Pictured Above: Carla Bristol and members of the Youth Farm pictured with the Proclamation.
Courtesy of the St. Pete Youth Farm on Instagram
By Andrew Quinlan
The St. Pete Youth Farm has been working diligently to promote healthy living and youth involvement in its community, including a spirited celebration of Earth Day on April 22.
The farm, which was founded in 2019, has become a fixture in the region in its two years of establishment.
Their urban farm project’s mission is to provide access to nutritious food to citizens of the south St. Petersburg area. They also hope to encourage young urban students to think creatively and grow as individuals, while learning important life skills in a variety of areas, such as agricultural knowledge and financial literacy.
Each week, members of the youth farm meet to learn and practice a number of topics, including planting and harvesting, communication and teamwork, artistic self-expression, resume building and job readiness and mental health and mindfulness.
“It’s been a really great experience working with the Youth Farm,” Youth ambassador, Anaya Graham, said. “In such a short time, and through a lot of obstacles, like the pandemic, we’ve managed to make a really big impact on our community. I’m really proud of the work we’ve done and look forward to build upon it as we keep growing.”
Carla Bristol, the manager of the St. Pete Youth Farm, had a clear intention when she helped pioneer the group in 2019. She wanted to put younger people in a leadership position. She describes the program as 40% agriculture based, and 60% youth development.
“I look at it like, every young person that we touch, they then touch other people” Bristol told a University of South Florida St. Petersburg class in a January guest speaking event. “If we put our rich investment into each of the young people that we are touching, that’s part of the long-term strategy for building community… so that they are creating what they want the future to look like, and we’re just merely guides.”
One of the biggest events for the farm so far in 2021 was their Earth Week Celebration in April. The group set up events over four days during Earth Week to promote a healthier environment.
They hosted a free workshop on April 21 at the farm on eating healthy with a vegan diet, and on April 22, Erica Hall spoke to listeners both at the farm and online about the intersections of community, food, and the environment, and how to grow a healthier planet together.
Hall is the Chair of the Florida Food Policy Council. On April 24, the council hosted a community workday and market, which included a Gadgets for Good drop-off. Their hard work was recognized that week, when they were presented with an Earth Day Proclamation from Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried.
Over the last two years, the St. Pete Urban Youth Farm has done a remarkable amount of work to help both the present and the future of their region. They are certainly a group to look out for as they continue to grow.
Personal health is one of the most important things for living a long life. The human body needs nutrition in order for it to keep moving.
That is why those grocery runs are crucial. They are something to look forward to because they present an opportunity to pick healthy food options and try out new recipes. But what happens when people no longer have access to a grocery store within their ZIP code? How can they keep their bodies healthy without access to healthy food?
Food insecurity has taken a toll on Midtown where grocery stores are being closed left and right. There are no large-scale grocery stores between Fourth Street to 49th Street, which means there is no access to healthy food. The only access to food is ready to go processed food, such as gas station food.
Midtown lost Walmart earlier in the year, and ever since then the neighborhood has been suffering. Without stores open, there needs to be another solution to the evident food insecurity.
Growing plants and vegetables guarantees not having any hard chemicals or preservatives tainting the food. It also enables control over portion and variety. The process takes patience, trial and error. There are slower ways to grasp the concept of nurturing seeds and selecting the right soil and amount of water for them to grow. Then there are also quicker ways, such as attending a gardening class open to the community held by the St. Pete Youth Farm.
The St. Pete Youth Farm is a volunteer-based nonprofit organization working toward giving back to the community by creating a space to grow food. Carla Bristol started it off with a gardening class that informed everyone of the dire needs for access to healthy food.
“It is rewarding to see your own food growing and be able to do it for yourself,” Bristol said.
One of Bristol’s solutions to food insecurity is for people to grow their own plants. She brought a special guest, Robert Greenfield, to teach a class on how to create your own garden.
Greenfield is an environmental activist. He was a guest teacher at the St. Pete Youth Farm who shared his knowledge on how to preserve soil and grow any desired type of plant or vegetable. He aims to educate those around him and whoever he can reach out to.
“My main goal is to inspire a healthy Earth, often with attention-grabbing tactics,” Greenfield said.
Greenfield started the class by continuing Bristol’s initial statement about how Midtown needs healthy food now more than ever. He has traveled around the world and seen people live off of strictly land and joined them in their need to only eat what they grow. Greenfield learned specific tactics that help an individual grow their own food. These tactics include foraging your food and fleet farming.
Forging is the act of gathering food, wild or cultivated. Foraging for food can come in handy when the need to find any sort of edible substance to feed your stomach is present. It also allows individuals to become connected with the natural world.
The wild food that comes from foraging is much healthier than the food from the grocery store. The food contains essential vitamins and minerals that are not present in most processed foods. Foraging the food is not something that can be done on a whim. Individuals interested should find a mentor to learn from, someone who has been through every step of foraging so they can give them that boost of confidence to go on their own.
A much easier way to have guaranteed access to healthy foods is fleet farming. Fleet farming is a dedicated piece of land used to grow food. This allows for the typical home lawn to become a garden
Before foraging for food and gardening, Greenfield didn’t have the slightest clue on how to grow plants and vegetables. He started asking around for tips and small lessons on how to garden. From then on, he picked up his own tricks and was able to teach others from his own experience.
