HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — The Children’s Board of Hillsborough County is hosting a series of town hall meetings throughout the county in anticipation of major funding releases in 2024 and 2025.
“It’s your dollar, it’s your services and they’re universal service, so they’re services for everyone,” said Kelley Parris, Executive Director of the Children’s Board.
These are the meeting dates so far:
- Thursday, March 30: Town ‘N County at Jackson Springs Community Center, 6:30 - 8 p.m.
- Saturday, April 1: Temple Terrace at the Doretha Wynn Edgecomb Children’s Board Family Resource Center, 11 a.m.- 2 p.m.
- Monday, April 3: Brandon and Progress Village at Palm River Family Services, 5 -7 p.m.
- Tuesday, April 4: North County at Mort Community School, 4 - 6 p.m.
- Saturday, April 8: Plant City at the Children’s Board Family Resource Center, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.
- Tuesday, April 11: South County at Firehouse Cultural Center, 5:30 p.m. - 7 p.m.
- Wednesday, April 12: Central Tampa at the Children’s Board of Hillsborough County from 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
The Children’s Board funds 110 different programs and services to support children and families in Hillsborough County.
Input from these town halls will help leaders figure out how to invest in the community.
“It is extremely important to get community input because we can’t assume we know what the community needs. Because when you look at the community of Town 'N Country and the community of Wimauma, those needs are very different,” said Parris.
“Hillsborough being such a large county, you know, we know we need to hear from the citizens of Hillsborough County in order to develop those services,” she added.
The input from these town hall meetings will drive exactly where the money goes over the next few years.
“So we can drill down to zip codes. So if it’s 33619, 33610, and then we can develop programming in those specific zip codes,” said Parris.
Leaders want to hear from as many people as possible, including parents, caregivers, and business leaders.
“Get out there. Let us know what your needs are and we will do everything we can to meet those needs in your area. We want to meet the needs where you are, not necessarily that you have to travel to get your needs met,” said Parris.
