U.S. Rep. David Jolly entered a tribute to the Florida Dream Center into the Congressional Record.
Jolly made the tribute in June, but the Dream Center didn’t know about it until this week when the organization received a copy.
“What a humbling honor to be recognized by Congressman Jolly,” Steven Cleveland, executive director of the Dream Center, said on his Facebook page. “Thank you, Congressman Jolly, for all you do in our community.”
The Florida Dream Center is a faith-based non-profit based in Clearwater. Among the group’s concerns are human trafficking, homelessness and poverty, jails and prisons, and community outreach.
The Dream Center started the Adopt-a-Block program in Lealman. Teams of volunteers go into the unincorporated Lealman community every Saturday to help residents with whatever they need. That can be something as simple as mowing yard or something more complex as replacing worn or non-existent appliances.
Jolly’s tribute singled out one project – Dream Center volunteers, in cooperation with Wells Fargo and Pinellas County Human Services, rehabbed a foreclosed home in St. Petersburg. The home was then turned over to a homeless mother and her three children.
Jolly added, “Along with revitalizing our communities and neighborhoods, the Florida Dream Center works hard to combat hunger. At the beginning of April, the organization and other members of our community helped hand out food to those in need and they also provided repairs and maintenance to the community where they saw it was needed most. Additionally, the Florida Dream Center aids human trafficking victims and survivors to ensure they feel safe in Pinellas County.
“Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the Florida Dream Center and Pinellas County Human Services and Fair Housing Assistance Program for continuing to provide aid and exemplary help to those in need in our county. Their acts of kindness are an inspiration, and I ask that this body join me in recognizing them for the hard work they have done and continue to do for all of us in Pinellas County.”