People can go to the closest garden store and pick out some seeds to create their dream garden. If time is pressing, seeking out a professional forager who can offer guidance might be a good option.
District 2 Council Member Brandi Gabbard has been fighting back against food insecurity in St. Petersburg by spearheading new amendments supporting urban agriculture.
The need for new legislation arose with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic as food insecurity became more prevalent. The bill recognizes how urban agriculture can be beneficial for the community and offer not only economic value, but provide fresh produce to residents and revitalize communities and vacant lands.
Originally from Indiana, Gabbard moved to St. Petersburg in 2003 and led a successful career as a real estate agent. She was elected to the City Council in 2017, and currently chairs the Legislative Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations Committee.
Gabbard and others proposed numerous amendments to the Florida Senate Bill (SB) 628, titled Urban Agriculture, which covers rules and regulations regarding farm equipment, distinguishment of urban farmland, local municipality requirements and community involvement.
Pinellas Rep. Michele Rayner has also joined Sen. Darryl Rouson to promote the new legislation.
The addition of the “Urban Agriculture Pilot Project Act” in the bill allows for local municipalities to retain their right to “reasonably regulate urban agriculture to protect existing urban land uses.”
Gabbard’s Legislative Aide, Kim Amos, shared that the senate bill amendments were recently voted on, and received a unanimous agreement from the House of Representatives.
“Senate Bill 628 passed the house on Wed., April 28 with a 117 Yays-0 Nays vote,” Amos said.
Despite the progress that has been made for urban agriculture, Gabbard and others fighting for food and nutritional equity understand it will take a lot more effort to remedy this issue.
In an interview with The St. Pete Catalyst, Gabbard explained that the new bill she has led is only the beginning to securing a fresh, healthy and local food source for all St. Petersburg residents.
“This is not one and done. We can’t just check the box on food insecurity and move on. We need to keep working. We need to keep coming up with ideas. We need to keep collaborating,” Gabbard said. “What is that next big idea that can help to feed people in St. Petersburg? That’s really where I’m at right now — looking for what’s next. What more can we do?”
In addition to the bill amendments, Gabbard and others fought to amend the Florida Code of Ordinances, specifically Ord. No. 448-H, to help further support the urban agriculturalists and their efforts to produce and sell their products.
The ordinance amendments were officially adopted on Feb. 11, 2021 to add specific gardening definitions, lower permit fees, and to establish standards for landscaping, building development, and home produce sales. They also give the local government the ability to regulate urban agriculture when necessary.
New permit application fees for community gardens and roadside vending were reduced by half, and one gardening structure per single-family dwelling exempt from design requirements are now allowed. Requirements for irrigation systems to follow federal and state regulations were added as well.
The Home Produce Sales section was amended to permit the on-site sale of produce to be sold in other zoning districts in accordance with specific standards for home produce and commercial gardens and greenhouses. Also, surplus produce is now allowed to be sold off-site to cover garden operation costs.
“This ordinance can help fight food insecurity. There are several food deserts in our city, and it is ideas like these that begin to develop solutions to these issues,” Amos said.
Plans are currently in the works to help educate the public about the amendments to the Senate bill and ordinance. Amos described a few avenues the city plans to take to get the word out.
“The city is already in the process of developing a brochure that helps the public understand how the ordinance impacts their abilities to grow and sell their harvest,” Amos said. “Additionally, information will be pushed through social media channels and there is hope that interest will continue with the media and local educational institutions to develop stories.”
The amendments are supported by healthcare professionals like Wendy Wesley, RDN, a licensed dietitian nutritionist working to improve nutritional security for St. Petersburg residents.
Wesley works with many people with chronic health issues such as diabetes and cardiac disease. Battling these diseases necessitates a healthy, nutrient-dense diet.
“It was news to me that people could not sell what they grew,” Wesley told the St. Pete Catalyst. “It was something that caught my attention.”
These types of actions aren’t just happening locally. According to the National Conference of State Legislature (NCSL), numerous U.S. states have enacted bills, ordinances, and programs that support urban agricultural efforts and have proven beneficial for the economy and community.
California adopted the Urban Agriculture Incentive Zone (UAIZ) Ordinance in 2013 to support local food production, and in 2010, Colorado created a Food Systems Advisory Council to also promote local food economies.
A bill in Hawaii allows the provision of incentives for housing projects that incorporate urban gardening programs, and two bills in Illinois give preference to buying locally-grown products and providing policies and funding that support local food systems.
Minneapolis and Delray Beach are also examples of cities with urban agriculture policies that have benefited their local communities and economies.
Minneapolis’ Community Garden, Market Garden and Urban Farm Policy, created in 2015, allowed for people to lease undeveloped, city-owned pieces of land for community gardens, market gardens and urban farms.
Delray Beach’s Community Gardens Policy, adopted May 16, 2016, also allowed for the noncommercial use of city-owned land for community gardening and other activities such as composting practices.
Based on the positive impacts being made in other places, the amendments will likely be a welcome change for St. Petersburg. There’s more to these agricultural bills than just feeding people. They provide opportunities for new jobs, community interaction, and could potentially have a significant impact on the St. Petersburg economy and community’s future.
The bill amendments are planned to go into effect July 1.
