SPHA Celebrates Family Self-Sufficiency Program Participants' Achievements
ST. PETERSBURG, FL (DECEMBER 22, 2025) - The St. Petersburg Housing Authority (SPHA) hosted a special event on December 19, 2025, at the Enoch D. Davis Center, to celebrate the accomplishments of participants in its Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) Program and to recognize the community partners who supported their success.
The event, titled Pathways to Progress: FSS Growth & Achievement Annual Seminar, highlighted the progress SPHA families are making toward economic independence.
For 2025, SPHA was proud to celebrate 15 FSS Graduates and 9 new first-time homeowners!
The keynote speaker for the event was St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch, who praised the FSS participants and graduates. "Tonight, we want to really celebrate your hard work, your determination, and the courage it takes to set goals and to stay committed to them, even when the road isn't easy," said Mayor Welch.
The event also featured SPIN El Poeta, an award-winning Guatemalan spoken word artist and Canadian national slam poetry champion.
Thank you to Community Partners:
- Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Tampa Bay
- Exceeding Grace Christian Center
- Lewis Williams Education Foundation
- My Daughter's Keeper of Tampa Bay, Inc.
- Rock Solid Construction & Development Inc.
- S.T.O.R.Y. 727
- St. Petersburg College (SPC)
- The City of St. Petersburg
- The Brotherhood of Men Mentor Group, Inc.
- The St. Petersburg Police Department
- The Shihan School of Survival
- The Warehouse Arts District Association (WADA)
About the FSS Program:
The Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) Program is a voluntary initiative offered to families in HUD-assisted housing. Participants receive coaching, referrals to services, and establish a family escrow savings account. FSS Program Coordinators provide coaching and develop local strategies to connect participating families with public and private resources. These resources aim to increase their earned income and financial empowerment, reduce or eliminate the need for welfare assistance, and facilitate progress toward economic independence and self-sufficiency.
Learn more: www.stpeteha.org/fss-program
About SPHA:
SPHA is the leading affordable housing provider in the city of St. Petersburg, serving more than 4,000 low-income households. SPHA's mission is to provide safe, sanitary, accessible, decent, and affordable housing to eligible citizens of the city of St. Petersburg, while enhancing and promoting resident self-sufficiency.
ABOUT THE ST. PETERSBURG HOUSING AUTHORITY (SPHA):
An independent quasi-governmental entity and a political subdivision of the State of Florida, operating under Chapter 421 Florida Statutes, SPHA is the local administrative agency for housing assistance programs funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). SPHA offers a variety of programs and services that provide affordable rental housing to low-income families, seniors, veterans, and the disabled in the greater St. Petersburg region. For more information, visit www.stpeteha.org.