About Us
Purpose
At Shirley's Temple, we will look to provide financial assistance to single parents looking to obtain affordable housing in the Tampa Bay area. As a nonprofit, we have created an in depth program design that will provide the structure for each single parent that we partner with. We believe that having a healthy home environment is essential to the development of the family. It is important that we do whatever it takes to help each single parent that goes through our program maintain or achieve a healthy home environment.
Mission & Vision
To assist, inspire, and lend a helping hand to single parents desiring to provide their family with a healthy home environment.
Inspiration
It has always been a dream of Dan Poku, founder to start Shirley Temple. He comes from a single parent household, and witnessed first hand the financial struggles that his mother faced. His mother always had the dream to buy a house for her daughter, and son while they were young. However, she lacked the financial resources in order to do so. It is now Dan's mission to help single parents like his mom achieve their dream of buying their first home.
Program design
Structure
Prior to enrolling in the program, each single parent will have to complete a screening process. The screening process will consist of a short questionnaire that will help with getting to know them and their background. We will also look to meet with them to go over the program, and the pivotal role that they will play in it. The reason being, is that we want to make sure the single parent is dedicated, and can see themselves completing the program. We will treat this as a partnership, so there will be a lot of work and effort needed from both sides. There will be three phases to the program, which we will describe next.
**Please note that funding will play a huge role in providing the necessary resources (i.e. subsidies, down payment assistance, etc.).**
Phase 1: Subsidies
- The initial phase of the program will focus on providing the single parent with a monthly subsidy that will be applied towards their rent.
- The subsidy will be a way for the single parent to maintain their current living situation as they go through the program.
Phase 2: Financial Literacy Course
- We will focus on providing each single parent with a set of skills that will help them make key financial discussions in the future.
- It will require the single parent to dedicate time and effort in order to complete this phase.
Phase 3: Home Ownership
- The last and final phase of the program will involve us working with the single parent to buy their first home. By this point, the single parent would have gained the necessary knowledge and foundation suitable for owning a home.
- Shirley’s Temple will provide down payment assistance in order to secure a home for the single parent.
Help Our Cause
Your support and contributions will enable us to meet our goals and improve conditions. Your generous donation will fund our mission.