Pictured Above: Pinellas Community Church Connections Pastor Simone Seymour (center) performs on stage with other members of PCC’s worship team during Sunday service on May 2. (USF/Julia Gennocro)
By Annalise Anderson and Julia Gennocro
When asked how the worship team at Pinellas Community Church has remained resilient through the challenges brought on by COVID-19, PCC Connections Pastor Simone Seymor said plainly, “Music touches people. Music communicates things that, sometimes, words can’t.”
Music has long served as a vehicle for worship in the church and, despite the pandemic, the musicians of PCC did not back down from their role in elevating the worship experience.
Fueled by a devoted congregation and through modified means, the worship team continued to bring vocals, keys, strings and drum beats to PCC’s Sunday services.
After taking a hiatus at the start of the pandemic, worship team member Rich Priebe was ready to get back to leading the PCC community through music – even if it meant forgoing friendly hugs and wearing a mask.
Pinellas Community Church worship team member Rich Priebe provides vocals for the church’s Sunday service performances. (USF/Julia Gennocro)
Priebe experienced an adjustment period between returning to the worship team and learning how to be an active participant under the newly mandated safety restrictions.
Held in a small room behind the church’s sanctuary, the team’s ritual meeting before hitting the stage for 9 a.m. service looked and felt much different for Priebe.
“I remember standing back there doing our morning prayer and no one was holding hands,” Priebe said. “We always had masks on when in close proximity with each other.”
Priebe rejoined the worship team about eight months ago as an instrumentalist, but has recently transitioned into performing strictly as a vocalist during Sunday services. While he admits that being in the spotlight is intimidating, Priebe said he loves playing a significant role in the PCC community and getting to know more people along the way.
“I feel like I belong here,” Priebe said.
Through powerful verses, lively chords and illuminating visuals, the worship team encourages members of the church to feel receptive to prayer.
Seymour describes the emotional impact of PCC’s music as a feeling that is relatable to everyone.
“When you think of a song that you love, sometimes that brings back a whole memory for you, right? I think that’s part of the resilience, people being able to connect to that,” Seymour said.
“For us, our prayer and our hope is that it forever connects (our congregation) with the Lord and what God may want for them in their life and in that season. I think that as long as people are able to identify, to connect with the music, that opens up your heart to receive even more because you feel good.”
Creating an inclusive, inviting environment in the church is a priority for the worship team.
“Our goal is to create a worship experience, no matter who’s coming in or what your church history background looks like, where you can come in and connect with God in a way that’s personal to you and whatever that looks like for you; that you feel included in the worship service,” Seymour said.
For churchgoer Cassandra Holt, religion and worship is relatively new. Having not grown up in the church, Holt found it challenging to worship on her own. However, she credits PCC’s worship team with helping to guide her into the practice.
Exiting the outside world and entering PCC’s auditorium for Sunday service is “a transition” for Holt.
“You bring in an awful lot when you walk in the doors,” Holt said. “It can be a difficult shift.”
But as she listens to the sounds and messages of the worship team, Holt eases herself into the healing that devotion can offer.
During the church’s May 2 service, among the songs performed by the worship team were “Grace to Grace” and “Another in the Fire” by contemporary Christian band Hillsong Worship.
Like most of her experiences at PCC, Holt resonated with the acoustic-backed verses.
“Every time I come at least one nugget of the music they choose speaks to exactly what I brought in,” Holt said. “It opens my ears and softens my heart to the music itself and the message to follow.”
However, for several weeks in 2020, PCC members like Holt were forced to participate in Sunday services from home. Thankfully, the church quickly adapted to the challenge.
In February 2020, before the pandemic posed a threat to PCC’s operations, the church was already in the process of making significant changes to its production equipment. Newly installed high-tech cameras became essential to helping the church serve its members by allowing for the recording and live streaming of its worship services.
“We were preparing to get better equipment so we could start streaming online, and it just so happened that March just threw us right into that,” Seymour said. “It really was just the Lord looking out for us.”
Now, PCC offers in-person services, as well as live streaming for those who do not feel safe attending inside the church.
“We really are just so blessed and so fortunate to have a team of musicians who are so dedicated to serving the Lord,” Seymour said. “That’s the reason why they continue to serve, and to sing, and to create music specifically for our Sunday worship experiences.”
For Priebe, the increasing availability of the COVID-19 vaccine has given him hope about more people feeling comfortable and safe returning to the church. A larger congregation helps him to feel more spirited while on stage with the worship team.
“I like when more people come in person,” Priebe said. “There’s so much more energy when people are here.”
Though the worship team has endured virtual services, masked rehearsals and small audiences, it shows no signs of slowing down.
According to Seymour, the resiliency of PCC’s worship team is a result of the synergy between members’ passions for music and prayer.
“It’s really because of the team, there isn’t one person responsible for all of it,” Seymour said. “It’s the people that come together that love what they do, that love the Lord, and love the gift that they have and want to be used by God. And I think that’s what makes us really special.”
Playing a musical instrument provided unexpected benefits to teenagers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The months of virtual school, uncertainty, social isolation, quarantines and canceled events have been particularly hard on teenagers. Those who have an outlet, like music, that they were able to continue to pursue, have been better off for it.
The simple joy that comes from making music translates into psychological benefits to help with stress and anxiety brought about by the pandemic. Charlee Loyst is a senior at St. Petersburg Collegiate High School. At 17, the South Korean American is already an accomplished pianist. He has been playing the piano since age five. “Playing the piano is therapeutic, a creative outlet for me. On a hard day I’ll sit down at the piano. It’s very stress relieving.”
