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PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — The Metro BrigAIDe program is a part of Metropolitan Ministries.
They travel around Hillsborough, Pasco, and Pinellas counties looking for those experiencing homelessness so they can help.
However, earlier this year, they were forced to shut down temporarily.
For people like Nelson Doland, who had been previously helped by the program, he said it’s upsetting to see.
“If it wasn’t for them, I’d still be at the soup kitchen, probably sweating to death,” he said in sign language.
Metro BrigAIDe Associate Director Ethan Weilant said their entire team is passionate about helping people like Doland.
Since 2018, Metro BrigAIDe has helped thousands of people gain access to the resources they need.
“The main thing we’re trying to do is housing, and so a really good way to create initial connection with individuals is by having some kind of good that we can hand out,” Weilant said.
In late April, Metropolitan Ministries was told it would no longer receive funding through AmeriCorps.
With 20 members of the BrigAIDe team funded through AmeriCorps, Weilant said they had to pause services to reorganize.
“People felt that we weren’t there,” he said. “The phone lines started adding up. We got tons of calls from the hotline. We had agencies reaching out, seeing if we were able to help them, and we had to tell them we’re doing as much as we can right now, but we have a really limited team.”
10 Metro BrigAIDe positions were revived after the cuts.
Three for Hillsborough County, three for Pasco, and four for Pinellas.
According to Metropolitan Ministries, AmeriCorps contracts were reinstated in late July.
However, they said that since the Metro BrigAIDe program was reorganized due to the original cuts, they’ve decided not to apply for the 2026 fiscal year, citing the volatility of the funding.
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Matt Lackritz
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