St. Petersburg's Community Support Hub Closes Just Three Months After Opening
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City officials, community leaders and area residents celebrated the opening of St. Petersburg's first Community Support Hub in March. The facility closed three months later. A March 1 event commemorated the city’s first Community Support Hub opening along a culturally significant South St. Petersburg corridor.
The lead agency’s director said staff would “walk people through the gate” to receive help. The gate locked permanently three months later. Myriad city officials and community leaders attended the festive ceremony at 1427 22nd St. S. (the Deuces).
Mayor Ken Welch selected local nonprofit The Well to oversee an innovative, trauma-informed and grassroots approach to mental health care. Dr. Ladonna Butler, founder of The Well, subsequently left the now-seemingly shuttered organization. However, the saga has a positive conclusion, as Gulf Coast Jewish Family and Community Services (GCJFCS) now leads the holistic initiative. “It’s not about the space so much as it is about the accessibility,” said Dr.
Sandra Braham, CEO of GCJFCS. “It’s not about a building – it’s about a vision of meeting people where they are. ” Welch tapped the Pinellas Community Foundation (PCF) to distribute an $8. 5 million seed fund. The collaborative program’s founding partners were The Well, GCJFCS and People Empowering & Restoring Communities (PERC).
Duggan Cooley, CEO of PCF, said the Hub quietly closed in early June. The city-sponsored initiative became increasingly complex, and the partners decided it needed a new lead agency. Cooley said he offered The Well an opportunity to continue providing mental health services – the nonprofit’s focus. “We had continuing challenges in the transition, and I don’t know if they really wanted to be involved,” he added. “At the same time, their CEO took a job … somewhere out of state.
” Multiple calls to two of The Well’s listed phone numbers went directly to automated voicemail. The organization’s last Facebook post, June 6, featured a photo of the opening ceremony. “It has been our pleasure to serve! ” it read. Braham and Cooley said they hadn’t spoken to anyone at The Well in months.
The nonprofit held the lease on the Deuces facility. The remaining partners temporarily moved operations as it became apparent that The Well could no longer stay in the building. In July, South St. Pete residents told Spectrum News that they arrived to find the doors locked. “I think the idea was to not be overly disruptive to people by making some big announcement that it moved temporarily,” Cooley said.
“We weren’t sure if we’d be back.