Teenagers who play a musical instrument enjoy the positive benefits of music during this period of social isolation. Alejandro Hernandez, also a high school senior, believes music is helping him manage stress through these times.
“I play my guitar at my own pace and the way I want,” Hernandez said. Helearned to play through his church’s No Fret Guitar Camp five years ago.
No Fret Guitar Camp is a local 501(c)(3) charity that provides free guitar lessons and free guitars to underserved teenagers. Hernandez participated in one of the first camps and is one of many success stories. Today, he leads worship at his church.
“It makes me feel good how I can impact other people with my music. It is a big benefit being able to have a talent and bless yourself and others,” Hernandez said. “Music usually connects people together for good.”
Loyst shares a similar viewpoint.
“We live in a crazy world and music helps us connect even if we speak different languages. It is a way to connect people on a more soulful level,” Loyst said.
Parents are witnessing the positive impact of their teenagers making music. Loyst credits his parents for encouraging him to take on learning the piano and sticking with it. Now that he is on the precipice of enrollment at the prestigious Berkeley School of Music in Boston this fall, he is grateful for his parents pushing him in the direction of music.
“Music changed my life in all sorts of ways. I went from wanting to be an astrophysicist to a professional musician,” Loyst said. “The biggest benefit to listening and composing music is that I enjoy it and it makes me happy. Loving your job makes it not a job, but more of a passion.”
Loyst shared that when he discovered his love of jazz, his perspective as to why he played the piano shifted. With his appreciation for the creativity and freedom of expression that jazz amplifies, he no longer feels the barriers of a classic learning structure and is able to enjoy this genre above all others.
Kris Smith is the mother of Carter Smith, a 15-year-old high schooler. She credits Carter’s guitar playing as a big way in which he coped with the anxiety of quarantine and social isolation.
“I witnessed Carter visibly relax as he played his guitar and lost himself in his music,” Smith said.
Carter suffers from anxiety but his mother believes that music is helping him cope. Carter, along with Hernandez, also participated in a No Fret Guitar Camp.
He even started a small band and has composed original songs. His parents believe learning an instrument has helped him in a number of ways.
“He is less anxious, controls his stress better and appears to have a greater sense of self confidence with his newfound talent and passion to create,” Smith said.
Elementary school music teacher, Amanda Martin, points out the benefits of music education in an article for The K-12 Teachers Alliance. Martin writes that music helps students’ language skills, memory skills, social interactions, eye/hand coordination as well as life skills. Music can also be a stress relief.
“Work ethic and discipline are huge factors of music education, and it is important to note that those life skills will positively impact a student when entering the workforce, completing tasks, etc. Because music education is an outlet for creativity, it can be a source of stress relief.”
The majority of researchers agree that music interventions have a positive effect on pain, mood and anxious or depressive symptoms in children, adolescents and adults. The concept that music can play a part in influencing one’s emotions, thoughts and feelings is easily understandable.
Given that the pandemic caused society to slow down and stay home, this provided those teenagers with musical talent and training the opportunity to practice their craft. YouTube has many tutorials to build greater skills in the musical arts. Many of the teenagers interviewed indicate that they used this opportunity to hone their music skills and appreciation.
Jessica Pouranfar, a music therapist at Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital, writes that music releases chemicals in the brain that give a sense of pleasure.
“When listening to music that you enjoy, dopamine, the “feel-good” chemical and serotonin, the ‘happy’ chemical is released in your brain giving you a sense of pleasure and boosting your mood. Music is a great motivator and music with a strong beat will make you want to move due to a psychological phenomenon called entrainment. This is why so many people listen to music when exercising and dancing.”
In this way, music can be seen as the great unifier in a world with much diversity. Loyst echoed these findings in attributing music as a way to maintain an open mind set and consider all the possibilities.
“There are a lot of things going on in the world and music helps you understand each other more,” Loyst said.
In modern America, it is generally up to the parents to teach children the skills related to food, shopping and economics. Many districts do not teach home economics anymore and those who do, barely scratch the surface.
Living in a world with food delivery just a few taps away, the question arises about the knowledge and ability of minors to take care of themselves nutritionally.
At what age do children and young adults learn to become sufficient in their skills in the kitchen and even more importantly how to shop in the grocery store?
St. Petersburg has food deserts. A food desert is an area that has limited access to affordable and nutritious food. It is determined by the USDA by information like access to transportation and income level to determine these areas.
Midtown is a food desert as there is a large section – around fifty or so blocks – that go without a major grocery store People living in Midtown don’t have access to fresh produce, fresh meats and other foods needed for good nutrition.
Nutritionist Wendy Wesley shared her concerns in regard to nutrition and whether the younger population is able to sustain itself with proper food to begin with.
“There is a lack of economics and food budgeting… Household budgeting. Can you feed yourself without needing Uber Eats every night?” Wesley said.
Wesley now works privately as a nutritionist but spent many years as a hospital nutritionist where she met many adults who did not have access to the proper nutritious foods and ended up in the hospital because of it. These patients dealt with malnutrition in some cases, while others faced high blood sugar, cholesterol, or kidney issues that require special diets to maintain a healthy life. Since witnessing that, it has become her mission to help fix the nutrition insecurity of her hometown.
While it has become a personal fight of hers to focus on getting Midtown the resources it needs to be successful, young people still have issues related to receiving proper nutrition.
