Current Campaigns

Streamlining Access to Special Education Services

The Hillsborough County Public School system lacks a clear and effective communication pathway for parents navigating the process of getting supportive services in place for their children with special needs. This extends the timeline to get support in place, worsening outcomes for children. Without supports in place, children with autism are more likely to develop depression and anxiety, more likely to receive behavior referrals and suspensions that keep them out of the classroom, and less likely to read on grade level.

We have heard stories about elementary-age children struggling for over a year before finally getting support in place to make academic progress, parents moving out of county because the Hillsborough schools were not meeting their children’s needs, and parents having to hire experts or quit their own jobs to become experts to advocate for their children.

Access to support brightens futures for children with autism; it increases the likelihood that they will successfully pursue higher education, work a job, and live independently. When IEPs are completed and services are granted, our children have a path to success— but in our school district, navigating the process to gain access to these supports in a timely manner is nearly impossible for the average parent.

At the 2026 Nehemiah Action, HOPE got Superintendent Ayres to commit to simplifying parent information and streamlining the system by establishing a direct phone line to request evaluations, ask questions, and have concerns addressed. He agreed, and School Board Members Combs, Perez, Rendon, and Vaughn agreed to support him. HOPE is currently following up on this commitment.

Ensuring Local Investment in Affordable Housing

In Hillsborough County, 68,000 families, seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities are spending over half of their income on housing— living 1 paycheck away from homelessness.

Some of the stories we have heard have included families being forced to decide whether to pay for rent or medication, increases in housing costs leading to families living in their cars, and people having to move out of the county entirely.

Because of HOPE, all seven County Commissioners voted in September of 2019 to establish the HOPE Affordable Housing Act— named in honor of our efforts, though we do not receive any of the funds.

In the years since, over $45 million in County funds have been leveraged to create nearly 1,100 new affordable homes in our county for people with low and very low incomes— many of them seniors, families, veterans, and people with disabilities.

While the HOPE Affordable Housing Act is no longer in place, millions remain earmarked for affordable housing but unattached to projects, leaving them vulnerable to being reappropriated for other purposes.

At the 2026 Nehemiah Action, HOPE got a commitment from Comm. Cohen to direct County Staff to create a plan to ensure that remaining funds and assets become attached to projects. HOPE is currently following up on this commitment.

Strengthening Flooding Resiliency & Water Quality Infrastructure

Flooding in Tampa neighborhoods is dangerous, increasing pollution and mold that pose serious health risks. Well-maintained stormwater drainage ponds reduce storm-event flooding and filter pollutants.

Tampa has over 240 stormwater ponds in varying conditions— and many of the stormwater ponds in low-lying East Tampa have been severely neglected. We have heard stories about families becoming sick as a result of mold and pollution in their homes and neighborhoods, regular summer thunderstorms leading to inches of water in living rooms, and days passing before yards drain.

Updating them to include green infrastructure like native vegetation and keeping them maintained are the keys to optimizing water flow and filtration— and reducing the flooding that has disrupted our neighbors’ lives and threatened their health.

Because of HOPE, engineering designs have been created and millions in funding have been approved for the 22nd St. pond, and a project schedule is being developed to determine a date for a groundbreaking. However, there are five other key ponds in East Tampa that still need funds to receive these critical updates.

At the 2026 Nehemiah Action, HOPE got commitments from Tampa City Council Members Hurtak, Maniscalco, and Viera to advocate for funding for the remaining five ponds in the FY27 budget and to set green infrastructure as a City of Tampa standard. HOPE is currently following up on this commitment.

Past Victories

  • Affordable Housing: Got the County to pass an ordinance to establish an Affordable Housing Fund of at least $10 million a year in local public funds to create, rehab and preserve quality affordable housing. All in all, $46,000,000 in local funds were allocated to the HOPE Affordable Housing Fund, and nearly 1,100 affordable homes have been created.

