St. Pete Couple Gives $5 Million Toward Free Clinic's South St. Pete Hub

St. Petersburg philanthropists Trevor Burgess and Gary Hess have committed $5 million to St. Pete Free Clinic, a gift that will help finish the nonprofit's new flagship facility in South St. Petersburg and expand food and healthcare access for families across Pinellas County.

The money is going toward Care Forward, SPFC's five-year, $100 million plan to grow food distribution, healthcare and other services countywide. Of that total, $80 million is earmarked for expanded programs, $10 million for capital projects and $10 million to build the organization's endowment.

The centerpiece of that capital plan sits at 2200 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street South, the former Badcock Home Furniture & More building SPFC bought in June 2025. Park & Eleazer Construction is turning the building into a single site combining medical and office space, a food pantry and services from partner organizations. SPFC has said it hoped to open by late 2026 or early 2027; construction is now expected to wrap in late spring 2027.

The idea behind putting everything under one roof is simple. A resident who comes in for groceries might also need a doctor's appointment, help getting an ID, or a referral for housing assistance. Right now that can mean separate trips to separate buildings. SPFC CEO Jennifer Yeagley said in a prepared statement that Burgess and Hess have walked alongside the clinic for more than a decade as donors, advocates, volunteers and leaders, and that their gift reflects both the urgency of today's needs and what becomes possible when care is connected in one place.

A decade of giving, one building at a time

Burgess and Hess made their first donation to SPFC in 2012: $1,000. Hess joined the clinic's board in 2019 and later started volunteering at its community food bank. Burgess has organized volunteer projects through Neptune Flood Insurance. In 2024 the couple gave $1 million and challenged the community to match it, a campaign that led SPFC to name its volunteer program after Hess. Hess said volunteering let him meet the people behind the numbers and see what reliable access to nutritious food means for a family. He said the South St. Petersburg facility will let residents connect with groceries, healthcare and other resources in the same setting rather than bouncing between locations.

What's already changed, and what's coming

The South St. Petersburg project follows another SPFC expansion. The organization bought a 36,000-square-foot building at 2392 31st Street South in 2021 and finished renovating it in 2024 with help from a $3 million Pinellas County grant, adding food banking capacity as demand stayed high after the pandemic.

That demand has kept growing. SPFC distributed more than 21.5 million pounds of food in 2025 and recorded 370,000 pantry visits. Its healthcare visits climbed from 5,600 in 2020 to 18,200 in 2025.

By 2030, SPFC says Care Forward aims to reach 260,000 Pinellas County residents who identify as food insecure, provide healthcare access to 20,000 uninsured adults, and connect 15,000 people with services meant to increase household stability. The South St. Petersburg facility is where much of that work is meant to happen under one roof, once the renovation is done.

Some residents who follow the project are already pushing for it to hire locally. At least one commenter on the announcement urged SPFC to staff the new building, from construction through operations, with workers from South St. Petersburg, and suggested the organization look at CRA tax increment financing for workforce development dollars. SPFC has not said whether it will adopt a local-hiring commitment for the site.

Want to keep up with how the South St. Petersburg facility takes shape, or weigh in on what services the neighborhood needs most? Visit Pinellas County Community Website, follow us on Facebook, and join the conversation in our Community Forum. For more coverage of healthcare and food access across the county, visit our healthcare and community sections.