It’s time for another round of social justice work to improve our communities through the work of FAST. This organization — Faith and Action for Strength Together — comprises more than 40 faith communities in Pinellas County that identify significant problems, work to develop solutions, and gain support of government officials.
The ideas we will be voting on at the Annual Meeting on 10/27/2025, at 7pm. We will continue to have standing committees on housing, mental health, and water quality. We are looking to work on another area of our community that also needs our attention. Please come prepared with which topic you would like FAST to tackle this year, as there will not be any discussion at the meeting about the topics.
1. Youth and Children Concerns - This includes things like the cost of childcare, funding for public education, funding of special needs and afterschool programs, concerns around school shootings and safety, children having access to guns, defunding of school food programs, bullying, and behavioral issues in school.
2. Cost of Living Concerns - This category is difficult because it encompasses a lot of things related to other categories, but the main things that came up were rising costs in food, insurance, utility bills, and care for family members. Something I also included in this category was people mentioning wages not keeping up with higher cost of living.
3. Food Insecurity - This includes increased food pantry use, food stamp access, kids not having access to food outside of school, families having trouble affording groceries, folks on fixed incomes struggling to afford enough to eat, and growing food deserts.
4. Elder Care - This includes elder abuse, negligence or quality in care for aging parents in facilities, not being able to afford ALFs or in-home care, struggling to afford doctor's visits and medications, lack of transportation for elderly, housing for fixed income seniors, and concerns over curtailment of medical coverage.
5. "Infrastructure" Issues - This includes things like over-development, not prioritizing sewer or drainage updates leading to shut offs or backup, lack of bike lanes or pedestrian walkways in busy areas, and slow permitting process for those still trying to rebuild after storms.
6. Healthcare - This includes lack of access to certain doctors or special services, difficulty affording services, and defunding of community health services.
7. Transportation - This includes lack of public transportation or access to bus routes, inability to afford a car, cars getting flooded and having to share transportation with family, and ride share services being too costly as a supplement to accessing reliable transportation.
8. Criminal Justice - This includes racial profiling, drug related activity in neighborhoods, treatment of those convicted of crimes when they are placed back into society, and safety concerns related to guns.
9. Immigration Issues - This includes concerns for loved ones or fellow congregation members who are afraid of getting arrested or detained even if they're naturalized or born here, people preemptively leaving the country and leaving their life here, treatment of those being detained, and concerns around possible ICE presence or activity in the community.
10. Gun Violence - This includes shootings or gun related deaths in neighborhoods and access to guns for children and adults. This was added at the Team Assembly because some felt it could be a standalone issue that is separate from criminal justice concerns, broadly.
From the organizers:
If you're new to the process of how FAST does things or you've been a part of FAST for 20 years, I want to say this: the problem we choose at an assembly is sometimes broad, but we narrow problems down in the research process. Many of the categories above are multi-faceted and we can't take them on entirely. There would be a hundred ways to approach any one of these problems, but we figure out how to do that in the research process once a problem is voted in as our new focus. So if some of these things seem broad, it's because they are! The main thing to remember is FAST is meant to have a unified voice for our community. No matter what problem gets voted in, we will find solutions to address it and fight for officials to take action to make our county a better place to live.
Questions? Contact Kathy Callan (kat.callan@gmail.com) or Veronica Wright (vcwcancel0105@aol.com).
Thank you to everyone who attended the Joshua Assembly!
It was a celebratory evening! Over 300 people gathered at Temple Beth-el for the 20th Anniversary of FAST.
St. Petersburg City Council Chair Charles Copley Gerdes joined us and he gave a resounding YES to a commitment to advancing the creation of more affordable housing in our city. He shared the importance of public/private partnerships in making this a reality.
County Commissioner Dave Eggers also gave his full support to the work of FAST and committed to ensuring that the $84 million in Penny for Pinellas is appropriately and efficiently used to create more affordable housing. There was huge applause for these public officials and we're grateful for their support of FAST's work.
Combined with the commitments we received at the Joshua Assembly, we believe there is great momentum building towards achieving our goal of creating 1,000 units of affordable housing for those making 80% AMI or less per year.
None of this is possible without the investment of network members and those who want to support FAST. The Cathedral has a goal of $8,500 this cycle and we have nearly $5,400 committed. Help us close the gap! If you have not yet invested, please do so today!
If you would like to make an investment in affordable housing and increased water quality in our county, you can give online here or leave a check (made out to FAST) at the front desk.
What returns do I get for my investment in FAST?
Bringing people together across racial and faith lines: FAST brings together African American, Hispanic, and Caucasian people from diverse religious backgrounds to build relationships around shared values.
Education
Pushed Pinellas Early Learning Coalition to provide funds so low-income children can attend a full-day pre-k program. From 2005-2018, 12,784 four-year-olds benefited ($19 million value).
Brought restorative justice standards to Pinellas County schools, resulting in 70,000 less out-of-school suspensions for primary school students.
Affordable Housing
FAST won an affordable housing trust fund with an initial $19.2 million, creating 1,469 new housing units for families making less than $40,000. An additional $152 million came from private sector funding.
In 2015, an additional $15 million was released from Penny-for-Pinellas funding, resulting in 700 units.
In 2018, the County Commission committed 4.15% of the Penny-for-Pinellas Sales Tax, producing $85 million of county funds for affordable housing, to date.
Criminal Justice
Cleaned up 76 hot spots of drug and crime through the Hot Spots campaigns with local law enforcement.
Successfully passed a bill in the state legislature to allow 4,000 non-violent offenders to attend locally-based drug treatment programs rather than go to prison. FAST estimates this saved the state $92 million in prison costs and leveraged $19 million in treatment funding.