“The money young people could use to buy homes… pay student loans, goes right to Uber Eats,” Wesley said. “There is a difference of lifestyle nowadays, it’s “not sexy” to cook at home.”
A lot of young people believe that “cooking at home is what poor people do,” Wesley said.
On top of the barriers including lack of adequate kitchen space and grocery shopping skills, they are also turned off at the idea because it is no longer popular or desired.
Wesley mentioned that Pinellas County schools now teach home economics again,a subject that has been previously removed.. Home economics is the bare minimum in teaching children how to handle adult tasks and Wesley is grateful that it is taught at all.
“Even cooking 101, and basic finances is more than some of these kids get. My son is taking it now, and he’s able to start to learn what he needs to know,” Wesley said.
Speaking with young people in the area, in various age ranges, the goal was to see their skills and ability.
“I could probably do it at fourteen, I knew how to cook and take care of myself…” Howard Adams said. “I probably had a different life than most though, I had to do things sooner.”
Mason, a thirteen-year-old from St. Petersburg shared his experiences and how that has prepared him for the future.
“I know how to grocery shop, cook, and feed myself. I think I can do it nutritionally and with the right foods,” Mason said. “Growing up in a house where my parents don’t eat out much and make more food at home that… tastes better and a lot cheaper, I’ve learned that going out isn’t that great.”
His family has never used food delivery apps and going out was only for special occasions.
“Yeah, it’s less work but it usually doesn’t leave me satisfied,” Mason said. “With cooking and food though, I know a lot more than most kids do.”
He joins his parents for their shopping trips and gains firsthand knowledge on what to get each week and how to budget appropriately. He feels prepared for his future.
Diamond DelValle, now in her early 20s, grew up in the midtown area. She currently lives on her own and has learned a lot since leaving. It took her some time to adjust, and she spent the first months on her own eating relatively poorly and learning what she needed to purchase to be healthy.
“I could do better, but I feel like as far as having a proper amount of nutrition, I am getting better at doing that,” DelValle said.
Delvalle was able to pick up some insights from going grocery shopping with her mom as a kid.
“She taught me how to cook and I went grocery shopping with her as a kid, so I learned just by watching… but as far as the reasoning to not having proper meals, was because I grew up with my mom making ends meet,” Delvalle said. “She was struggling to get food by the end of the month… Nothing was her fault, but that’s just the way life was for me.”
Food nutrition is important, and getting these skills more readily available into the hands of the youth population should be a priority, so they are better prepared in the long run.
As pandemic regulations are slowly being lifted and more people are getting vaccinated, restaurants are reflecting on the ways they have had to get creative over the past year. This includes the North-End Taphouse in Gulfport, which opened in January before the pandemic started.
The North-End Taphouse is a locally-owned restaurant on Beach Boulevard South. Around September 2020, the restaurant owner, Kelly Wright, had an idea how to start her own food delivery service since Florida had regulations on indoor dining. She bought a golf cart and a burner phone, and started delivering to the local community.
Wright was inspired to start her own delivery service once restaurants were shut down and people were no longer able to dine in.
“People didn’t even want to come pickup because they didn’t want to leave their home,” Wright said.So I thought why not bring it to them?”
While much of the intention behind the delivery business was to keep people safe and give access to food, Wright was hoping to get the name of her restaurant out in the community.
Since the taphouse opened right before the pandemic started, Wright was given little time to connect with their neighbors and community members.
Eventually, she partnered with about five other businesses to deliver food.
“We originally agreed upon having a delivery fee and I have the records, but I never even charged the other businesses. This was really just to help keep us and them afloat,” Wright said.
While many businesses have relied on Uber and DoorDash to deliver their food, Wright said the profit margins were too low for her to be able to do so.
“Uber Eats wanted about 33% of our profits, and since our profits were already low, we would be losing money by doing that,” Wright said.
According to Market Watch, food delivery services have doubled their profits in the last year, even though many restaurants were having a hard time staying open. While some restaurants struggle to afford the hefty percentage that companies like Uber take for deliveries, other restaurants have no other option. Wright also wanted to start the delivery service to help serve her community.
“The delivery service was just so we could make the minimum we needed, but I really just wanted people to still have an option to eat our food at home,” Wright said.
Every day, the taphouse would hire someone to be a driver and as calls came in, they would pick up the food and deliver it locally. The delivery service was primarily available to Gulfport residents, but Wright said she would have been willing to drive farther as long as the roads were accessible to golf carts and the location would not delay other orders. Since some restaurants served breakfast or brunch, Wright tried to make sure there was a driver available from morning to night.
As COVID-19 regulations have begun to lighten and more people are dining at restaurants, Wright ultimately stopped offering the delivery service. She would consider doing it again in the future if more time and effort could be put into it.
“If I had started it earlier in the pandemic, around March or April, I think it would have been more successful,” she said. “Towards the end of the year I think people wanted to get out and picking up food was the way they were doing that.”
According to Wright, the hardest part of keeping the delivery service going was finding a driver for the day. While she would offer the job to her staff who were no longer working, many people on unemployment were making more money than if they came back to work. At the moment, unemployment pays about 375 dollars per week. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 4.7 percent of Floridians are unemployed as of March 2021.
Even when drivers were available, sometimes it was hard to figure out the taxes on the tips.
If the customers pay with a credit card and leave a tip, Wright wonders who should pay the taxes on that. “Does the driver who’s actually getting it, or the restaurant who’s getting the call?” Wright said.
