E.C.H.O. of Brandon Inc.
Bridging the gap between crisis and stability
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Our vision is to end hunger the Hillsborough County. Far too many people in the county struggle to put food on the table for their families each night. We know that the top reasons for hunger in the country are underemployment and lack of education. We are working to fight this by providing learning labs, workshops and training, and one on one job coaching. We also recognize that many cannot access the help they need because the barriers are just too high.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Emergency Food and Clothing
This program provides a weeks worth of food and clothing to all people who come to us in need. Emergency clothing includes seven outfits and three pairs of shoes for each person in the household as well as toiletries and new socks and underwear. Emergency food totals approximately 20 pounds of food per person in the family. This food includes fresh produce, meat, eggs and cheese, bakery items, and non-perishables.
Those in crisis situations can come to receive emergency services from ECHO up to 3 times a year.
Advocacy Services
ECHO's advocacy program helps to connect those in need with the many other resources available in the area that can be difficult to navigate on your own. Our Neighbor Advocates and Director of Advocacy will help individuals fill out applications for government help such as unemployment and food stamps in addition to providing direct referrals to other agencies that assist with financial assistance, housing, rehabilitation, mental health assistance, and weekly food assistance programs.
While the services needed to stabilize one's life are all available, it can be very difficult to know how to navigate the system to receive the help that you need. The ECHO Advocacy program helps people to navigate this confusing system and ends the run-around that often happens when a person needs help from others.
Stabilizing Opportunities including GED and Job Help
The ECHO Opportunity Center offers a variety of classes and programs to help someone move from a place of crisis to a stable life. These programs include GED classes in both English and Spanish, private financial coaching, couponing classes, sewing classes, and a robust Back-to-Work program that helps with resume, interview skills, and will help set up interviews with local employers.
Where we work
External reviews
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of clients served
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Related Program
Emergency Food and Clothing
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
These metrics run on our fiscal year that runs July 1-June 30. 2020 numbers served are from July 1, 2019 - June 30, 2020
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
ECHO's goal is to end hunger in Eastern Hillsborough County.
Immediate hunger is solved through the fully stocked food pantry. Long term hunger is addressed through innovative workforce development programming.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
ECHO will be the first stop for families in crisis in Eastern Hillsborough County.
We will generously provide fresh food and clothing to families who have experienced a recent emergency.
Once the immediate hunger is addressed, clients will be introduced to our workforce development programs such as: Job coaching, case management, and other work shops.
If ECHO does not have the program needed to address a specific need, the client will be referred to one of our local social service partners.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
ECHO has an active Board of Directors.
In addition to the board, 100 weekly volunteers and 11 staff members are dedicated to offering the highest level of compassion and care to our neighbors in need.
ECHO is highly regarded and supported by the business and church communities.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
We have established a thriving food pantry that provides 20 pounds of fresh produce, meat, cheese, butter, eggs and non perishables to each individual served.
Our clothing room abundantly provides up to a weeks worth of clothing to each individual served including undergarments, shoes, and toiletries.
Our organization possesses an ethnically diverse staff who are passionate about service and teamwork.
Our opportunity center hosts workforce development offerings five days a week and GED classes in both English and Spanish.
Our advocacy program helps to connect people with all the services that they need - unemployment benefits, SNAP benefits, emergency shelter, affordable housing, and so much more.
We have established a revenue producing thrift store that also serve as an employment training venue.
We will expand our services in our Riverview location to include all of our Opportunity Center classes and advocacy program, allowing more people easier access to these life-stabilizing programs.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We act on the feedback we receive
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, We don’t have the right technology to collect and aggregate feedback efficiently, The people we serve tell us they find data collection burdensome, Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time, It is difficult to identify actionable feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
E.C.H.O. of Brandon Inc.
Board of directorsas of 09/01/2023
Lisa Tackus
Align Right Realty - Realtor
Term: 2021 - 2022
Mark Gaudio
Jaeger Education
Connie Huber
Physician Partners of America
Dr. Anthony Taylor
At Last Chiropractic
Tom Gallo
Gallo Law
Larry Bowling
Retired
Christine Peters Staggs
Cornerstone Financial
Lisa Tackus
Align Right Realty: Owner
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 12/21/2020GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.