Suncoast Credit Union Grants $500K to The Skills Center Capital Infrastructure Campaign

TAMPA, Fla., April 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Suncoast Credit Union recently donated $500,000 to The Skills Center to kickstart the "From Now On…" Capital Campaign. The funds will help renovate a multi-use facility located in East Tampa. 

The Skills Center recently broke ground at 5107 N. 22^nd Street Tampa, FL. 33610, the future home of The Skills Center Collaborative, and shared a $5 million fundraising goal. 

"We're proud to support The Skills Center's Capital Campaign to develop a facility where youth can learn and grow," said Gary Vien, Chief Administrative Officer, Suncoast Credit Union. "We're excited to make an economic impact and our teams will volunteer their time and talents to support the youth in the communities we serve."

The Skills Center Collaborative is expected to create 180 jobs, serve 3,500 youth and make a $23 million economic impact on the East Tampa community.

Gary Hartfield and Patricia Douglas are co-chairing the "From Now On…" Capital Campaign. Hartfield is an entrepreneur and advocate for marginalized communities. Douglas is an attorney and nonprofit consultant on a mission to grow organizations operationally and fiscally. 

"The value of a center for students and young adults that allows them to receive instruction in a safe environment cannot be overstated," Hartfield said. "I am grateful to Suncoast Credit Union's early support. Their commitment to the community ensuring equitable growth across our region is unparalleled."

The innovative joint venture will level the playing field in education, health and workforce readiness for underserved Hillsborough County youth. The state-of-the-art facility will offer a range of youth development programming, sports and events to teach and train youth ages 3-21.   

"Suncoast Credit Union's partnership will help to provide a place that creates access for all young people and services that builds upward economic mobility," said Celeste Roberts, CEO of The Skills Center. "We extend our gratitude to the senior leadership team who will help make our vision a reality: A place where every young person will have the opportunity to attain the skills they need to excel in life and work."

The Skills Center Collaborative's approach is built on a proven model from the U.S. Labor Department's Youth Opportunity Movement.  Its goals are to create equity in education, health, and workforce readiness for young people In Hillsborough County; to build strategic alliances between four minority nonprofit organizations to leverage resources, programming, funding, and impact; and to design a Social Enterprise Venture that provides sustainability for the organization. 

The new facility will open in early 2023.

Interview Opportunities: 
Celeste Roberts, The Skills Center CEO
Gary Vien, Suncoast Credit Union, Chief Administrative Officer 
Gary Hartfield, Capital Campaign Co-Chair 

About The Skills Center 
The Skills Center, created in 2007, is a sport-based youth development nonprofit (501c3) that intentionally utilizes athletics as the mechanism to create change through academic support, life skills, mentoring, and health & fitness for youth ages 3-18 in Tampa Bay.  Using sports as a powerful learning tool, youth learn how to transfer and apply the skills learned naturally through sports to other environments in their lives, such as at school, at home, and in their community.

More about the Suncoast Credit Union Foundation:  
Since its founding in 1990, the Suncoast Credit Union Foundation has raised and donated more than $36 million to organizations and initiatives that support the health, education and emotional well-being of children in the communities that the credit union serves. 

Contact
Natalie Godwin
C: 571-422-7926
[email protected]
www.TheSkillsCenter.org

SOURCE The Skills Center