Page 13 - Florida Sentinel 7-21-17

THAP Hosting ‘Jazz Under The Stars At 5508’
Tampa-Hillsborough Action Plan, Inc. (THAP) has partnered with Allen’s Entertainment Group to con- tinue a new East Tampa tradition – Jazz Under The Stars @5508.
The event was started by former THAP Business Development Man- ager, Steve Marshall last January at East Tampa’s 5508 Co-Working & Collaboration Exchange during the Black Heritage Festival.
On Saturday, July 29th, the Jazz Under the Stars event promises to be an electrifying night of live Jazz music, comedy, great food and drinks by local vendors, as well as an ex- traordinary cross-cultural social net- working experience in East Tampa.
Local Jazz pianist and vocalist, Maurice Allen will open the evening, followed by comedian Shawn Banks, out of Philadelphia, by way of Orlando, Florida. National recording artist trumpeter, Joey Sommerville, out of Atlanta, GA, will headline the event.
The evening of jazz and comedy will be held in the 5508 Courtyard at 5508 N. 50th Street, Tampa, 33610. The gates will open at 6 p. m. The
JEANNETTE BRADLEY ...CEO THAP
performance starts at 7 p. m. General admission tickets are $25. A very lim- ited number of VIP tickets starting at $45 are available. All tickets can be purchased at www.cowork5508.com/jazz.html or go directly to Eventbrite.com - Tampa. (See Advertisement in this issue).
The bi-annual Jazz/R&B benefit is THAP’s signature fundraiser event es- tablished to bring local corporations, businesses, organizations, and resi- dents from across the Tampa Bay
MAURICE ALLEN ...event planner
Metropolitan area together in East Tampa.
“Our goal is to not only encourage attendees to rethink what it means to do business or find quality entertain- ment in the East Tampa market, but to also find opportunities to invest in sustainable East Tampa-based eco- nomic development projects,” said Jeannette Bradley, CEO, THAP.
“We believe such nonprofit, for- profit, and community collaborations will ultimately lead to the creation of a viable business and entertainment
district in East Tampa that will pro- duce meaningful business ownership opportunities as well as skilled em- ployment prospects for East Tampa residents that will serve the larger Tampa market.
THAP’s Strategic Plan
Since 2014 THAP has invested over $2 million in unrestricted funds to begin the first phase of its Strategic Plan to positively influence East Tampa’s much needed physical trans- formation by renovating their “mort- gage-free” storage unit facility and changing the facility into a quality of- fice business park. The facility cur- rently has 32 small “incubator” office suites, a complementary co-working space, and a first-class paved court- yard.
THAP was founded in 1986 by businessman James A. Hammond and local leaders and residents. It has served as a minority- based 501(c)3 not-for-profit organi- zation since 1987.
The organization began as a solu- tion to the outgrowth of racial distur- bances in Black communities.
11th Annual ‘Keeping It Real’ Teen And Young Adult Empowerment Conference
The conference’s aim is to give today’s youth a glimpse of reality by discussing real-life issues on sex, vio- lence, drugs and alcohol use.
The 11th Annual “Keeping It Real” Youth Conference will be held Satur- day, July 29, 2017 from 10 a. m. to 3:30 p. m. at the Seminole Heights Branch Library, 4711 N. Central Ave.
This event will provide relevant talks, information, connections, and helpful, free services for youth and their families.
Miracles Outreach Community Development Center, Inc. organizes the conference each year as part of its Teens on Target (T.O.T.S.) girls’ men- toring initiative and Saving Our Sons (S.O.S.) boys’ mentoring initiative.
Miracles Outreach is a nonprofit organization that has provided more than 700 youth mentoring services with an eye on the future.
Michelle E. Walker, Executive Director, and Tyrone Walker, Re- source Development Director, founded Miracles Outreach in 2000.
The conference is free and open to the public, and all youth are invited and encouraged to attend.
The “Keeping it Real” Conference
SONJA JORDAN ...Operations Manager, Miracles Outreach
does exactly as it says.
“It’s an emotionally charged day
full of real talk about real subjects,” explained Sonja Jordan, the Opera- tions Manager at Miracles Outreach.
She continued, “It’s a safe envi- ronment to get answers to real life problems.”
Guest speakers from a variety of professions and backgrounds will give straightforward answers and power- ful testimonies through several ses- sions.
Topics will include rape/molesta- tion and dating violence, drug and al-
Michael Brown, who is the Development Officer at Miracles Outreach, is shown with attendees from a past conference.
cohol use, the truth about STD’s and HIV/AIDS, and, that looks can be de- ceiving.
In addition to the talks, food and refreshments will be provided, and community vendors will be available to pass out literature providing con- nections and information about help- ful resources, organizations, and services for youth and families.
Pre-registration is required, and attendees can sign up on https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mira- cles-outreach-keeping-it-real-youth- conference-tickets-36199337192.
To learn more about the confer- ence or Miracles Outreach, visit mira- clesoutreach.org, email miraclesoutreach@gmail.com, or call (813) 374-2184.
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FLORIDA SENTINEL
FRIDAY, JULY 21, 2017