Since 100% of the tips went to the driver, this was an issue that had to be sorted out.
If more time and effort were put into the delivery service, Wright thinks it could have been more successful. She owns two other businesses and is beginning a partnership in a third, so she was unable to market it as much as she would have liked to.
While the delivery service is no longer available, Wright would consider doing it again in the future if she could find a stable group of drivers. While she needed people on call, she did not want to have someone sitting around all day waiting to make a delivery. If more organized in the future, she thinks the golf cart delivery would be much more successful and beneficial to local businesses who do not want to pay the hefty fees large companies charge.
The North-End Taphouse hosts local beers from around St. Petersburg and serves sandwiches, salads, vegan dishes and more. Currently, they are open and once again hosting weekly bands, trivia nights, as well as open mic nights. For a full list of events, check out their website. For those not quite ready to eat out, pick-up is still available via phone order or by ordering online.
Pictured Above: The Power for Living Ministries church is located at 1710 52nd St. S, Gulfport. (USF/Kristen Boehm)
By Kristen Boehm
In a neighborhood in Gulfport, one church has kept its doors open for in-person services throughout the entire pandemic.
Pastor Ulysses Burden Jr. founded Power for Living Ministries with his wife, Annette, in 2003. When the pandemic began forcing communities to harbor at home, Burden knew that closing the doors would mean putting a stop, or at least a pause, to that almost two-decade passion.
“We didn’t do Zoom, ‘cause I don’t know how to do it,” said Burden. “I don’t know if you’re familiar with The Jetsons or The Flintstones. Well, I just graduated from The Flintstones.”
Pastor Ulysses Burden Jr. at the head of his church. (USF/Kristen Boehm)
Pastor Ulysses Burden Jr. at the head of his church. (USF/Kristen Boehm)
The church serves a predominately Black, multicultural congregation with about 60 active members. There are services for youth and adults, as ages range from young to elderly. And every third Saturday for 18 years, the ministry has given away donated clothes, food and appliances to the communities it serves.
None of this means Burden kept his services in-person without consideration. The night before Easter in 2020, Burden went into prayer about whether to keep his doors open or not.
“I said, Lord, do you want me to close these doors? Because I don’t want to endanger none of your people,” recounted Burden.
When he held Sunday morning worship the next day, he said he felt the glory and the presence of God in the house, and saw miraculous healings for his congregation. So the doors stayed open.
Knowing that this choice was right for his ministry, but also the harder path, Burden and his church family did their best to make sure they stayed safe. They installed automatic hand sanitizer dispensers and taped up the chairs and floor to show safe six-foot distances. They wore masks, and they even put a stop to their tradition of each person giving out three hugs at the end of every service.
“We did everything the CDC said to do,” said Burden. “It’s very important that you go by the guidelines, and then go by the word of God. You have to have a very balanced approach.”
Inside Power for Living Ministries, you can see the tape marking six foot distances. (USF/Kristen Boehm)
Inside Power for Living Ministries, you can see the tape marking six foot distances. (USF/Kristen Boehm)
Burden believes that these measures have helped keep the church open over the past year. While some people did stop attending, others came in off the street or from other churches, grateful to find an open place of worship. The church saw an increase in donations, mostly from members’ tithes and offerings, which eased the monthly strain of meeting the rent on the church building.
The current location, 1710 52nd St. S., is actually the fourth home of Power for Living Ministries. The ministry began with 6 p.m. Sunday services after Burden’s mentor, the late Pastor Greg Powe of Revealing Truth Ministries, released him to preach out of their St. Petersburg location. When Revealing Truth did not renew the lease, Burden and his wife continued their ministry out of their own home in south St. Petersburg.
When they were able, they began renting a small, but well-maintained, church in a storefront in central St. Petersburg. But after a period of hard times and falling behind on the rent, they lost the church.
“January the fourth, 2012. I remember that day because I was in tears,” Burden said.
Unable to bring the larger congregation back to their home, they began holding services in a conference room at a Comfort Inn. It was an adjustment. They moved Sunday morning services from 9:30 a.m. to 8 a.m., because another ministry came in at eleven o’clock.
“We kept our ministry going,” said Burden. “We lost a few members along the way, but we stayed committed.”
A little over a year later, Burden was approached by a pastor who owned a blue and white church in a homey neighborhood in Gulfport. The two men struck a deal that included the first month’s rent being free. And for the past seven years, Power for Living Ministries has served its community out of that church.
Part of that service is the ministry’s outreach. It includes going out “soul-winning” every first Saturday of the month, and a small-goods drive held at the church every third Saturday.
“We bless the community,” said Burden, who listed clothing, shoes, food and even small appliances among the things that get donated and then given away by his congregation. “You don’t have to be a member to come and get that. We give it to everybody… The more we release, the more comes in.”
A group of ladies, church members and non-members, will bring a bag of clothes to the church every Wednesday. A man in Clearwater will donate hams, turkeys and chickens once every month or two. One guy once brought an entire trailer of mens’ coats. And they’re all given back to the community.
To Burden, who grew up in Jordan Park in the 1960s, community means supporting one another. He considers giving back a part of worship, and encourages his church members to give away items they find valuable.
He’s also hoping that one of his members will be able to provide another service as part of their worship – bringing Power for Living Ministries into the virtual space.
