Empowered to Change, Inc

Nicole Biggs

Probably the most awful program in pinellas county. The staff there have about 10-15 favorite clients that they focus on and the rest are left to their own devices. The house was riddled with bed bugs and it was four people to one probably 200ft square room. When people attempted to speak out about this the directors would threaten to put them in jail and they are so in bed with the courts that this happens sometimes. I have been waiting until I was free and clear before I felt comfortable reviewing this. The Directors also run a church so you get extra incentives if you go to their church. This may be called a nonprofit but I’ve never seen such greedy and uncaring leaders. I remember my last day there instead of a congratulations, I owed them 50$ and they told me that without paying that I could not graduate. The ONLY thing that the director said to me during the entire 9 months I was there was my last day and she said “you owe us 50$! If you don’t pay you violate.” What should we expect when one of the directors went to prison for charges involving money and fraudulence!

stephanie pistey

Empower to change is helping my life in more ways than one. Coral is really big help in all the other staff as well but Coral is definitely there for me

Hailey Leasure-Maye

It goes by pretty easy if you pay them and follow the rules. As a prior client, I’ll say that speaking from personal experience the program sucked and didn’t actually help and the staff treat you like criminals. Guilty until proven innocent. The house they put me in was run down and crawling with rats, it was also located down the road from a drug infested hotel that the runners fled to.. I heard from their other clients that some of other houses were worse off. The staff and founders didn’t seem to care about any of this, they were more worried about the money clients brought in. I made it because I stopped smoking a month before I went in (NOT because they helped me stop like they claim to do— they helped give me anxiety though). With that being said I would NOT recommend this place but it’s definitely easier than Westcare from what I heard.

Donald Kilfin

This organization is run by some of the most caring and genuine individuals I've ever known. Shelly and Coral are salt of the earth people who strive every day to make a difference in the lives of others. I know many who have transformed their lives here.