Northeast Pasco Business & Community Activities Page

Northeast Pasco ~ Tri-Communities Community Website Trilby / Lacoochee / Trilacoochee Business & Community Activities

"Time goes, you say? Ah no! Alas, Time stays we go." - Austin Dobson. "The stream of time glides smoothly on and is past before we know - Ovid

Denny Mihalinec: Visionary activist for his "neighbor"

Denny Mihalinec is contagious. His enthusiasm for the underprivileged is a welcome infection. He's an East Pasco visionary; with activist leanings, because he's a must-act-on-what-I-believe guy. He will not leave a stone unturned until he sees his dreams for betterment of those in need fulfilled.

He starts right off by telling you the backdrop of his life, "I grew up with my two brothers and my Mom, Barbara Rainey, a single parent. She was a waitress working 16-hour days. During that process of growing up we knew what it was to struggle. Basically, during my childhood there was a time when food wasn't always there and at one time we were homeless. For me it was such an honor that my Mom never gave up. I have two heroes: The Lord Jesus and my Mom. I get my drive from her." By the time Mihalinec finishes revealing why he's so passionate about his vision, especially for Journey Village and the revitalization of the Lacoochee Industrial Park Area, he's emotional with tears. He apologizes. No need. His caring comes through.

Mihalinec is the President and his wife Jennifer is Vice President of Mihalinec Investments, They also own a franchise Luv 'N Stuff (similar to Build-a-Bear). He seems far too young to have already founded four non-profit organizations but he has done so, garnering a honorable support of others via his enthusiasm. Even his adjunct business helps the homeless for whom he has a passion. He makes Luv 'N Stuff portable and take the equipment to parties for children and 10 percent of the profits go for the homeless. Checkout sharknjazz4families.com

He tells how in the 1920s the Lachoochee Industrial Park was a thriving community, "One of the biggest employers in the southeastern United States. " n that era there was a lot of railroad traffic. It was a hub in its heyday. When the Cummer sawmill shut down around 1959, from that point on Lachoochee went into decline. Today there's only one business, Columbia Grain, that employs three of four people.

"My vision is to see a distribution center of some sort there. I like to see the Pasco County Board of Commissioners give incentives and breaks for companies that want to come in to provide job opportunities. The majority of the people in Lachoochee, about 1,3 45, are from working class families who want to work. They desire businesses to come in."

Mihalinec tells that Congresswoman Ginny Waite-Brown, State Representative Will Weatherford, the Pasco County Board of Commissioners, and Senator Victor Crist, the United States Department of Agriculture and Florida Homes are open to suggestions and ideas. He feels that a key ingredient is to new homes built which he refers to as Revitalize for Community Development for the Tri-Community Area, "Once we get the homes, that will provide a tax base, then that will open the doors for infrastructure and community services such as a health department, library, and community center."

Mihalinec's vision for the Tri-Community Journey Village for the homeless started by way of his volunteer work as a builder with Habitat for Humanity and chairman and founder of the can recycling program, and as a member of a variety of Boards, "Then, I founded the Greater Trilby Community Association, Stir all those things together and I got the vision for Journey Village. He says that he learned his construction skills from his step-father, so he knows what building homes entails.

"Journey Village is a gap program. A homeless person can't request Habitat for Humanity to have a $55,000 home built. The reason is that one of the requirements is having a job. Journey Village will offer an intake center for these homeless people. The plan is to start off with 100 cots. We'll partner with 211 agencies that will include every church and social agency offered by Pasco County. There will be a screening process to access their needs. We'll surround them with these social services and a foundation called Partnership with Able Body, a staffing workforce agency. They will get training if they don't have any and if they already have skills they'll line them up a job. With a job and benefits, such as veterans benefits, they can qualify to be in the Village.

He sees the Village as occupying five to 10 acres with small low-rent homes of about 500 square-feet each. The rent payments will go into a revolving fund that goes right back into the program. The added amenities will be a community center with computers for networking, a communal place to eat, with food provided by area grocers and churches; a community rest room with separate areas for males and females, a Kaboom playground for children and a small post office. They will have a two-year limit of residency. This will help to make them self-sufficient. This will enable them to have credibility to qualify for references for jobs or for Section VIII homes or apartments or Habitat for Humanity homes.

Milhalinec is anxious for January 30th, 2008 to arrive. "At that time the Pasco County Commission Development Division is going to spread out throughout Pasco County to do a homeless count and that will include going into the woods because," as Mihalinec points out, "that's where the majority of the homeless are living." In April, Mihalinec notes, Pasco County is going to apply for a Supernova grant.