[google-translator]<\/p>\n
BY LEON B. CREWS<\/b><\/p>\n
Sentinel Staff Wrier<\/b><\/p>\n
On Tuesday night, more than 1,000 people attended a meeting hosted by the Hillsborough Organization For Progress and Equality (HOPE). The meeting was held at Mt. Calvary Seventh Day Adventist Church on 40th<\/sup> Street.<\/p>\n Rev. Bernice Powell-Jackson<\/b> of First United Church of Tampa, said the meeting was great, and everyone was pleased that several elected officials were in attendance.<\/p>\n \u201cWe addressed three items specifically and asked the officials in attendance what needs to be done to make them happen.<\/p>\n \u201cWe addressed the idea of establishing an affordable housing trust fund so we can help people who may be facing the possibility of losing their home. County Commissioners Les Miller and Kevin Beckner<\/b> agreed to assist us in setting up the trust fund. The problem now will be in establishing a funding source.\u201d<\/p>\n Rev. Powell-Jackson<\/b> said they also asked City Council members, Frank Reddick and Lisa Montelieone<\/b> to ask everyone that does business with the city to remove the section on their applications that ask about a person\u2019s criminal history.<\/p>\n \u201cThat question usually appears at the beginning of the application, and doesn\u2019t really give the person an opportunity to say anything. A judgment is made immediately, and the door is closed on an opportunity.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019d like to see these applications refer to an individual\u2019s experience and qualifications first. So, if the Council could amend the current ordinance to make that change, it would be a big help.\u201d<\/p>\n Also addressed was concern over the number of juveniles being arrested, and law enforcement representatives agreed to work on getting the numbers down.<\/p>\n Councilman Reddick<\/b> said he thought the questions were direct, and called for direct answers.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a challenging meeting and aggressive in its presentation. They want our support on the issue of applications for employment and that people at least be given the chance to be interviewed before being rejected because they have a criminal history.<\/p>\n \u201cI told them I would submit their request to our legal department for a review. When I get their response, I\u2019ll see what direction to go. It may be necessary for Mayor Buckhorn<\/b> to address this.\u201d<\/p>\n Tampa Police District III Commander, Major Diane Hobley-Burney<\/b>, said she believes by working together, they can make a difference in the lives of the youth and the community.<\/p>\n \u201cThis was one of the most rigid meetings I\u2019ve ever attended. I look forward to a partnership in finding a solution to the arrest of so many juveniles.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a couple of programs already in place, and we tell our officers to evaluate the kids to see if they meet the criteria for these programs.\u201d<\/p>\n Major Hobley-Burney<\/b> said the process must start with the parents, because kids are under so much pressure from their peers these days.<\/p>\n \u201cThe need to be accepted can sometimes push aside common sense. We have outlets like the Rich House in Sulphur Springs and near Robles Park that are excellent tools to help the kids.\u201d<\/p>\n Rev. Thomas Scott<\/b> of the 34th<\/sup> Street Church of God said, he was in awe of the huge attendance, and he thinks a great job was done in organizing the meeting.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a very diverse turnout, and we had a lot of elected officials in attendance.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t think the meeting was confrontational. They wanted to make sure the elected officials stay on a time frame and answer the questions directly. They also wanted to make sure the elected officials are committed to improving communities. They are about social justice and making sure the poor people have a voice.\u201d<\/p>\n HOPE was founded in 1988, and currently consists of more than 16 churches from all over Hillsborough County.<\/p>\n Those churches are:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n All Saints Lutheran Church<\/b><\/p>\n Allen Temple AME Church<\/b><\/p>\n Corpus Christi Catholic Church<\/b><\/p>\n First United Church Of Tampa<\/b><\/p>\n Islamic Community Of Tampa<\/b><\/p>\n Lutheran Church of our Saviour<\/b><\/p>\n New Greater Friendship M.B. Church<\/b><\/p>\n New Life Pentecostal Church of God<\/b><\/p>\n Peace Progressive Primitive Baptist Church<\/b><\/p>\n New Smyrna Full Gospel Cathedral<\/b><\/p>\n St. Andrews United Methodist Church<\/b><\/p>\n St. Paul Lutheran Church<\/b><\/p>\n St. Peter Claver Catholic Church<\/b><\/p>\n St. James House of Prayer Episcopal Church<\/b><\/p>\n 34th<\/sup> Street Church of God<\/b><\/p>\n Trinity Christian Methodist Episcopal Church<\/b><\/p>\n Unitarian Universalist Church of Tampa<\/b><\/p>\n [google-translator] BY LEON B. CREWS Sentinel Staff Wrier On Tuesday night, more than 1,000 people attended a meeting hosted by the Hillsborough Organization For Progress and Equality (HOPE). The meeting was held at Mt. Calvary Seventh Day Adventist Church on 40th Street. Rev. Bernice Powell-Jackson of First United Church of Tampa, said the meeting was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":210,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news","pmpro-has-access"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/210"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29489"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29489\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}