“We need somebody in the congregation to step up, ‘cause it’s out of my league,” said Burden.
Currently, the church staff do record some services on a Galaxy Note9 smartphone, but they don’t get posted anywhere. They have a website with the necessary information. Burden’s son just set up a Facebook page for the church in March 2021, but the page is not publicly available yet.
Burden believes that if they had been able to provide virtual services during the pandemic, they would have been able to reach more people and gain broader recognition. He said that if they have to, they’ll hire someone to help with their social media. But he isn’t too worried.
“Everything that was lost in 2020, it’s going to be restored, and some more,” Burden said.
With that look towards the future, the ministry will continue.
Power for Living Ministries is located at 1710 52nd St. S, Gulfport. It holds Sunday morning worship at 9:30 a.m. and Wednesday night Bible study at 7 p.m. every week.
Pictured Above: Summer Shaw and Annie Griffith are advisory board members for the SAVE Promise Club at Lakeview Fundamental Elementary.
Courtesy of Kari Altman-Wood
By Catherine Hicks
For two students at Lakeview Fundamental Elementary, spreading the message of kindness and nonviolence is an important passion.
Annie Griffith and Summer Shaw are members of the SAVE (Students Against Violence Everywhere) Club at Lakeview Fundamental Elementary, one of 10 pinellas district schools to be selected for an award “recognizing their anti-violence efforts.”
Of more than 3,000 schools nationwide with a SAVE Club, only 41 were selected to receive the award. Of the 41, 10 of the selected clubs are in Pinellas County.
SAVE is the student leadership initiative of Sandy Hook Promise, an organization that “trains students and adults to know the signs of gun violence so that no parent experiences the tragic, preventable loss of their child.”
Sandy Hook Promise was founded and led by several family members who lost loved ones in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting on Dec. 14, 2012. The nonprofit organization “aims to empower student leaders to take an active role in increasing school safety and preventing different forms of violence in schools and communities.”
According to an announcement by the Pinellas County Schools, the award also provides a stipend of $500 to each club, to be spent on “taking an active role in increasing school safety and preventing different forms of violence in schools and communities.”
“At the level of elementary, we don’t really focus too much on the nonviolence as we don’t have much violence here,” said Kari Altman-Wood, who is a SAVE Club advisor. “It’s more on kindness and inclusion, making sure that everybody is feeling accepted and understood.”
Ten-year old Griffith and 11-year old Shaw both serve on the advisory board to the club and are passionate about sharing this message of kindness and inclusion within their school.
“I love spreading the message of kindness,” said Griffith. “I would do anything to get that message through our school.”
Shaw also likes being kind to others. “Sometimes that doesn’t happen and I want to make sure everybody does all the time,” Shaw said.
For their award project, the club promoted themed weeks throughout the year, each focused on teaching a different lesson related to being kind and accepting of others.
One of the themes was “Start with Hello,” where students were encouraged to reach out and help others by starting with “a ‘Hello’ to students that are by themselves,” Altman-Wood said. “Then there was the ‘Random Acts of Kindness’ week, which was doing acts of kindness for others, maybe compliments or saying ‘hi’ to people. We also did themed dress up days and activities.”
Other themed weeks included the “No Name Calling” week, during which students were encouraged not to call each other names and rather uplift each other. In the “Say Something” week, students were being emphasised the importance of going to a trusted adult in times of need, or to voice something that has happened with them or another student.
As a part of the “Say Something” week, students were taught three steps they can do when they or someone else needs help, as well as the difference between reporting and tattling.
During club meetings, members completed kindness activities that were focused outside of the school, such as Thanksgiving cards for nursing home patients.
Club members focused their kindness initiatives outside of their school by making Thanksgiving cards for nursing home patients. Courtesy of Kari Altman-Wood
As advisory board members, Griffith and Shaw contributed to coming up with ideas as well as the execution of the weekly themed decorations.
“We make posters that go around the school, like in the cafeteria and hallways,”Shaw said. “We do this thing where if you’re kind, then you get a wristband or card and we pass it along to make sure everyone’s being kind.”
Besides the posters, the club members also go on to the morning announcements and decorate around the school. “For our ‘Stand Against Violence’ week, we decorated the hallways with red ribbons, and for ‘Safety Week’ we decorated the golf cart of our school safety officer,” Griffith said.
Griffith and Shaw both reflected fondly on their time in the SAVE Club, which was formed at the beginning of the 2020-21 school year.
“When we were painting signs last week, we got to do this big poster. It was really fun, because we got all different colors of paint and put lots of different messages on it,” Shaw said.
In addition to creating posters, the students were also involved in contests for decorating.
As decorations for the campus, the club members decorated sea shells and sand dollars with inspirational messages or drawings. Courtesy of Kari Altman-Wood
“We had a school-wide door decorating contest for Christmas and we all had ideas, and every day we were all coming to Miss Wood with a different idea or vision. It was really fun,” said Griffith. “We didn’t win first place, but my class won second place.”
The SAVE Club advisor, Altman-Wood, has worked in Pinellas County Schools for 11 years, nine of which have been at Lakeview Elementary. Altman-Wood is fulfilled by her work in the SAVE Promise club, as the message resonates with her own passions.
“I am very passionate about promoting kindness,” Altman-Wood said. “I have probably 67 shirts that promote different forms of kindness, in inspirational messages and things like that. I’m passionate about that, working with kids, and getting them to promote this message of kindness as well. I would love to see this message of nonviolence and acceptance to spread throughout the students.”
