Transportation

Transportation is essential for meeting basic needs. At Ready for Life, youth can receive a year-long bus pass, making it easier for them to get to appointments, work, or school. Youth can also work with their Youth Specialist to receive assistance with Uber/Lyft, ride sharing, or gas, and with obtaining a driver's license.

The Pantry

Stocked with donated items from our wish list and organized by creative volunteers (Thank you RFL Pantry Ladies!), The Pantry has become one of the most important services we offer to hundreds of young clients and their children every day.

Youth Specialists

“Experts” who know all too well the issues facing youth aging out of foster care. Each youth that comes to Ready for Life is assigned a Youth Specialist to help them assess and meet their needs as well as form a plan for their future.

Homelessness Support

Shelter is one of the most important basic needs former foster youth need help meeting. Without a safe, dry place to lay their heads at night, it is that much harder for youth to contemplate a successful future. Ready for Life, with the help of our Youth Specialists, assists displaced former foster youth in exploring all potential housing solutions, getting them back on their feet as soon as possible.

Tampa Bay Ray Clean Sweep Day Stop

Hygiene needs are some of the first that we meet when youth initially find Ready for Life. Many of our youth are homeless, displaced, or between living situations and often need a place to shower, do laundry, and reset. Our Rays Clean Sweep Day Stop, sponsored by the Rays Baseball Foundation, provides youth with access to toiletries, a shower, private lockers, and laundry facilities.

Santa's Angels Good Day Store

We are so excited to announce the opening of the Good Day Store at the RFL Skill Center, where the Santa’s Angels are providing all of the hygiene, laundry, and other supplies needed for use in our Rays Clean Sweep Day Stop shower and laundry room. The Good Day Store is a bright, inspiring, and respect-filled space with so many wonderful items to assist youth who are struggling.

Beth Dillinger Foundation's Beth's Corner

Beth's Corner, sponsored by the Beth Dillinger Foundation, is a special closet at Ready for Life filled with brand new clothing for young adults and their children. Whether they need an outfit for work, a job interview, or an important school presentation, youth can always find something new to wear from Beth's Corner.

Be the One

Ready for Life's mentoring program is designed to help create a sense of belonging for our youth. We encourage mentors to share their knowledge, specialties, and caring hearts. Mentors are "the one person who cares." They are the motivational support and guidance our youth need to succeed in life. Become a mentor and change a young adult's future! 

Exchange Parent Aide Program

Ready for Life is an official Child Abuse Prevention (CAP) Center licensed by National Exchange Club. As a CAP Center, RFL implements the Exchange Parent Aide Program. Exchange Parent Aides trained, professionally supervised individuals that act as mentors and provide intensive support, information, and modeling of effective parenting to families at risk of child abuse and neglect — all in the home of the family. Services are family centered and focus on child safety, social support, parenting skills, and problem solving.

Mommy & Me / Wingmen

Ready for Life currently serves 169 little ones and 70 parents. That's 169 little ones NOT in foster care. Mommy & Me and Wingmen are our support networks for our young mothers and fathers and their little ones, helping to stop the cycle of foster care and child abuse. 93% of moms in our Mommy & Me group have custody of their children!

Fun Fridays!

Fun Friday food parties are our monthly community gatherings where youth, mentors, volunteers, and community partners come together and spend time with each other! Every month we host a big get together, either at the RFL Skill Center or another fun location, with the only goal being to have quality time together, creating a sense of belonging for former foster youth. 

Family Traditions Initiative

The tough truth for former foster youth is that Family Traditions are not a given. Those we serve call us their “Ready for Life Family,” and that includes each of our dedicated volunteers, mentors, and community partners. At Ready for Life we pull out all the stops to give those we serve an opportunity to experience the love and celebration with people who care.

Suncoast Voices Lockers

Ready for Life offers lockers donated by Suncoast Voices for Children that our youth can use for important documents, personal belongings, or anything they feel needs safeguarding. Since many youth come to us homeless or displaced, a safe and secure place for their treasured items is essential.

Personal Documents

Due to lack of support and ever-changing living situations, many former foster youth don't have access to most of their important documents, nor do they know where to look. Ready for Life offers assistance in locating and ordering birth certificates, IDs, transcripts, and other important documents youth need to continue on the road to success.

Ready for Jobs

Ready for Jobs is our proprietary career readiness certification program. Each youth is matched with a Job Coach and together they walk through workshops designed to teach soft skills, interview skills, dress for success and etiquette. Then, Ready for Life works beside the youth to find interviews and job connections in the community.

BayCare Healthcare Hub & Ready for Health

In Ready for Life's Ready for Health class, sponsored by our community partner BayCare, youth learn about the benefits of a healthy lifestyle, how to navigate the health care system including how and when to make doctors appointments, and much more.

Dental Assistance

The Dr. David Zabrocki Memorial Dental Program, in partnership with Ready for Life, provides dental care to young adults who have aged out of foster care receiving little or no dental care their entire lives.

Mental  Health Care

Did you know that nearly 80% of foster care youth suffer from a mental health issue? Frequently changing housing situations, past trauma, and inadequate access to healthcare can lead to conditions such as PTSD, anxiety or depression, and more. Our in-house licensed therapists, provided by the Public Defender's office, help our youth work through issues in a safe, caring environment.

Financial Literacy

Financial literacy is a major key to former foster youth building a successful future. Ready for Life's Financial Literacy course teaches youth the most important financial skills, including budgeting and saving, making financially responsible decisions, as well as how to open and manage their own bank account.

Financial Assistance

Foster youth tend to have very little to no financial support, especially once they have aged out of foster care. Ready for Life fills in this financial gap by offering financial assistance for a variety of needs, such as housing or utilities, GED testing fees, uniforms or trade supplies, etc., to help youth get back on their feet or a foot in the door. 

Opportunity Passport

Through Opportunity Passport™, young people who have spent time in foster care complete a comprehensive, evidence-based financial literacy course with a mentor. Once they graduate, they are paired with a financial coach to help them create a budget and save for their goals through a savings matching program. Organizations and individuals donate to support the matching dollars, and it makes a huge impact to help youth achieve.

Ready for Reading

Literacy is critical to success. The ability to read and write well leads to better health, better education and employment opportunities, and a more stable life for former foster youth. Ready for Reading was created to improve young adults reading and comprehension skills, giving them a strong foundation to a successful future.

Paws for Progress

Paws for Progress is a program that blends the core missions of Ready for Life and SPCA Tampa Bay: "Change and transform the lives of animals and foster youth, together, through caring and compassion." Youth participants take part in a 12-week program that teaches young adults volunteerism, employability, compassion, and resiliency.

Community Law Program

The Community Law Program provides pro bono legal services to former foster care youth through the St. Petersburg Bar Association. The Community Law Program’s mission is to empower vulnerable populations through assistance with legal representation, employment barriers, custody issues, landlord-tenant disputes, and more.