Castor Funded Projects
Community Project Funding requests are congressional provisions that direct funds toward a specific project within a community. Community Project Funding allows Members to put their deep, first-hand understanding of the needs of their communities to work to help the people we represent and will make Congress more responsive to the people.
Listed below are projects Rep. Castor secured funding for from Fiscal Year 2022 through Fiscal Year 2024.
Fiscal Year 2022:
AI/Machine Learning to Accelerate Cancer Research – H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, Inc.
Funded Amount: $2,000,000
This funding will be used to leverage already existing data and allow scientists at Moffitt to translate greater understanding of the complexities of cancer into novel prevention, early detection and treatment to help improve outcomes for cancer patients throughout the U.S.
Connectivity for Prosperity – Tampa Housing Authority
Funded Amount: $520,000
This project will increase access to in-home reliable and high-speed internet in Tampa affordable housing communities, opening additional opportunities for education and training, employment and communication with medical providers, cultural groups and world events.
COPS Technology Enhancement – City of Tampa
Funded Amount: $382,000
The new technology that will be acquired by this funding will provide the tools needed to improve access to body-worn camera data for Tampa Police Department staff and the public and will ensure that critical data is uploaded and evaluated as quickly as possible at the scene of an incident.
Cultural Campus Warehouse Renovation and Site Work – University Area CDC
Funded Amount: $2,125,804
This site in the University Area will serve as a hub connecting community residents with anchored partners who will provide services and initiatives to improve the quality of life for area neighbors.
Enhancing STEM Teacher Preparation – University of South Florida
Funded Amount: $1,000,000
The funding would be used to prepare STEM teachers and creating a pipeline of STEM teachers to Hillsborough County Public Schools and other local school districts.
Fair Oaks Senior Center Redevelopment – City of Tampa
Funded Amount: $1,000,000
This project will connect Tampa seniors with vital community services that help them stay healthy and independent as well as provide them with access to inclusive culture programs.
Hand Up Program – Urban League of Hillsborough County, Inc.
Funded Amount: $300,000
This funding will help engage students who age out of school to link them with training and paid pre-apprenticeship initiatives in the Tampa Bay area.
Mariposa Women’s Neuropsychiatric Hospital – Mental Health Care, Inc. (GracePoint)
Funded Amount: $2,000,000
This project will fund 24 additional psychiatric beds for women in our community to address a significant shortfall in capacity and provide critically needed psychiatric services to thousands of women annually.
Town N’ Country Septic-to-Sewer – Hillsborough County
Funded Amount: $800,000
This project will fund the replacement of legacy septic tanks to increase water quality in our community.
Fiscal Year 2023:
African American Arts and Cultural Center – Hillsborough County
Funded Amount: $1,000,000
This project would provide funding for professional services and pre-construction activities for the new African American Arts and Cultural Center in West Tampa—a multidisciplinary space for arts experiences, educational enhancement, and community engagement that will further economic development in the area.
Bermuda Boulevard Seawall Improvements – City of Tampa
Funded Amount: $2,966,000
This project would stabilize and improve the existing Palmetto Beach/Bermuda Boulevard seawall along McKay Bay to create reduce risk to the surrounding extremely low-income community, providing a long-term solution to reduce property damage and potential loss of life from flooding in the area.
Building Tampa’s Tomorrow Workforce Development Initiative – Hillsborough County Public Schools
Funded Amount: $1,000,000
This project would train students in a variety of medical and building construction professions to create a critical career pipeline to the highest-demand fields within Hillsborough County and provide opportunities for underrepresented youth to access high-skilled trade careers.
Community Arts Education Initiative – HCPS, Straz, Tampa Museum of Art
Funded Amount: $1,986,353
This project would develop a high-quality arts education program for students in underserved and struggling communities, enhance the student educational experience, and introduce students to potential career paths in the arts.
Counseling & Wellness Centre – Centre for Women
Funded Amount: $1,205,394
This project would expand behavioral health services and programming in the community and train the next cohort of mental health providers in the Tampa Bay area, building on existing relationships with local colleges and universities.
Functional MRI to Advance Prevention and Treatment of Brain Disease – University of South Florida
Funded Amount: $1,000,000
This project would bring the first functional MRI (fMRI) machine with full research capabilities to the Tampa Bay metro area, benefiting patients with clinical trials and advancing brain science research opportunities.
HART Bus Stops Improvements Project – Hillsborough Transit Authority
Funded Amount: $5,000,000
This project would make improvements to approximately 285 bus stops in Hillsborough County to address equity, safety, and accessibility issues and bring them into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Housing and Neighborhood Assessment, Septic to Sewer—Hillsborough County
Funded Amount: $1,920,000
This project would improve the quality of life, increase economic opportunities, and increase property values for over 26,000 residents in Progress Village and Palm River that are faced with the safety hazards of living in densely populated areas that are dependent on septic.
