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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 

Juvenile Welfare Board encourages reading with Book Bus

Via St. Pete Catalyst

This month, Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County representatives have been stopping at “Summer Book Bus” locations across the community with one goal in mind: to provide children with two free books.

A collaboration with Pinellas County Schools, over 10,000 books were purchased for this year’s effort. 

JWB team members will visit 85 different locations, including summer camps, public libraries, early learning centers, apartment complexes and recreation centers. The tour includes stops in St. Petersburg, Tarpon Springs, Pinellas Park and other areas. 

The books are being distributed to all ages, from infants to teenagers. JWB acquired the assets through a variety of discount warehouses. 

“Summer is a critical time because many kids lose important literacy and reading skills when they’re out of school,” said JWB community collaborations coordinator Brianna Ray. “With this project, what we’re doing is bringing books to them, we’re encouraging reading and we’re helping to prevent that summer learning loss while making reading something that is fun and also attainable.” 

The recipients get to keep the books and build their own personal libraries, she explained. 

Children have been able to select from a wide range of genres. These include graphic novels and books about outer space, animals and princesses. “Our goal is that kids are excited about the books they have,” Ray added, “and are excited to read.” 

She said that “reading just 20 minutes a day every day makes a huge difference when kids go back to school in August.”

What's Happening @ LEX

5175 45th Street North - in the 💙 of Lealman

View more events on the LEX Community Calendar!

Clearview Adult Education Center and Florida Dream Center/Volunteers of America of Florida are partnering on a grant to provide resource support for the instructional staff at the Pinellas County Jail. 

The Clearview staff at PSCO provide instruction in GED Diploma acquisition, SERV Safe certification, and Florida Ready to Work Soft skills credentialing.  Florida Dream Center/Volunteers of America of Florida will present classes to the Pinellas County Jail residents on workplace readiness and employability skills.  They will work with Clearview and the PCSO to offer wraparound services that help these individuals to transition to post-secondary opportunities or the workforce. 

This partnership will assist in overcoming barriers to re-entry into society and reduce recidivism.  Clearview is proud to partner with such a great organization as our joint purpose is to help those disenfranchised individuals to become productive members of society.  

Partner Programs @ LEX

YMCA's Drop-In Adult Basketball at the Lealman Exchange

Stay fit and have fun in the AC on Mondays and Wednesdays from 6PM - 9PM. Ages 16 and up are welcome!

Speaking of Basketball, did you know that the YMCA invented Basketball?

Basketball was created as an indoor sport to keep students physically active during the cold New England winters. Dr. James Naismith, physical education instructor, was tasked by his supervisor, Dr. Luther Gulick, to develop a game that was safe, engaging, and could be played indoors at the YMCA International Training School (now Springfield College) in Massachusetts.

Naismith designed the game using a soccer ball and two peach baskets as goals. He wrote 13 original rules, emphasizing teamwork, passing, and accuracy, while prohibiting running with the ball and physical contact.

Pinellas County Deaf Collaborative to host free event for Deaf and hard-of-hearing community

The Pinellas County Deaf Collaborative will host their fifth annual Deaf Fest on Saturday, Aug. 15, to provide resources and information to the Deaf and hard-of-hearing community.

The free event will be held from 9 a.m. to noon at the Lealman Exchange Community Center, 5175 45th St. N., St. Petersburg. The event will be open to the public, and American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters will be available to assist attendees.

Information and resources from the County and community organizations will include:

• Back-to-school items and resources
• Hurricane preparedness information session
• Free hurricane kit items while supplies last
• Text-to-911 demo
• Employment services and job placement support
• Certification and paid internship information
• Mental health resources
• Free wellness screenings from BayCare
• Consumer protection information
• Tutoring, library and workshop resources
• Free pizza provided by The Goodrich Family Foundation and Leonardo’s Pizzeria
• General information about programs and resources available through participating agencies

For more information, please email ema@pinellas.gov, chat online at pinellas.gov (Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.), or call (727) 464-4062 (TDD/TTY) or (727) 464-3800 (voice).

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