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Bricks Help Pave DACCO Expansion

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By KATHY STEELE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 2, 2008

EAST TAMPA - One brick will read "DACCO saved my life." Another will have "Peace to All Who Enter Here." And one will celebrate a 50th wedding anniversary.

Those bricks and more, all paid for with donations of $50 to $500, will pave a walkway under the canopy of a new building at the Drug Abuse Comprehensive Coordinating Office, or DACCO. Depending on how many bricks are purchased, some could be placed near the entry to the building's dining area, executive director Mary Lynn Ulrey said.

"There is a real range of donations and messages," she said.

The brick donations will help defray a small portion of the costs of the $16 million project to redesign and expand the women's treatment center at the agency's campus at 4422 E. Columbus Drive.

Funding comes from several sources, including the Wachovia Foundation, the Homeless Coalition of Hillsborough County and a federal grant of about $800,000 provided by Hillsborough County.

The Junior League of Tampa contributed about $100,000 for furniture, the building's lobby and playground equipment. Ulrey said the league initially will operate a "dress for success" clothes closet that can enlarge to a boutique to help clients when they start new jobs.

Dishes and other household goods also will be available from the Junior League, she said.

League spokeswoman Christina Boe said the organization replaced its longtime "Trinkets and Treasures" thrift sale several years ago to focus efforts on programs such as those at DACCO.

The redesign will consolidate some programs and administrative staff, which in recent years have been scattered among offices on East Hillsborough Avenue and a North 56th Street plaza.

In 2006, DACCO rezoned about 7 1/2 acres at its Columbus Drive campus, which has two buildings for administrative staff and a women's dormitory. Instead, there will be a three-story building that will include offices, a women's dormitory, a day care and nursery, and an outpatient clinic.

Construction on this first phase is expected to be complete this summer, with a grand opening probably in November. Early work has been on vacant land to avoid disrupting programs.

The approximately 2,800-square-foot dormitory will increase the number of beds available for women from 60 to 72, and add 12 children's beds, Ulrey said.

The site will have a Head Start program and the county will provide two teachers for live-in residents and day treatment clients.

DACCO was founded in 1973 to help local governments set up drug abuse programs. Two years later, the agency started drug treatment services and now reaches about 25,000 people annually in Hillsborough, including locations in Brandon and Plant City.

STEPS TO HELP

The Drug Abuse Comprehensive Coordinating Office, or DACCO, is accepting donations for decorative bricks for an expansion at its East Tampa campus.

Prices range from $50 for a 4-by-8-inch brick to $500 for a 14-by-16-inch stepping stone. Discounts are offered to DACCO graduates.

For information, call (813) 231-1340, Ext. 237

Reporter Kathy Steele can be reached at (813) 835-2103 or ksteele@tampatrib.com.

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