Delegates must stay for the full five-days, four-nights of programming. Unfortunately at this time, we cannot accommodate individuals who are unable to commit to the full length of the residential program.
The ANYTOWN® Program
“The most important thing I’ve ever done in my life is travel a few miles from my home, and out of my comfort zone, to a little place called ANYTOWN.”
About ANYTOWN !
Community Tampa Bay’s signature summer leadership program ANYTOWN® empowers thousands of young people to create more inclusive and just schools and communities where everyone is treated with respect and understanding.
ANYTOWN® begins each summer with an intensive 5-day, 4-night residential program and continues with a year of ongoing opportunities for service and leadership development utilizing the knowledge, skills, and attitudes developed at ANYTOWN®.
Each ANYTOWN® session brings together 50 to 60 high school youth who look differently, live differently, and love differently to build a culturally diverse and inclusive community from the ground up.
IMPACT
“I have learned that ANYTOWN is not just a program, it’s a way of life.”
How We Know It Works
Community Tampa Bay partners with the Community-AID Lab at Michigan State University to evaluate the effectiveness of ANYTOWN® each year. New areas of research have been inspired by the innovative approaches of ANYTOWN®, including the importance of understanding one’s own social identity and others’ identities to effectively practice inclusion.
ANYTOWN® consistently has a positive impact on social responsibility, identity development, acceptance of others, and belief in one’s own ability.
In 2019, 100% of ANYTOWN® delegates experienced meaningful cross-cultural interactions. 96% of them increased their comfort and ability to facilitate dialogue, 93% gained a stronger sense of social identity, and 98% gained skills to engage in service, advocacy, or leadership in schools or communities promoting inclusion.
Testimonials from our Delegates
Zahara Narain (She/Her)
“The workshops I experienced and participated in at ANYTOWN® helped open my eyes and heart to the diversities within our communities. It helped me become more sensitive and aware of the people inside our communities that may need extra support and care. By realizing our differences, I realized how we are all truly the same. If we are all kinder and more understanding, we can create more harmonious communities.”
An ANYTOWN® and Advocacy Academy graduate, Zahara wants to become a medical professional and entrepreneur because she hopes to fulfil her “biggest goal in life” of helping people.
Korri Esponilla (He/Him)
“ANYTOWN® has impacted me through being both a Delegate and a Volunteer; it allowed me to engage in activities and meet new people while also learning about their backgrounds. I also got to teach others how to understand people who are different from them, and how they view their own groups and communities, and that really stuck with me.”
An ANYTOWN® graduate and volunteer, and past participant in Advocacy Academy, Korri is excited to receive a BFA in animation from SCAD and maybe becoming a high school art teacher! Korri is passionate about inclusive leadership and “taking action for doing what’s right for your own community.”
Virginia Vasquez (She/Her)
“ANYTOWN® has given me so many opportunities and opened so many doors. My life has completely changed: I believe in myself, I know what I can accomplish I know I’m not alone and I have people backing me up. I’m glad to be part of such a beautiful place.”
Virginia is an ANYTOWN® graduate, longtime volunteer, and past participant in the Advocacy Academy program. She’s studying political studies and working on getting her associate’s degree to use her “skills to advocate for others and make [her] community better everyday.”
Elois Hannah
Elois Hannah has a passion for advocacy. She first joined the Community Tampa Bay family in the summer of 2017 as an ANYTOWN® delegate where she met some of her closest friends that she now considers family. She then went on to be a part of Community Tampa Bay’s Advocacy Academy as part of the first cohort to go to Tallahassee.
Loking for more?
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ANYTOWN Frequently Asked Questions
Because ANYTOWN® is such a robust and transformative program, we have compiled a list of the most frequently asked questions for your convenience. If you happen to have a questions that you can’t find here, always feel free to contact us!
First and foremost, ANYTOWN® is a program designed to give YOU the power to change your school and community. ANYTOWN® is facilitated by both youth and adults, and is a great way to jumpstart or advance your leadership skills. Secondly, ANYTOWN® is a fun experience away from all the other stress of life. We play games, hang out in college dorms, enjoy all-you-can-eat-food three times a day, meet new people, and talk about ourselves!
We accept youth between the ages of 14-18. On a case-by-case basis, we accept rising 9th graders and seniors who graduated the May before ANYTOWN® Session 1 begins.
All high school students in the Tampa Bay area are encouraged to apply! We intentionally accept a diverse class of 50-60 students for each session with respect to gender, sex, age, race, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, faith, class and ability.
Every day is different at ANYTOWN®. We spend a lot of our time as a large community, engaging in interactive workshops, icebreakers and teambuilders. We get to know each other individually over meals three times a day and spend time in small groups reflecting on how prejudice, discrimination and stereotypes affect our own lives. We start and conclude our days in the dorms with our dorm families, a group of participants and counselors who often become lifelong friends.
We talk about all kinds of diversity topics including racism while at ANYTOWN®. Other topics that revolve around stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination are sexism, homophobia, privilege, interfaith, ableism, leadership, and many more.
ANYTOWN® is a life-changing opportunity that utilizes a lot of time, people, and resources to facilitate. We are excited to offer two opportunities to attend this summer. If you are unavailable and not graduating next year, please keep us in mind for next summer. With more sponsors, we will be able to offer more sessions of ANYTOWN®. Please let us know if your business or place of employment would like to sponsor a delegate’s experience.
You can only attend the transformative ANYTOWN® program once as a camp participant/Delegate so that we can provide the similar experiences for new Delegates year after year. We encourage our graduated Delegates to step into a leadership role and return as camp counselors/Volunteers. Visit our Volunteer page for more information.
Application fee waivers are available upon registration and we encourage you to reach out (info@communitytampabay.org) with any additional questions or concerns.
