30-04-2025
New activity center breaks ground to expand services for Tampa Bay children in foster care
BRANDON, Fla. (WFLA) — A residential foster care non-profit broke ground on a 12,000-square-foot activity center on Tuesday morning.
A Kid's Place of Tampa Bay provides a safe, nurturing home to children in foster care in Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties.
More than 100 staff, board members, volunteers and donors attended the event at the nonprofit's Brandon campus.
'This is a momentous day for A Kid's Place and another step forward in providing foster children in Tampa Bay with the educational, health, therapy and family services they deserve,' said Beth Bradburn, chair of the A Kid's Place of Tampa Bay. 'The MacKinnon Family Activity Center will enable us to offer deeper, more frequent and more impactful experiences to help our kids find stability, and to heal and go on to live successful lives.'
In August, A Kid's Place announced the launch of its Building a Brighter Future capital campaign to raise $8 million, which will fund construction of the new activity center, in addition to expanding other needed services.
The MacKinnon Family Activity Center will help bridge the gap between what the nonprofit can currently provide in its limited existing space and the services, programs and opportunities the children at A Kid's Place need.
'This activity center will enable the organization to more effectively serve the children in its care because it will create more opportunities to connect them to the people – house parents, families, peers, teachers, coaches, tutors and doctors – and the services they need to grow, heal and achieve success,' said Brad Gregory, CEO of A Kid's Place.
The activity center will include a large indoor gathering space for birthday parties, holidays and other group celebrations; more rooms for therapy, family visitation, arts/crafts and vocational education; dedicated educational computer lab; spaces for enhanced services within the 'Stepping Stones' program, which teaches kids ages 13 and up independent living skills; an outdoor basketball court; and an outdoor courtyard, exercise room and swimming pool.
There are nearly 5,000 children in foster care in the Tampa Bay area. Since 2009, A Kid's Place of Tampa Bay said it has served more than 1,700 children and 753 families. The average length of stay at A Kid's Place is 578 days, and the longest length of stay for a current child living at A Kid's Place is seven years.
'We are fortunate to have so many generous supporters in the community who have already donated to Building a Brighter Future,' said Samantha Mellen, director of development at A Kid's Place. 'We encourage anyone who wants to make a real difference in the lives of kids to donate to the capital campaign.'
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