Author

Michelle Bearden

Michelle Bearden is a multimedia journalist and public speaker with extensive experience in print and broadcast media. She placed second in the nation behind a writer from Time magazine in the 2014 Religion Newswriters Association Supple Feature Religion Writer of the Year. Her “Keeping the Faith” segment on WFLA-TV was the country’s longest-running segment on faith and values among local affiliates. She’s a graduate of Central Michigan University, which inducted her in the school’s Journalism Hall of Fame in 2008 for her pioneer work in media convergence and investigative religion reporting. Michelle has won multiple awards for her work, including first-place honors in 2014 for column writing from the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors and beat reporting from the Society of Professional Journalists. She is also a two-time winner of the Supple Religion Reporter of the Year from the national Religion Newswriters Association. Michelle’s home and yard in the Ballast Point neighborhood in south Tampa are legendary for big gatherings and dinner parties. She finally realized her dream of getting a horse, and now has two Rocky Mountain mares, which she trail rides and trains every chance she gets. And she is a die-hard Tampa Bay Rays fan. 
 

Michelle Bearden's Latest Articles

Photographer Tim Kennedy chats with Carmen Cortes, one of his photo subjects, at Trinity Cafe.
For Good: Trinity Cafe engages community to feed hungry

Are you touched by the plight of the homeless? Want to do something to help? Go see 'Feast for the Eyes: The Faces of a Million Meals' served at the Trinity Cafe in downtown Tampa. The portrait gallery will be on display as part of an upcoming fundraiser.

The lobby of Mary  Lee's House is warm and inviting for families.
For Good: Mary Lee’s House in Tampa provides one-stop-shop of services for children in need

Florida’s child advocacy professionals count on Mary Lee’s House in Tampa to take in, treat and protect neglected and abused kids who end up in state custody. The success of the 7-year-old nonprofit emanates from its Founder, Mary Lee Farrior, one of the newest inductees into the Florida Women’s Hall of Fame.

For Good: Palm Harbor practice provides free dental work for veterans
Kerstin Kenty holds her son Mathew's hand on the day his adoption is finalized.
For Good: Portrait gallery changes hearts, minds, lives

A Tampa Bay area chapter of Heart Gallery, a national nonprofit adoption service, transforms lives by using portraits and support groups to help foster kids find parents and transition into permanent homes.

For Good: Habitat’s Hammers & Heels builds home in St. Pete for woman in need

The “Girl PowerHouse” project in Pinellas County is led by women and built by women to make the recipient’s dream of home ownership come true.

For Good: Grant helps OperationPar use cutting-edge technology in meeting mission
For Good: Local chef challenges Tampa Bay area residents to help the hungry

Chef Cliff challenges Tampa Bay area residents to give up one meal and donate the money you would have spent on that breakfast, dinner or lunch to Metropolitan Ministries.

For Good: Local visionary takes leap with equine therapy

Quantum Leap Farm north of Tampa isn’t just for horsing around; it’s about changing the lives of those with physical and mental disabilities, including military veterans returning from the trauma of war.

For Good: St. Pete Free Clinic launches Saving Grace Project

St. Petersburg Free Clinic seeks donations for its new Saving Grace Project designed to more than double the number of beds available for homeless women in Pinellas County.

For Good: Local American Heart Association gets men to go red

Hey, guys! Do you own a red tie? The successful American Heart Association Go Red campaign geared toward women now reaches out to men.

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