KEVIN BRADY PHOTO
Selling their property and bringing classes to clients, old and new, will not only secure the financial future of Good Samaritan Mission but see the group serve more than 4,000 clients a year, said William Cruz, GSM’s executive director, above.
By KEVIN BRADY
Good Samaritan Mission, a Hillsborough County fixture for 33 years, is selling its Wimauma property hoping to secure the charity’s future and bring services closer to migrant workers while also reaching out to other minority groups and seniors.
Priced at $1.2 million, the 10.5-acre plot on Balm Wimauma Road includes three buildings, a large kitchen, offices, playground and storage sheds with 32,935 square feet of air-conditioned space. Appraised at $960,008 earlier this month by the county, the property has been on the market since June 30.
“The time is right for us to take our message of restorations and reconciliation to the heart of our community,” said William Cruz, executive director of Good Samaritan Mission (GSM). “(The property) is perfect for a church, charter school or summer camp.” Cruz hopes to move the mission to a smaller storefront, using that as a center of operations to bring classes to the community.
The mission, which employs three full-time staff, including William and Theresa Cruz and an office manager, was $39,119 in the red last year despite raising $324,332 via fundraising, donations and grants. Program expenses and maintenance, $175,787, took the biggest bite from the budget.
The mission’s board of directors had planned to send the property to auction last week but instead decided to leave it on the market. With new home developments like Metro Lagoons and Sereno just west of Wimauma on S.R. 674, the mission, which is already zoned for homes, could also be a target for developers like the Tampa-based Eisenhower Property Group which has bought up several properties near GSM recently, according to Cruz.
Eisenhower is currently asking the county to approve 900 new homes, with 450 of those slotted for Southfork Lakes on Balm Road, about 1 mile from U.S. 301. The other 450 homes are tentatively planned for land Eisenhower has purchased along Balm Wimauma Road surrounding the Mission, said James Paul Graf, a Century 21 realtor who is handling the sale of the GSM property.
“Ten years ago, Wimauma was the edge of the earth. It’s where the dragons were, but with land reasonably priced there, it’s now the center of building activity. However, I don’t think you will see (Eisenhower building any new homes along Balm Wimauma Road) for three to four years,” Graf said.
“People are buying like crazy out here,” said Ronald Cress, a realtor with 20 years of experience in the Tampa Bay market. “Places that would normally be considered rural are now turning into subdivisions. It’s certainly a seller’s market,” added Cress, owner of Real Property Marketing, Inc., a residential real estate company in Sun City Center.
Founded in 1984 by Bill and Dora Cruz as a Christian charity to help South County’s migrant farmworkers, the Good Samaritan served 2,549 people last year. Emphasizing self-help and education, clients earn tokens for each class they take in everything from dental hygiene to childcare. The tokens are then used to shop in the mission pantry.
“We want to teach people to fish rather than hand them a fish. Let people earn it,” said William Cruz, a licensed therapist and pastor, who was hired to lead the mission with his wife, Theresa, in 2009.
Theresa Cruz, left, above with office manager Jennifer Daly, pioneered GSM’s Seeds of Change program which emphasizes education as a way for people to “find their purpose,” Cruz said.
“Turning that ship” and changing the mindset of the mission to one where clients earned the right to shop at group’s pantry was their greatest challenge said Theresa Cruz, although moving and bringing services to migrant workers and now seniors, working-class whites and African Americans is a whole new challenge. She pioneered the mission’s now patented Seeds of Change program, which encourages clients to “find their purpose,” Theresa said. The program promotes learning through classes, the bronze level, job training at the silver level and entrepreneurship at the gold level.
GSM is seeking a 1,500- to 2,000-square-foot office in Wimauma or Sun City Center preferably. From there the group plans to bring classes to the community with Balm Baptist Church (Tuesday morning classes in English), Anna’s Restaurant (Wednesday morning Spanish-speaking Bible classes), a class for seniors at Aston Gardens is confirmed, with GSM still seeking a permanent home for its popular sewing class.
Cristina Calvillo, a fixture at the mission since it opened, believes bringing the classes to the people will help.
“It might be easier for people who don’t have a car to get there when they find out the classes are closer,” Calvillo said.
Good Samaritan is also hoping to find two 28- to 32-foot pull behind, cargo trailers to bring more classes and the GSM pantry to classrooms. Storage containers, permanent storage space, freezers and refrigerators and generators are also needed.
“Before we were like a tree, with everyone having to gather under the (branches). Now (GSM’s new office) will be like the hub at the center of a wheel with all the spokes spreading into the community,” Theresa said.
For more information about classes, or to help GSM find a new home or donate, call 813-634-7136.
Disclosure: Kevin Brady was the social media manager at Good Samaritan Mission until January 2017.
