Who We Are.

STREAM (Stronger Together Reaching Equality Across Manatee) is a grassroots and non-partisan community organization consisting of 15 multicultural and interfaith member congregations across Manatee County. We are a private, non-profit, 501(c) 3 and tax-exempt organization.

STREAM is a member of the Direct Action & Research Training Center (DART), a network of 28 grassroots organizations working to pursue faith-based justice initiatives across 9 states. DART trains community members to take direct action on problems facing their communities so that all people are treated with the fairness and justice that our faith traditions tell us we deserve.

STREAM is not a “mercy ministry” or direct service organization that provides charitable services such as food, clothing, or shelter. We are a direct action “justice ministry” focused on addressing the root causes and systemic issues that cause people to need charity. Instead of providing temporary relief to those in need, STREAM works to implement long term solutions by changing the policies and systems that create poverty and injustice.

Although our membership is rooted in faith-based institutions, our mission is not to push religious doctrine. Our faith is the motivation that calls us to address the injustices and inequities in our community, but it is not the mission. We seek to actively live our spiritual values of fairness and justice by organizing people who share our values to transform unjust practices, policies, and systems that create poverty and injustice in Manatee County.

STREAM targets problems that affect large numbers of people, violate a basic sense of fairness and justice, and significantly impact the spiritual and material quality of life in our community. We engage people of faith to build “people power” and “do justice” through a proven process of listening, research, and direct action. We identify community problems, develop solutions, engage directly with public officials who can implement these solutions, and hold them accountable for resolving inequities and injustices.