From 2013-2018, FAST worked to reduce youth arrests statewide through the creation of a diversion program. Since 2013, over 60,000 children have received a civil citation instead of an arrest record.
17 counties, including Pinellas, now have adult civil citation programs as well.
Healthcare
The addition of dental clinics serve an additional 1,900 people a year; the County Commissioners allocated $900,000 in recurring funding for dental care, increasing access by 1,600 people each year. FAST estimates this saves over $4 million in emergency rooms costs since 2013.
The creation of the county-wide Care About Me program allows those in crisis to access a central pathway for mental health resources and addiction treatment from over 90 providers. Between May-December 2024, 897 people had been helped through this service.
Nehemiah Action 2025
Hard Work Pays Off As We Continue The Fight for Justice and Equity
We celebrate another successful FAST cycle! Beginning with the house meetings held last fall, more than 80 people participated in a FAST event through the Cathedral. At the Annual Assembly, we voted to continue working on three justice issues: affordable housing for those making 80 percent or less of the area median income; the creation of an adult diversion program for non-dangerous driving offenses; and the creation of green infrastructure to improve water quality.
People worked on committees throughout the year to develop clear plans for how to address the complicated issues. They met regularly with officials. We gathered all the network members for issue updates and used our people power to bring together more than 1,200 people from across the county at the Nehemiah Action. While we were disappointed that Mayor Ken Welch and Police Chief Anthony Holloway declined our invitation, we heard powerful testimonies from individuals who have been directly affected by a lack of affordable housing, suspended licenses over insurance paperwork, and street flooding.
Finally, at the Joshua Assembly, we gathered again to celebrate our past and current accomplishments. Cathedral network members invested $6,000 in FAST and the continued work of creating a more just and equitable Pinellas County. Thank you to all who showed up at City Council meetings, committee meetings, prayer vigils, meetings with officials, and assemblies; made phone calls; invested your resources; invited friends; and prayed. It all makes a difference.
Stay tuned for house meeting dates this August and September!
Months of Hard Work Prevail: FAST Wins Promises of Change from Public Officials
“It’s just amazing to be with over 1,000 people,
from diverse backgrounds, all speaking with
one voice,” Betsy Adams said, pictured with her
husband Mike. “I’m thankful for what has been
accomplished and excited about moving forward
with these and other community issues.”
Thirty-eight members of St. Peter’s congregation were among nearly 1,000 participants who gathered at Indian Rocks Beach Church on March 27 to press public officials on initiatives to improve the lives of Pinellas County residents. And they prevailed. The members of FAST — Faith and Action for Strength Together — obtained promises from public officials to work on license suspension reforms, water quality, and affordable housing.
“Often, I feel there is nothing I can do individually to help create change,” said participant Fay Mackey. Now, “I understand that joining together with groups and organizing for change is the way to go.” FAST’s priorities were generated through cottage meetings around the county in late 2022 and through research and expert consultations. FAST comprises participants from more than 50 congregations in Pinellas County representing many religions and denominations.
“To be part of a social-justice event is to
be connected to the will of God.
The power of love and perseverance can create change.”
Every spring FAST holds what it calls a Nehemiah Action, named after the prophet Nehemiah, who stood in a large assembly before the nobles and officials of his community and challenged them to stop charging unjust and unfair interest, and gained a promise from the nobles to stop. (Read the full story in Nehemiah 5:1-13.) That was the purpose of the March 27 gathering, where FAST achieved these results:
St. Petersburg City Council members Richie Floyd and John Muhammad agreed to support an ordinance to decriminalize non-dangerous driving offenses, such as driving with a suspended license because of unpaid fines or driving with expired plates. Those arrests are often the result of economic inequities, and the arrests disproportionately affect Black people.
Clearwater Vice Mayor Kathleen Beckman agreed to draft a policy requiring developers to include rain gardens to manage runoff. That would filter out chemicals such as nitrogen, one of the causes of red tide.
FAST members will flood St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch’s office with postcards telling personal stories about their inability to find affordable housing. The group is urging Welch to create 5,000 units of affordable housing for families making 80 percent of the area median income or less by the end of his first term.
“The Nehemiah Action was a great opportunity to see the power of people of many faiths come together to advocate for change that will help those who need it most,” said parishioner Rebecca Lyons.
Speak Truth to Power! FAST Seeks Your Input On Community Justice Issues
“What is FAST?”
Have you heard the news? St. Peter’s has joined with more than 50 diverse faith congregations in Pinellas County through FAST — Faith and Action for Strength Together — to identify and address justice issues within our community.
The Chapter voted in May to align with FAST, which has been active in Pinellas County since 2004 and includes Christian and Jewish congregations, African-American churches, Protestants and Catholics. There are FAST organizations in other counties and cities across the country.
Identifying the needs and concerns begins with the listening process. September and early October are the months to gather this information through FAST house meetings. These gatherings provide us with the opportunity to get to know one another better as we discuss the problems we are experiencing in our community. The issues to be addressed during the next year arise from the house-meeting discussions.
Issues that have surfaced in the past include affordable housing, early childhood care, juvenile criminal justice, water quality, senior transportation, and mental health access.
Once these house meetings have been held all around Pinellas County, priorities are set about what to pursue. “Months of research produce policy recommendations,” the Tampa Bay Times reported earlier this year. “Those recommendations are shared with local leaders, who are invited to attend” public assemblies where their support is solicited. “Leaders in attendance are asked whether they agree to draft or support the policy change. If they answer ‘yes,’ the crowd erupts in applause,” the Times reported. “If they answer ‘no,’ follow-up questions prompt officials to justify their answers.”