In a former school campus in Pinellas County, teenagers who once slept in cars, motels, and tents now cook dinner together, do laundry, decorate for the holidays, and study for exams. For the unaccompanied, unhoused youth who call Starting Right, Now’s Haven South home, these small routines represent something much larger—stability, safety, and a shot at the future they’re working toward.
Since 2020, Pinellas Community Foundation (PCF) has walked alongside Starting Right, Now (SRN) through eight grants, helping the organization meet its most basic operational needs while its founder, Vicki Sokolik, and her team focus on what they do best: helping young people in Pinellas County get their basic physiological/safety needs met, graduate high school, move toward college or a career, and break the cycle of homelessness for good.
Where the Partnership Began
PCF’s relationship with Starting Right, Now took root in 2020, when the pandemic upended daily life for the young people SRN serves. As schools closed and routines collapsed, PCF awarded a $10,000 grant through the Tampa Bay Resiliency Fund’s COVID-19 Response initiative. The funding covered three daily meals for SRN’s unaccompanied youth facing unexpected school closures, disinfecting supplies, additional one-on-one tutors, and supplemental pay for the house managers holding the program together. The grant reached 32 clients directly, including one student, “M,” who experienced a mental health crisis early in the pandemic. SRN staff worked tirelessly to make sure she got the care she needed. At the time of SRN’s reporting of this story, “M” was a freshman at the University of Tampa on a full-ride scholarship, and she still visited SRN’s training center for tutoring almost every day.
That first grant set the tone for what would become a sustained, multi-year partnership grounded in trust.
Building the Physical Foundation
Later that same year, PCF awarded $12,658.21 through a Capital Improvement & Equipment grant to help SRN finish furnishing its newly opened boys’ dormitory in Pinellas County. The funding covered heavy-duty, hygienic bed frames, mattresses, and wardrobes: commercial-grade furnishings built to last a decade. The upgrade allowed SRN to house 40 unaccompanied youth annually, with a projected reach of 60 young people over the furnishings’ lifetime. One of the young men who moved into that dormitory had been shuffled between countries and unstable homes since he was 14. With SRN’s support, he graduated high school on time and recently completed his first semester at the University of North Florida.
Another young resident captured what SRN’s consistency means in her own words, reflecting on her first year at SRN after her family lost their housing:
“Since joining SRN, I have received so much care. I have a mentor who makes me feel special and loved. She celebrates my birthday and the holidays with me, the way my mom once did… [By] the end of my junior year, I earned my best report card ever.”
This student graduated high school on time and pursued a college degree while continuing to receive case management from SRN.
Keeping the Lights On, Year After Year
From 2021 through 2023, PCF backed SRN’s shelter operations through two consecutive General Operating grants—$20,000 in 2021-22 and $15,000 in 2022-23—funding the unglamorous but essential work of running a home: a stocked kitchen, clean water, bedding, laundry, hygiene products, and around-the-clock house managers. In both years, 100% of SRN’s Pinellas seniors graduated high school on time and moved toward college, vocational training, or military service. Together, these two grants supported 40 unique Pinellas County youth and provided more than 14,600 cumulative nights of safe shelter, while also giving 80 parents and guardians a measure of relief.
It was during this period that SRN’s leadership began flagging a growing concern: as Tampa Bay area rent prices climbed, live-in house managers could no longer afford apartments of their own. During their time off, staying in the dorms they supervised left them with no real rest, and burnout was driving high staff turnover; a serious problem for teenagers who need consistent, trusted adults in their lives.
Solving a Retention Problem
That staffing challenge became the focus of two capital projects. In 2022, grants supported through federal recovery funds* helped Starting Right, Now purchase a 15-passenger van and begin construction on private housing for its house managers. The purchase of the van replaced an increasingly expensive contracted transportation service, cutting SRN’s weekly transportation costs by $350 and giving staff (rather than outside drivers) the ability to accompany students to appointments and have sensitive conversations, unrushed, in a safe place. Within a month of the van’s arrival, SRN was able to accept six new Pinellas County high school students without straining its budget.
A separate, larger grant is now supporting construction of private housing for SRN’s house managers: seven bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a shared common space, built in partnership with Ajax Construction inside a previously unused building on SRN’s campus. The goal is straightforward: give the adults who care for these young people somewhere to actually rest, so they can avoid burnout and stay in the role long enough for students to build the trust they need.
The Current Chapter
Most recently, PCF committed $40,000 to SRN through a 2023-2025 General Operating grant, issued in two installments to preserve flexibility. The first $20,000 installment has already gone toward house manager salaries as the dormitory renovation moves forward.
In 2024 alone, SRN reported serving 150 unique individuals across Pinellas County, with its housing program alone accounting for 3,645 occupied bed-nights. Scholarship totals for the 2024 graduating class averaged $58,000 per student—a testament to how far a stable home can carry a young person.
The Full Picture
Across eight grants since 2020, Pinellas Community Foundation has provided over $200,000 in support to Starting Right, Now—funding that has touched hundreds of young lives across Pinellas County, from emergency pandemic response to permanent capital improvements. Year over year, the throughline has stayed consistent: safe beds, consistent adult figures, and a pathway to graduation for teenagers who needed somewhere steady to land.
Looking ahead, SRN’s next chapter centers on staff stability: completing the house manager dormitory renovation so that the adults holding this program together can get true rest, without ever needing to step away from the students who depend on them.
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Inspired by what is possible in Pinellas County? Learn how to establish a fund at Pinellas Community Foundation and put your giving to work: pinellascf.org
*ARPA Nonprofit Capital Project Fund
