Keep Pinellas Beautiful is hosting a garden workday at Ray Neri Park on Saturday, October 3rd. Volunteers will be assisting with weeding and mulching of the garden area.  RSVP here.

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Welcome to The Lealman Voice

Welcome to the Lealman Voice!

The Lealman Voice is all about keeping our community connected and informed. Each issue highlights local programs, events, and the people making a difference right here in Lealman. If you have neighborhood updates, upcoming activities, or success stories to share, we’d love to hear from you. Together, we can keep the Lealman community strong, engaged, and moving forward.

#lealmanstrong 

Free Community Health Event Saturday 

This Saturday morning, the Lealman Exchange is opening its doors for something new. Treasure Your Health, the first event of its kind at the Exchange, runs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sept. 26 at 5175 45th St. N., and the whole community is invited.

Most of us know we should keep up with our health, and most of us also know how easily it slides down the to-do list. Work, kids, rides, bills and a hundred other things get in the way. This event is meant to make the first step a little easier. More than 30 organizations that help people stay well across Pinellas County will be gathered in one place, so instead of tracking down a clinic here and a program there, you can walk from table to table and ask your questions face to face.

The lineup covers a lot of ground. BayCare, the American Heart Association, Humana, the Florida Department of Health, the St. Pete Free Clinic and Healthy Start Pinellas will be on hand, along with YMCA Community Health, Cardio Drumming, and the PACE Center for Girls. NAMI Pinellas County and CASA will be there for mental health and family support, and Feeding Pinellas and Metropolitan Ministries will talk with neighbors about food security. AARP Tampa Bay will have information for older adults. Together, the partners span health screenings, mental wellness, senior services, and women's and youth health, so there is something for nearly every age and every stage of life.

You do not have to have a big health goal to come. Some neighbors will stop by to have a number checked that they have been meaning to check for a while. Others will come to learn what help exists for a parent, a teenager, or a neighbor down the street. Some will simply want to meet the people behind the programs, so that the next time they need something, they already know a friendly face. You can stay for all three hours or stop in for a few minutes on your way to something else.

The Lealman Exchange is a good place for it. The building is home to the YMCA, a public library, job training programs and dozens of community partners, and its Needs Navigation program helps residents find housing, food, healthcare and other resources all year long. Saturday's event is one more way of saying the same thing that team says every day, which is that you do not have to figure it all out alone.

If you enjoy the morning, the next community gathering is already on the calendar. Lealman Nights, a free movie night and night market, starts Oct. 10 at Raymond H. Neri Park with a "Minions and Monsters" theme.

Bring a neighbor, a parent, or a friend, and come treasure your health with the rest of us. Details are available at lealmanexchange.org.

What's Happening @ LEX

5175 45th Street North - in the 💙 of Lealman

View more events on the LEX Community Calendar!

September Is Library Card Sign-Up Month, and You Can Get Your Card at the Lealman Exchange

If you have been meaning to get a library card, September is a good month to do it, and you do not have to go far. The Lealman Exchange, at 5175 45th St. N., has a Pinellas Public Library Cooperative location inside the building where you can sign up for a free PPLC card with a valid Florida ID. It is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

September is Library Card Sign-Up Month, a nationwide push to get a card into every household. The card is more useful than many people expect. Yes, it lets you borrow books, but it also opens up much more.

With a PPLC card, you can borrow ebooks and audiobooks on your phone, tablet or e-reader through the Libby app, without driving anywhere. The card also unlocks online databases, including business resources through AtoZ Databases, the Florida Electronic Library, and genealogy records through Fold3. Anyone learning a new language can use Pronunciator, and the PPLC mobile app keeps your account and holds in one place. If you have a question and do not know where to start, the "Ask a Librarian" service is there to help.

The card also works well beyond Lealman. It is good at any of the 15 member library locations across Pinellas County, and you can return items to any of them. If you place a hold on a book at another branch, you can pick it up at the Lealman Exchange, which saves you a trip across the county. For residents of unincorporated Pinellas County and member cities, the card is free and valid for three years.

Getting one is simple. Bring a valid Florida driver's license with your local address, or a photo ID along with proof of residency, such as a utility bill, a lease, or a vehicle registration. Stop by the Lealman Exchange during the week, and you can leave with a card. You can also start the process online through PPLC's card sign-up page, though you will need to finish activating your account in person.

While you are at the Exchange, you can also pick up a complimentary book, get your blood pressure checked at the BayCare-sponsored HIGI health station, or take care of notary needs and electronics recycling. Questions about the library can go to PPLC at (727) 441-8408.

There is still a week left in September, so come by the Lealman Exchange and get your card. You can find more about the library at the Lealman Exchange on the PPLC website.

You are cordially invited to attend a free Lunch and Learn on Tues. Oct. 6 at 11:15am at Lealman Exchange. The guest speaker is Dr. Trey Shield, Orthopedic Surgeon from Orthopedic Medical Group, discussing joint pain and hip and knee arthritis. He will also answer questions. Please RSVP by emailing kpompey@stpeteymca.org. 

Pinellas ramps up Lealman redevelopment spending

Pinellas County is putting more than $18 million into Lealman next year to tackle long-standing problems with housing, drainage, sidewalks and commercial redevelopment.

County commissioners unanimously approved the Lealman Community Redevelopment Area’s fiscal year 2027 work plan and budget Thursday. The $18.32 million plan is about $2.75 million larger than this year’s budget, with $13.2 million set aside for capital projects.

Lealman covers roughly 2,525 acres of central Pinellas County. St. Petersburg borders much of the community to the south and east, Pinellas Park sits to the north and Kenneth City to the west, but Lealman itself is not part of a municipality.

Pinellas created the redevelopment area in 2015 after finding conditions of blight and economic distress. The county’s original plan identified aging housing, struggling commercial corridors and infrastructure that was deficient or nonexistent in parts of the community. Planners said those shortcomings made it harder to attract private investment and left Lealman without the same level of infrastructure found elsewhere in Pinellas.

The new budget tackles several of those problems at once, beginning with Joe’s Creek Industrial Park.

Pinellas has budgeted about $4.3 million for infrastructure and potential property acquisition in the industrial district. Stormwater, transportation and utility improvements are under consideration, while a separate $2.58 million project would replace and enlarge a drainage culvert beneath 34th Street North to reduce flooding and improve stormwater capacity.

The work is still early. County staff is researching possible property purchases for the broader industrial improvements, and the culvert project is in preliminary design. The aim is to remove infrastructure problems that have made redevelopment more difficult in an area the county has identified as an important employment center.

Housing is another major piece of the plan, and county officials can already point to results from earlier investment. Through a partnership with Habitat for Humanity Tampa Bay Gulfside, the CRA has contributed about $1.51 million toward 49 new single-family homes sold to families earning less than 80% of area median income. Those homes now carry a combined appraised value of roughly $17.7 million, according to county records.

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