Creative Motivation, Inc

Who We Are:

Creative Motivation Inc. was organized exclusively for charitable and educational purposes. Specifically, Creative Motivation Inc. works to transform the lives of homeless youth in Tampa, FL by providing a host of resources to encourage youth to move beyond the streets. In the United States today, there are an estimated 1,682,900 homeless and runaway youth. This number is equally divided among males and females, and the majority of them are between 15 and 17 years of age. We know that these youth are far less likely than others to get a good education or adequate healthcare and more likely to enter prison. The odds are that they will not live up to their full potential. But we must understand that their future is America’s future. Homeless youth are individuals under the age of eighteen who lack parental, foster or institutional care. These young people are sometimes referred to as “unaccompanied” youth. As today’s homeless youth enter tomorrow’s economy, under-educated and ill-prepared, the cost to America’s future competitiveness in the marketplace of the world is incalculable. According to the U.S. Conference of Mayors, unaccompanied youth account for 1% of the urban homeless population. The number of homeless teenagers who are pregnant is estimated to be somewhere between six and twenty-two percent. And according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, five to seven percent of American youth become homeless in any given year. That such great numbers of American youth live in homelessness is, of course, a national disgrace and a cause of shame. We need a strategy to combat homelessness effectively and broadly, one that both seek to improve the lives of these youth as well as reach a greater number in need. Based on data submitted by the Hillsborough County Homeless Coalition Task Force on any given night there are over 17,755 men, women and children who are homeless and of that number 23% are unaccompanied children/youth this is a staggering rate in comparison to that of the national levels. Most traditional homeless program approaches are narrowly focused. Hampered by lack of resources, many are not able to provide high-quality programs, or if they can, it is only to a few hundred youth. Others attend only to a single issue or age group failing to address all the developmental needs of these youth.