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Neighborhood report

Career fair for youths sows seeds of hope

The job fair is the latest effort to boost the neighborhood, where some dedicated people are working to make a difference.

By RICK GERSHMAN
Published January 27, 2006

A good deal of the drug trade that plagued Sulphur Springs has been swept away, thanks to the federally funded Weed and Seed program and a dedicated group of Tampa police officers.

But poverty is a tougher foe to fight. Breaking the cycle requires long-range strategies, such as education and employment.

Police and federal grant coordinators employed both last week in the Central Tampa neighborhood's first career fair.

Representatives from 19 vendors, including the military, colleges, law enforcement agencies and local businesses, participated in the fair at the George Bartholomew North Tampa Community Center. The event targeted teenagers and young adults up to 21 years old.

The neighborhood doesn't lack for young potential workers. As of the 2000 census, more than 44 percent of Sulphur Springs' residents were under the age of 20.

And the need for good jobs is great: That census count found that more than 40 percent of Sulphur Springs' residents lived below the poverty line.

The career fair's debut was a success, drawing about 100 youths, said Earl Silas, a Tampa Police Department civilian employee and site coordinator for the Weed and Seed grant. Though it will take a while to know how many attendees receive jobs or educational opportunities, the participation level bodes well for the community.

Silas planned the event with Ellen Snelling of the Hillsborough County Anti-Drug Alliance. His work in the community prompted Tampa police to name him the department's 2005 Employee of the Year.

"It kind of floored me. I was thrilled," said Silas, 53, who lives in Riverview.

But the announcement was a little hard for him.

"I don't like showing my emotions," he said. "I don't seek recognition. I don't need recognition."

Additionally, the department named Brian Bishop, an officer assigned to curb crime in Sulphur Springs, the 2005 Community Oriented Policing Officer of the Year.

Another key to the improvements has been the Rich House, an abandoned duplex where drug users used to hang out.

Now it's a youth center, a safe haven for disadvantaged kids, complete with a 52-inch television seized in a drug forfeiture.

Now 50 to 60 kids enjoy movies on the big screen every Friday after finishing their homework. A recent screening: Rebound, a Martin Lawrence basketball comedy.

Supervising the Rich House is veteran Tampa police Officer Debbie Boles, who will celebrate her 20th anniversary with the department on April 7.

Boles didn't have to be asked twice whether she likes the assignment.

"The selling point for me was working with disadvantaged children," she said.

"I know a lot of good people live in these communities, and they get their lives stolen from them, held captive in their homes by the kids taking over the street corners."

Tampa police spokeswoman Laura McElroy called the program "a tremendous outreach into the community. It's the helping side of police work. They're truly making a difference in the children's lives."

Silas, a 30-year Air Force veteran, has been married 34 years and has an adult son and daughter. Trying to help kids is something he can't help but do.

"I've tried to do other things, but every time I move into another direction, I end up doing this," he said.

"You've got to give back. I'm lucky. In the military, I never had to pick up an arm against anyone. I've got to give back to society."

- Rick Gershman can be reached at rgershman@sptimes.com or 813 226-3431.

[Last modified January 26, 2006, 08:57:08]