LatinTech Accelerator – Tampa Bay Wave, Inc.
Funded Amount: $500,000
This project would remove barriers for some of the most under-represented entrepreneurs, filling a critical gap in Tampa’s local startup ecosystem and making a lasting impact on the regional economy.
Mobile Lung Cancer Screening Program – H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Center
Funded Amount: $1,000,000
This project would increase lung cancer screening rates among underserved and disadvantaged populations in Tampa through a fully mobile, electric lung cancer screening vehicle.
Pre-Apprenticeship Training and Hiring Program (P.A.T.H.) – Corporation to Develop Communities of Tampa, Inc.
Funded Amount: $1,862,625
This project would address the persistent skills gap in the Tampa Bay area through partnerships with local stakeholders to provide opportunities for underrepresented youth to access high-skilled trade careers and diversify the talent pipeline.
Skills Center Collaborative – Skills Center, Inc.
Funded Amount: $3,000,000
This project would help with the completion of an opportunity center for low-income youth, with the goals of on-time grade promotion, high school graduation, and preparation for life after high school for every program participant.
Solar/Wind Energy Efficiency Program – Feeding America Tampa Bay, Inc.
Funded Amount: $2,258,992
This project would enhance energy efficiency and achieve sustainability for a new cold storage facility at an organization that services more than one million Floridians facing food insecurity, helping to save money and save food in our area.
Vision Health and Research Center – Lions Eye Institute for Transplant and Research Foundation
Funded Amount: $1,000,000
The project would create a state-of-the-art treatment and research facility that will provide comprehensive, streamlined vision care services and research under one roof, building on an existing relationship with University of South Florida physicians.
Water Facilities Hydroelectric & Solar Project – City of Tampa
Funded Amount: $2,000,000
The project would provide for further hydroelectric power generation at the Hillsborough River Reservoir Dam and enhance energy recovery at the Water Department’s remote pump station.
Fiscal Year 2024:
Building Tampa’s Tomorrow Workforce Development Initiative – Hillsborough County Public Schools
Funded Amount: $1,000,000
Funding for the capital costs, including solar roof installation, for the Medical Academy and Building Construction Academy, which will train students in the highest-demand fields within Hillsborough County, creating a critical career pipeline and providing opportunities for underrepresented youth across high-skilled trade careers.
Coastal Resilience Data Visualization Center – USF St. Petersburg
Funded Amount: $963,000
This project would fund a Coastal Resilience Data Visualization Center at the University of South Florida’s College of Marine Sciences in St. Petersburg for scientific planning purposes, simulations of coastal threats, and public outreach activities to protect the natural environment and improve coastal resilience.
Disrupt Human Trafficking Data Project – USF St. Petersburg
Funded Amount: $963,000
This project would aggregate and analyze the data needed to inform the state of Florida’s anti-human trafficking efforts, aid law enforcement and provide information to stakeholders to disrupt human trafficking and effectively respond to survivors.
Electric Bus Charging Infrastructure – Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority
Funded Amount: $1,116,279
This project would fund electric vehicle charging infrastructure to support the conversion of the PSTA bus fleet to electric buses and the replacement of the St. Petersburg Pier tram system with energy-efficient electric vehicles.
Electric Vehicle Public Safety Fleet – City of Tampa
Funded Amount: $963,000
This project would update and electrify police cruisers in the Tampa Police Department and contribute to a safer community.
Enoch Davis Center Planning and Construction– City of St. Petersburg
Funded Amount: $1,500,000
This project would fund assessment, pre-construction, and energy-efficiency costs for improvements to the Enoch Davis Recreation Center, a multi-service community center in South St. Petersburg.
Flood Mitigation / Stormwater Improvement – City of Tampa
Funded Amount: $959,752
This project would fund the Manhattan Avenue Flood Mitigation/Stormwater Project to capture stormwater runoff and pollution and improve the water quality of Tampa Bay through Clean Water Revolving Fund.
Robles Park Smart HUB – Tampa Housing Authority
Funded Amount: $4,000,000
This project would construct a Smart HUB at the new Robles Park Village Redevelopment in Tampa Heights/Seminole Heights - an energy-efficient community center to connect residents – from infants to seniors – to financial and educational support services.
Sankofa Affordable Housing Development – City of St. Petersburg
Funded Amount: $850,000
This project would support the Sankofa redevelopment and bring much-needed affordable housing in South St. Pete to an area that was decimated by the construction of I-275.
