The largest not-for-profit business directory in the Tampa Bay area
Tampa Bay Academy of Hope, Inc.
HISTORY & MISSION
History
James M. Evans founded the Tampa Bay Academy of Hope (TBAH) in 1996. Mr. Evans acknowledged the great and growing disparities between the prosperity of mainstream Tampa Bay society and the poverty that swept through the inner city. He established the TBAH to help strengthen youth development in the area’s distressed communities under the premise that the best way to break the cycle of poverty for a family is to provide the family, particularly the at-risk youth of the family, with practical tools needed to achieve personal success.
Since its establishment, the TBAH has successfully enriched the lives of more than 100,000 inner city youth (and their parents) through the family’s participation in extensive leadership training, summer enrichment programs, counseling, agency referral, mentoring and leadership conferences. These programs and participants are consistently measured and evaluated for their relevance and accomplishments.
Successful fundraising is critical to the ability of the TBAH to continue to offer and refine its program and continue to positively impact the lives of at-risk youth and their families. The implementation of The Tampa Bay African American Business Directory is designed to contribute significant funding needed for operational needs of the Tampa Bay Academy of Hope.
Mission
The mission of the Tampa Bay Academy Hope is to reverse the cycle of poverty, crime and educational underachievement in economically depressed areas by instilling leadership, responsibility, and self-esteem in youth that will transition them from lives of hopelessness, poverty and dependency to self-sufficiency.