History

Streets of Paradise began humbly as an informal weekend outreach by community organizer, Greg Cruz. Through his engagement with his street friends the outreach efforts expanded organically to include providing food and hygiene items to the homeless and vulnerable people in the community once a week.

On February 20018, Streets of Paradise was registered as a 501(c)3, attracting the attention of local media and the community at large. Over the holidays, Streets of Paradise’s volunteers prepared a delicious Thanksgiving Feast and Christmas Dinner, which was enjoyed by housed and homeless alike. Efforts such as these dinners eliminate divides and foster community engagement and respect.

In January 2019 Streets of Paradise was approached by the Suncoast Partnership to End Homelessness, the lead agency of the Continuum of Care in Sarasota and Manatee counties. They asked if we could fill a gap in the delivery of services by providing those individuals being re-homed with furniture and household goods when they move into permanent housing. The Street to Home initiative was born. We secured a climate-controlled warehouse space and began accepting donations of cash, furniture, and other household goods. We believe that our Street to Home initiative is a way to transform four walls and a roof into a warm, comfortable home, thereby restoring dignity and self-worth for an individual or family; setting them up for a successful future.

On April 2019 Streets of Paradise became a full member of the Continuum of Care. Our capability to provide hands-on, grass-roots outreach to the homeless and at-risk communities continues to grow under the Core Leadership and the highly engaged, dedicated volunteer corps.

We are presently working on grant proposals that will allow us to expand our service profile.

Your help is always appreciated, and 100% of all monetary donations go towards our programs.