All members of the community will have community systems they can access to help themselves find stability…No person shall be without hope. (Vision 2020)

St. Petersburg has a diverse and growing population. It continues to attract young families looking for an affordable and rewarding place to raise children, visitors enjoying the city’s exciting cultural and natural resources, highly skilled employees lured by the city’s dynamic employment opportunities and adult seniors searching out a comfortable retirement destination. As St. Petersburg plans for its future, it continues to develop policies to ensure that exceptional city services are available to everyone regardless of their age, income or abilities. For example, the Committee to Advocate for Persons with Impairments (CAPI) ensures that people with impairments are able to participate fully in all the city has to offer including accessible playgrounds, a therapeutic recreation van and an adaptive sailing program for people with disabilities. A volunteer patrol that enforces handicapped parking violations allocates the fines collected to finance projects that increase accessibility to city facilities and VSArts Florida actively works to improve the accessibility of St. Petersburg’s many museums and art programs so that everyone can enjoy a wide range of artistic and cultural experiences. Creative Clay teaches arts and job training to people with development and mental disabilities

City funds also make possible a variety of human development programs including $250,000 devoted annually to the Summer Youth Intern Program, $450,000 to human service organization grants and $330,000 to arts organization grants. Service funded include emergency services, services to people with disabilities, mental health and substance abuse services, youth services, adult and aging services, health services and homeless services.