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For more than 50 years, Metropolitan Ministries has supported families experiencing or at risk of homelessness in Florida’s Tampa Bay area. The need is clear: Florida faces a severe shortage of affordable housing, with just 26 affordable and available rental homes for every 100 extremely low-income renters, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
Metropolitan Ministries has dramatically expanded its reach to help meet that need. In 2012, it housed 48 families each night. Today, it houses 300, while serving 300 more through mobile case management programs.
How did Metropolitan Ministries do it? A commitment to providing holistic support and expanding successful initiatives, along with community backing—including support from J.P. Morgan.
“It’s not an exaggeration to say 300 families are safe, as well as over 600 children, each and every night because of the investments J.P. Morgan has made in our community through Metropolitan Ministries,” said Tim Marks, president and CEO of Metropolitan Ministries.
Metropolitan Ministries' west Pasco County expansion provides housing for more Tampa families
Metropolitan Ministries was founded in 1972, when 13 Tampa-area churches joined forces to care for people experiencing homelessness. The organization has grown, but its mission is consistent:
Holistic, easily accessible services help families build security as they transition out of Metropolitan Ministries’ campus shelter program, Marks said.
“We focus on education, childcare and family support—it’s the only way we can achieve our desired outcome of 90% success after graduation,” he said.
“Rising rents, in-migration from the north and low wages have all placed greater pressures on families in our market,” Marks said.
Metropolitan Ministries recently completed two major developments to help support families struggling with those pressures:
Metropolitan Ministries doubled the shelter capacity at its west Pasco County campus and significantly expanded its services with a nearly 30,500-square-foot expansion. The project, expected to be complete in 2025, added:
J.P. Morgan made a $6.3 million New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) equity investment that helped fund the campus expansion.
It’s a model that’s worked before. A similar expansion at Metropolitan Ministries’ Tampa campus helped the organization bring more families comprehensive services in a one-stop setting.
J.P. Morgan supported the Tampa campus project, too, providing $8.8 million in NMTC investment to help the organization expand its kitchen and dining facility, add transitional housing, and create a new childcare center, primary school and youth enrichment center.
This expanded real estate will allow Metropolitan Ministries to grow its Learner to Earner job training programs in culinary arts and childcare, as well as food distribution and community events including a holiday hot meals operation serving more than 30,000 families.
Metropolitan Ministries offers job training in fields including culinary arts
In addition to supporting families affected by Florida’s affordable housing shortage, Metropolitan Ministries decided to help narrow the gap with SabalPlace, a permanent supportive housing development for families in its transitional and emergency shelter programs.
“When you see people go from sleeping in cars to having a place to call their own, it’s a life-changing impact,” Marks said.
SabalPlace, which opened in 2020, has 112 housing units affordable to families earning 60% or less of the area median income, with 79 units reserved for households experiencing homelessness and 23 for survivors of domestic violence. The garden-style community’s amenities include a clubhouse, splash park, activity rooms and on-site access to Metropolitan Ministries’ programs.
J.P. Morgan provided a $14.5 million construction loan and $11.2 million in Low Income Housing Tax Credit equity to help finance SabalPlace’s development.
2,318,103
Meals provided in fiscal year 2024
140,688
Nights of shelter provided in fiscal year 2024
92%
Families successfully housed from residential programs
$2M+
Hurricane relief expenses in Q4 2024
Donations and volunteers help support Metropolitan Ministries' operations
Metropolitan Ministries’ relationship with J.P. Morgan goes beyond NMTC investment and lending, including program grants, hurricane relief aid and support for leadership development training.
“It’s taken us from being an $8 million charity to a $50 million charity with less than 20% of our support coming from government grants,” Marks said. “Beyond our housing of 600 children, our hunger-relief and prevention programs touch over 70,000 families on an annual basis.”
Those programs assist families throughout the Tampa Bay area, and Metropolitan Ministries’ reach is growing. In addition to expanding its own campuses, a recent initiative with the YMCA of St. Petersburg will expand Metropolitan Ministries’ services in Pinellas County.
The organization’s mission has also connected with J.P. Morgan employees, who have been volunteering with Metropolitan Ministries for more than 12 years, said J.P. Morgan Community Manager Leigh Weaver. In 2024, 144 employees volunteered at seven different events, from pitching in at the Tampa campus to aiding relief efforts after Hurricane Milton. And J.P. Morgan has delivered more than 75 financial health workshops at Metropolitan Ministries’ Hillsborough Family Support Center as part of the organization’s mission to promote self-sufficiency.
“From serving meals to sorting donations and helping families shop for food, each visit to Metropolitan Ministries leaves a lasting sense of gratitude. Nothing feels more rewarding than knowing you are contributing to someone’s life during a tough period while treating them with respect and dignity,” Weaver said.
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