The Sandy Hook Promise, the organization that provided the awards, invited 10 schools to showcase and share their project experiences and activities via a virtual National Youth Summit on April 17.
According to Altman-Wood, students in the club and their parents were invited to attend the event For their presentation, the SAVE Club sent to the event organizers photographs of their club meetings along with decorations.
The SAVE Promise Club has chapters in 49 states across and 153,000 members across the country. They report that they have 247 confirmed lives saved, more than 60,000 anonymously reported tips The SAVE Promise Club has also enacted the passage of the STOP School Violence Act of 2019.
As today’s society faces divisiveness and tragedy through recent mass shootings, riots and social tensions, it is encouraging to see people dedicated to our youth and their future. Carla Bristol is one such noteworthy example in St. Petersburg.
Today’s youth can benefit from having someone they can look up to as a positive role model. In addition to her daily roles running the St. Pete Youth Farm and her art gallery, Gallerie 909, Bristol is tirelessly creating constructive opportunities for the youth in the community.
With all that Bristol has accomplished and the services she provides, it is easy to understand how her favorite saying defines her work ethic, “It don’t take all day to do nothin’.”
“My children were born here and are raised here so I must give to help future generations here in this community,” Bristol said. “All of my work is for future generations.”
What distinguishes Bristol is her high energy and expansive influence in a variety of areas in advocacy. She is an activist for Midtown, youth and art, in addition to her work with community gardens to combat the food insecurities of her neighborhood.
“I love what I am doing with my life. I feel that my work with this community is leaving a footprint and, now with our youth, a blueprint,” Bristol said. “Each young person will take something with them that they have learned through their time with me and that’s special.”
In a recent trip to Tallahassee, Bristol and several participants from the farm petitioned legislators for funding to assist in their agricultural work. Bristol hopes that by putting faces to the name of her organization, they will be more likely to help by allocating additional resources.
The group with Bristol made an inspiring presentation in the Senate Agriculture Committee representing the St. Pete Youth Farm.
“The goal of the Tallahassee trip was to provide exposure for our youth and our program,” Bristol said. “I wanted everyone to see what I see daily, we have amazing young people living right here in South St. Pete. They are doing amazing work in the community throughout the program.”
Part of this work she is referring to is a project located at 1664 12th St. South. This is intended to be the site of a hydroponic farm.
“We are still trying to find creative ways to get a structure that will house a hydroponic system,” Bristol said. “There are many hurdles with permitting, and we’re trying to work within our budget and the needs of the City to make it happen. We have engaged an architect to ask for some direction and may soon have a solution.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has magnified the importance of this work. Bristol points out that with the increase of poverty that has occurred, teaching youth about sustainable agriculture is “helping to be a part of the solution.”
These efforts are instrumental in combating a lack of grocery stores in an area of Pinellas County, known as a “food desert.” Although there is not a shortage of produce, there is a lack of convenience and access to stores where produce is sold.
The youth Bristol works with in the program are local to St. Petersburg, specifically residing in the dedicated Community Redevelopment Areas (CRA) and must be of high school age. Bristol credits several vital partnerships to the farm’s ongoing successes, including, City of St. Petersburg, Foundation for A Healthy St. Pete, Pinellas County Schools, Pinellas Education Foundation and a host of others.
Bristol is quoted in the Gulfport Gabber referring to the youth she volunteers with as her “young angels.” This characterization reflects the love and admiration of the youth she labors with to make their community a better place to live.
Bristol expresses it well in a Facebook post when she says, “It’s so exciting when relationships come full circle. All of the arts and culture is centered around food!” Bristol is effective at combining her many circles of advocacy into one unifying circle of activity and influence.
In addition to working with youth to address the community’s food insufficiency, Bristol also owns and operates an art gallery, Gallerie 909. She opened this gallery in 2014. It specializes in African, Black and Caribbean art.
Located at 559 49th St. South, her gallery provides opportunity and space for developing artists to showcase their work. Bristol’s own line of textile art is marketed under the name “Jamii,” which means “community” in Swahili, a fitting emphasis given her devotion to her community.
“The gallery was about providing for a portion of the community what was already being made available to other parts of our town without consideration for equity,” Bristol said.
Further inspiration struck when Bristol founded the Black Arts and Film Festival in St. Petersburg, another example of showcasing art by people of color. This and other events help define her as a pillar and an inspiring figure in the community.
Accrediting her parents as her heroes, Bristol shares, “My mom always says we moved to this country with four kids and five suitcases. My dad is a man of very few words but what he has to say will always cause you to think.” Mentioning her aunts and uncles she adds, “[They] have always instilled in me that I’m special and important, and that’s what I instill in our youth ambassadors.”
Born in Guyana, the only Latin American country to have English as its official language, Bristol immigrated with her family to America at age 11. She considers herself to have been an entrepreneur since childhood.
Growing up with a strong sense of family and community helped Bristol tremendously.
“I was able to make business decisions and customer engagement decisions early in life. Most of what you see in me today was cultivated during those early years,” Bristol said.
“I feel welcome no matter where I am. There is a vibration in South St. Pete that supports culture and community that I have not found in other parts of Pinellas,” Bristol added, “This feels like home to me because it’s small, and I am able to be myself and feel welcomed and supported.”
