Barely three months ago, the 2-acre site next to the ENCORE! housing complex in downtown Tampa was a wasteland strewn with concrete rubble. Now, rows of lettuce, kale, carrots, red cabbage, oregano and other herbs are springing out of the soil. Groundwater pumped through sprinkler systems gently rains down on plump heirloom and cherry tomatoes in three large greenhouses.
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In downtown Tampa, something edible grows
COVID-19 recovery: A look at pandemic life in Tampa’s Tempo District
Six hundred ENCORE! residents took advantage of free COVID-19 testing that THA offered in September in collaboration with the Hillsborough County Department of Health. Though results are protected by health privacy regulations, Leroy Moore, Chief Operating Officer of THA, notes the Tempo District “does not seem to be an area of high concentration.”
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New urban farm, store opens in ENCORE! Tampa
Downtown Tampa is getting an organic urban farm near its core and at the same time, a place where kids can learn where their food comes from and the importance of eating healthy.
Meacham Urban Farm, named for Christine Meacham, the first African-American school principal in Tampa, is located at 1108 E. Scott Street, within the ENCORE! Tampa housing development.
A soft grand opening for its store, which will be open to the public, will be scheduled for later this month.
Urban farmers Joe Dalessio, Kristin Beauvois, and Travis Malloy are combining their talents to create the farm, built… Read more
Coronavirus Crisis Innovators
When a crisis strikes, a path emerges. There’s the ones who run away from the danger, seeking shelter until it passes. There’s those who stand strong, weathering the storm without making waves. And then, there’s those who go toward the crisis to not only save themselves, but others.
The Tampa Bay startup community, it turns out, is filled with the latter.
PBX Change
Heinz and his colleagues set out to partner with organizations like United Way Suncoast and the Tampa Housing Authority to deliver internet connections to some of their low-income housing developments near… Read more
PBX-Change keeps residents at a Tampa Housing Authority apartment building connected with free Wi-Fi
Gomez and the more than 500 residents at Tampa Housing Authority’s The Tempo at ENCORE! Apartments are receiving free internet service. She said she is saving more than $100 a month.
“We can put it more toward kid’s schools,” she said. “We can put it toward more groceries in the home, stuff they need.”
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