Anyone with values rooted in decency, truth and equal rights didn’t have much hope to cling to on Election Night. And while elections have consequences, they aren’t the be all, end all when it comes to what someone can do to uplift their community. Across Tampa Bay, organizers and activists are fighting hard to help each other, create safe spaces, and improve the lives of their neighbors—and they could all use your help. Here are six Tampa Bay organizations offering light in an increasingly dark world. Click through each link to read more.

Tampa Bay Abortion Fund’s Bree Wallace in Tampa, Florida on Nov. 15, 2024. Credit: Photo by Dave Decker / Design by Joe Frontel
Bree Wallace, director for case management at Tampa Bay Abortion Fund. Credit: Photo by Dave Decker

Queer Expression St. Pete

Defiantly not nonprofit (the grassroots organization believes that 501c3s neutralize radical practices in exchange for mass palatability), Queer Expressions is entirely volunteer-run and leans the work of students and working class people in its mission to introduce community “to the restorative effects of contemplative and creative practices.” Credit: Photo by Kirsten Clauser
Refugee and Migrant Women Initiative According to the United States Census, Florida is home to 21% of the country’s immigrant population. Around 82,700 Floridian citizens are believed to be refugees, those seeking shelter from displacement, according to the American Immigration Council. Florence Ackey founded RAMWI to deepen a sense of community, in the face of harmful rhetoric about immigrants.—Julia Saad Credit: Photo c/o Florence Ackey
Pinellas DSA members during a protest in St. Petersburg, Florida on Aug. 3, 2022. Credit: Photo by Dave Decker
Current Initiatives For the holidays, Current Initiatives sets its sights on Affordable Christmas—a shopping event for lower-income and working-class families who show up to buy new gifts—everything from toys to tablets—for no more than $10 per item. Credit: Photo by Jonathan Latimer via engagecurrent/Facebook
WellBuilt Bikes From inside Tampa’s University Mall, WellBuilt Bikes helps the neighborhood get moving, and in a community where public transportation options are criminally under-funded, a bike can go a long way in helping someone keep a job and have a chance at getting by. Credit: Photo via WellBuiltBikes/Facebook

Read his 2016 intro letter and disclosures from 2022 and 2021. Ray Roa started freelancing for Creative Loafing Tampa in January 2011 and was hired as music editor in August 2016. He became Editor-In-Chief...