    Birth Certificates and IDs: Persuaded Hillsborough County to establish a Birth Certificates and ID Homeless Assistance program that enabled people to get housing and jobs to get off the street. Over 2,800 birth certificates and IDs were given to the homeless in the first four years.

    Expedited Rent Assistance: Got Hillsborough County and the Clerk of Circuit Court to expedite rent assistance checks to landlords within 14 days, instead of several months, to maintain people in housing.

  • Hillsborough Civil Citation Program: Successfully encouraged the Chief Judge, State Attorney, Public Defender, Sherriff, and Police Chiefs to establish a permanent Hillsborough Youth Civil Citation policy that makes civil citations mandatory for children for all first-time misdemeanor offenses, thereby reducing the arrests of children and protecting their futures, increasing public safety, and saving taxpayer money.

    Florida Civil Citation/Arrest Avoidance: Helped expand Florida Civil Citation law so children under 18 can receive a Civil Citation for up to 3 misdemeanor offenses instead of an arrest and requiring all Florida Counties to establish a program.

  • Fair Chance Hiring: Persuaded Tampa City Council to pass the Tampa Criminal History Screening Practices Ordinance that removed the question of past arrests to reduce discrimination and open doors to jobs for people with criminal records.

    Training: Encouraged Hillsborough Community College to develop 9 Fast-Track Job Skill Certificate Programs and an outreach plan to connect the unemployed with training in job skills needed to obtain employment.

    Jobs: Helped establish the Tampa Women/Minority Business Enterprise Ordinance.

  • Elder Care: Got the County to increase in-home services for seniors to live healthy and with dignity in their homes by allotting an additional $4.5 million to the Department of Aging Services over two years.

    Dental Services: Persuaded the County Health Department and two federally qualified Health Centers to advocate for funding, develop and implement a plan to increase dental services for at least 15,000 people at 200% or below poverty, leading to an increase of 26 new dental chairs and the doubling of dental patients.

    Behavioral Health: Got County and stakeholders to commit $1.6 million for the establishment and operation of a Recovery Through Work Clubhouse for people with severe mental illness to find stability, job training, employment, and peer support.

  • Bus Service: Encouraged HART to extend late-night bus service until 1:00 A.M. on 8 priority bus routes during the week and 2 extra hours on weekends, as well as construct bus shelters at identified locations.

  • Suspensions: Got the School District to establish the Alternative-to-out-of-School-Suspension (ATOSS) program, which supervises and protects the GPAs of thousands of suspended children each year. The ATOSS program in now called EPIC. Secured a commitment from the school district to not suspend children out of school for tardiness.

    Reading: Positively impacted the reading success of thousands of low-income children in K - 3rd grade, and now Special Education, through implementation of a phonics-based reading program called Direct Instruction (DI). Secured $921,000 of state funding for Hillsborough County School District to implement DI in 10 schools and $7.25 million during the 2000 Legislative Session for use of DI in 7 Florida School Districts.

    Minority Teachers: Got School District to hire Minority Teacher Recruiter to hire more Black and Hispanic teachers.

  • Rezoning: Reclaimed Dobyville, a historic African American neighborhood, by reversing 1950 Industrial Zoning to Residential and Mixed-Use Zoning, leading to the development of new and rehab of old housing.

    Demolition: Successfully encouraged the Mayor of Tampa to demolish and clean up the abandoned Belmont Heights Lumber Company, a dangerous health, safety, and fire hazard in the community.

    Sidewalks: Convinced the City of Tampa to construct a 1.2-mile sidewalk on N. 22nd Street in East Tampa at a cost of $65,000, leading to construction of many other sidewalks in the area.

    Code Enforcement: Persuaded Tampa City Council to rehabilitate or demolish 200 condemned buildings and mow over 100 gravely overgrown empty lots to improve the safety of the neighborhood.

    Infrastructure: Obtained traffic signs, street repair, drainage, and upgraded street lighting from Tampa’s Public Works.