Our History.

Manatee County is home to many charitable and faith-based organizations that provide vital assistance to families experiencing poverty, homelessness, incarceration, and other hardships. Those efforts matter deeply.

But many community leaders began asking a different question: What if we also addressed the root causes that make that assistance necessary?

In early 2020, clergy and lay leaders from several Manatee congregations began meeting to listen to their members’ concerns. They heard recurring themes: affordable housing, criminal justice, mental health, education and access to health care. While congregations continued their important charitable ministries, they also felt called to organize for long-term solutions that could transform the systems affecting their communities.

STREAM was formed out of that conviction.

Inspired by models of community organizing that emphasize relationship-building, research, and collective action, STREAM (originally Manatee Justice Ministry) was incorporated in February 2020. Despite launching during the uncertainty of the pandemic, leaders raised seed funding, hired the organization’s first Lead Organizer in May 2021, and began building a broad-based coalition.

By November 2021, STREAM had grown to 15 member congregations and held its Founding Convention. Today, STREAM continues to welcome congregations and community partners who share a commitment to fairness, accountability, and the steady work of building a more just Manatee County.

STREAM is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, supported by its member institutions and community partners.