Storm Drainage Improvement – City of St. Petersburg
Funded Amount: $1,383,069
The project will provide for drainage improvements that will alleviate flooding on 7th Street North between 50th Avenue North and 53rd Terrace North and also on 50th Avenue North between 4th Street North and 7th Street North to bolster the stormwater system capacity, alleviate flooding, and reduce risk to property damage.
Technology and Infrastructure Improvements (Computer Refresh) – Pinellas County Urban League, Inc.
Funded Amount: $81,330
This funding would provide for a computer refresh, updating infrastructure and technology at the Pinellas County Urban League to increase reliable access to computers and boost digital and economic opportunities in an underserved community.
Town ‘N Country Rocky Creek Septic-to-Sewer Phase 2 – Hillsborough County
Funded Amount: $959,752
This project would fund the Town ‘N Country Rocky Creek septic-to-sewer Phase 2 (design and construction for Troydale Road portion) through the Clean Water State Revolving Fund to improve the water quality of Tampa Bay.
Veterans Resource Center – Hillsborough County
Funded Amount: $750,000
This project would provide for Phase 2 of the Hillsborough County Veterans Resource Center to expand and upgrade this “one-stop shop” that provides wrap-around services for veterans and their families.
Fiscal Year 2026:
Chamberlain High School Technical Training Center Development & Construction – Hillsborough County Public Schools
Funded Amount: $250,000
This funding would be used to expand academic and workforce opportunities for high school students to meet Tampa Bay’s growing economy and allow students to gain hands-on experience and industry-recognized skills.
Ed White Senior Housing Redevelopment – St. Pete Housing Authority
Funded Amount: $3,150,000
This funding would be for the conversion of a former hospital into 71 units of affordable housing for low-income elderly residents with supportive services on site and clean, efficient energy upgrades.
Ferry Dock at the St. Pete Pier – Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority
Funded Amount: $850,000
This funding would be used to construct a permanent ferry dock to be used by the Cross Bay Ferry to connect two major cities through efficient public transit, spur economic development, increase tourism opportunities, and reduce local congestion.
HCPS Family Community Center Expansion & Equipment – Hillsborough County Public Schools
Funded Amount: $2,000,000
This funding would be used to support the physical expansion of an integral support center for students and families in Hillsborough County to allow for more tutoring services and digital literacy activities for families.
Hillsborough Community College Artificial Intelligence Training Center Facility – Hillsborough Community College
Funded Amount: $250,000
This funding would be used to establish a high-tech Artificial Intelligence Center to provide a critical career pipeline to in-demand jobs, strengthen American competitiveness, and support a local community college as an economic engine.
Port Tampa Bay Channel Improvement Project – Port Tampa Bay
Funded Amount: $3,000,000
The funding would be used for project, design and engineering work, enabling Port Tampa Bay to make navigation improvements in the harbor to improve safety, increase the port’s capacity, and enhance the local, regional and state supply chain for a growing population.
Project I Can – Adonai's Second Chances, Inc.
Funded Amount: $575,000
This funding would be used for a diversion, mentoring and employment readiness program for youth ages 12-20 in partnership with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office and local educational institutions.
Robles Park Village Critical Infrastructure Upgrades – Tampa Housing Authority
Funded Amount: $1,200,000
This funding would be used to support critical infrastructure for the new Robles Park Village Redevelopment, which will increase affordable housing, generate employment opportunities, and connect residents to community services.
Ruskin Septic-to-Sewer Phase 1 – Hillsborough County
Funded Amount: $1,092,000
The funding would be used for converting legacy septic tanks to sewer systems in South County, providing more reliable residential wastewater service and improving water quality in Tampa Bay.
San Martin Boulevard Bridge Replacement – Pinellas County
Funded Amount: $850,000
The funding would be used for the replacement of the San Martin Boulevard Bridge, improving connectivity for St. Petersburg residents, rehabilitating an important hurricane evacuation route, and providing the final link of the 75-mile Pinellas Trail loop for pedestrian and bicycle access.
SMART Tech Industry 4.0 Lab – St. Petersburg College
Funded Amount: $850,000
This funding would be used to create a lab to provide training and education for today’s high-tech manufacturing workforce in South St. Petersburg, improving the pipeline for jobs in the semiconductor, mechatronics, automation, and robotics industries.
West River Walk Expansion – City of Tampa
Funded Amount: $250,000
This funding would be used to complete the 12.2-mile pedestrian and bicycle path along the Hillsborough River, expanding safe mobility options between jobs, schools, and homes while restoring the native shoreline.
Veterans, Military Families & First Responder Services Complex –University of South Florida (All 3 Campuses)
Funded Amount: $3,000,000
The funding would be used to support a clean and efficient energy remodel of an aging, hurricane-damaged facility to expand resources, career counseling, and workforce training to student veterans and military-connected students.
