Tallahassee Urban League

The Tallahassee Urban League has worked for more than five decades to help African Americans and others secure social justice, economic self-reliance, parity, power, evolving opportunities and civil rights. Founded in 1969 as an affiliate of the National Urban League, it serves Tallahassee, Leon County and the surrounding Big Bend from its office in Frenchtown, one of the city's historic Black neighborhoods. Its work spans counseling, education, health, housing, jobs and civil rights, and it partners with other affiliates through the Florida Consortium of Urban Leagues.

Housing is where many families first meet the league. Its Housing Counseling Program is HUD-certified and covers budgeting, credit, mortgage delinquency and default, landlord and tenant questions, pre-purchase planning, foreclosure and eviction intervention, and help keeping or restoring utilities. First-Time Home Buyers Workshops meet monthly, and graduates receive a Certificate of Completion that makes them eligible for down payment assistance through the Tallahassee Lender's Consortium. The Housing Rehabilitation and Facade Program, running since 1979, repairs homes for low- and moderate-income owners within city limits.

The league also stands with people in crisis. Its Victims of Crime Assistance program, based in Frenchtown since 1991, offers free, direct and confidential services to Tallahassee and Leon County residents who have been victims of crime but have not reported it to law enforcement, helping them understand their rights, find resources and move through the justice system. It is the only National Urban League affiliate in the country that provides victim services.

For young people, the Youth Crime Prevention and Intervention program brings workshops and small-group sessions into public and private schools and community centers across Leon County, covering social responsibility and character building, drug and gang resistance, teen trafficking, anger management, employability and community bridge building. A companion track offers parenting and employability workshops for young adults and parents ages 19 to 35.

Health and civic life round out the work. Navigators provide education, outreach and enrollment help for Affordable Care Act coverage, meeting residents at barbershops, salons, churches, parks and grocery stores as well as at the office. The league hosts voter education seminars, registers eligible voters, and has served as a neighborhood polling precinct since 2020. Each June, Empowerment Week leads up to Juneteenth with a resource fair, health screenings and free groceries for Frenchtown, which has no grocery store.

History has a home here too. The league owns the Taylor House Museum, an 1894 two-story home built by Lewis and Lucretia Taylor, one of Frenchtown's most prominent families. The league restored it to its original appearance and opened it as a museum in 2011, with tours offered on a regular schedule or by request. Supporters can attend the annual gala, which honors community heroes, volunteer their skills, or join as corporate partners.