlace kids

View more photos on FCLF's Flickr page.
Or visit www.metromin.org to learn more about this and other work by the organization.