Frequently Asked Questions

Palm River Youth Corp

Question: What do I bring to class? For each class, you must bring the following:

Answer: Pencil/pen, Bag lunch with drink (no lunchboxes), Water bottle (mandatory on FIELD DAY) and PR1 Youth Corp. binder (will be provided to you on the first day of class)

Question: When do I have to wear my PR1 Youth Corp. T-shirt?

Answer: You can wear your t-shirt anytime; however it is MANDATORY that you wear your t-shirt on FIELD DAYS. Please look at your Youth Corp. schedule for these dates. There will be presentation days where “dress up” attire will be required- POINT staff will notify you of these dates.

Question: What if I am not feeling well and cannot come to class?

Answer: Call the POINT office immediately-if is after our regular-hours, leave a message in a general mailbox. You will be required to get the notes for any work missed from Natalie Clamp or Katrina Brady. For more than one absence, a doctor’s note MUST be provided.

Question: My parent can’t pick me up, can my friend come get me in the afternoon?

Answer: Any transportation arrangements with any non-family member MUST be arranged with the POINT, prior to pick up or drop off.

Question: Can I take the POINT PDA home with me to work on?

Answer: Unfortunately, under NO circumstances can the PDA’s be taken home. All equipment must be signed in or signed out during class. If there is an occasion where you need to use the equipment for a longer period of time, make arrangements with the POINT to come early or stay past the class session.

Question: If I have an unexcused absence will I get paid for that week?

Answer: Unfortunately, no.

Palm River 1st

Question: Where is Palm River?

Answer: The Palm River neighborhood is just beyond the City of Tampa boundaries, and is one the County’s most diverse communities with its approx. 6,000+ households being almost evenly split among Black, Hispanic and White families. The Palm River neighborhood is a low-to-moderate income community of about 14,000 people. The core service area covers about 3 square miles in unincorporated Hillsborough County, to the east of Tampa, North of Riverview and West of Brandon. Approximately 700 families in Palm River are living in poverty (2000 U.S. Census), and almost 32% of them are headed by females that don’t make enough money to meet their basic needs.

Question: What are it’s boundaries?

Answer: Geographical service area : For our purposes, the boundaries of the Greater Palm River area are to be based on the following landmarks in unincorporated Hillsborough County, Florida: Northern Boundary: Highway 60; Southern Boundary: 34th Street; Eastern Boundary: Highway 301; Western Boundary: Highway 41. The core area of Palm River is composed of census tracts: 135.01, 135.03, 135.04, 135.05, 136.02, and parts of 133.08.

Question: What are the area’s greatest challenges?

Answer: In Palm River, where 19% of the family households are considered to be living below the state’s poverty level, financial literacy education is not even a thought. Their concern for daily survival impedes them from thinking about the future-- the two create the foundation for an un-ending cycle of poverty. Poverty presents serious challenges to the individual and family in trying to meet their most basic needs of: nutrition, housing, and health. Poverty also has devastating social impacts on a community and presents challenges to sustaining a community’s higher quality of life. Palm River for example, ranks the highest in the County in regard to juvenile delinquency. According to 2000 U.S. Census data, there are about 6,000 households in Palm River (about 4,500 considered family units). Females are the heads of approximately 32% of those family units (1,300 families). Of those, about about 50% have children under the age of 5. It costs approximately $700 per month to rent a two bedroom unit in Palm River while the family median income for a female hovers around $22,973 annually ($1,900) per month. This means that most poor single moms have to use almost 40% of their income just to pay their rent. The lack of a formal education is another major barrier for families to move out of the cycle of poverty, in Palm River only 7.5% of the adult population has a bachelor’s degree, and only 33% hold a high school diploma. So there again, educating yourself out of poverty for many is yet another unachievable goal that perpetuates their family’s cycle of poverty.

Question: Is the POINT a for-profit agency?

Answer: No, Greater Palm River POINT, CDC (or “POINT”) is a neighborhood based [501 ©(3)] organization whose overall mission is to improve the quality of life of the residents of the Palm River community. Our organization’s work is focused around two central strategies for community change: 1) Investing in People through building resident’s educational and economic capacity and 2) Informing, educating and engaging residents in the community’s physical and economic revitalization. Over its 10 year history, the POINT, CDC has been the catalyst for important changes in Palm River. In 2004, for example, as a result of a multi-year campaign, Hillsborough County purchased the privately owned company that provided water services to parts of the neighborhood, significantly reducing costs to residents and improving the quality of service. As a result of our work with local providers and residents, the Children’s Board of Hillsborough County, among others have invested over $2M to provide family support services to hundreds of area families.

Question: What have been the POINT’s recent accomplishments?

Answer: In FY 2006, we successfully implemented initiatives that served hundreds residents. We helped over 300 families get access to local services through our Community Resource Network (CRN), and 50 residents graduated from one of our Job Certification and Adult Education (JCAE) programs. We organized 12 community education workshops and events with the participation of more than 500 residents. We promoted the Planning Commission’s neighborhood master planning process and helped to establish the current advisory committee comprised of over 35 residents. Through our newsletters and other publications we’ve reached every household in Palm River at least 5 times during the course of the past year (estimated 25,000 contacts).

Question: Do I need to make an appointment for assistance or can I just walk in?

Answer: Yes! Walk-ins are welcome! We are readily accessible to our community through our offices located in 3,500 square feet of commercial/retail space in one of the neighborhood’s centrally located shopping centers. We have community training and education facilities, computers and gathering spaces available for residents.

Question: Who runs the POINT organization?

Answer: The POINT, CDC is led by an Executive Director with over 20 years experience in the community development field. We have an experienced and complimentary staff of 6 professionals that together lead the implementation of the organizations programs and activities. The POINT, CDC doesn’t work alone. POINT has strong board of directors, 80% of which are neighborhood residents with varied professional knowledge and skills. The organization also counts on the support of local partners that fund and carry out the organization’s work.