HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. – County leaders joined to celebrate a staple in the Hillsborough African American community – a dedication for a woman who’s spent decades raising millions of dollars to build up East Tampa.

Pointing at the pictures on the mural, Mrs. Chloe Coney said, “She got my baby picture up here y’all, and all my pictures.”

Her story dates back to 1950 when she became the first Black baby born at Charlotte County Hospital.

“I helped to integrate the school system here," she said. "I moved to Tampa when I was 4 and at the age of 13, I left. Segregated, just middle school, to go to West Tampa.”

She became the first black female probation and parole officer in Hillsborough County and then founded the Corporation to Develop Communities of Tampa in 1992.

“That’s what CDC does. Create economic opportunities every day,” she added. 

In the span of 3 decades, she’s built single-family homes and created much-needed opportunities for young African Americans – and she’s not done.

“You coming into my world.”

Mrs. Coney is not only known for philanthropy.

“I am called the hat lady. I wear hats every day," she said. “I have over 100 hats at my house”

Hats she’s collected from anyone and everyone over the years.

She added, “because people know I love hats, when they passed, they would tell their family. 'Give Chloe the hat. She will wear them.'”

Now, she’s hoping to do something more with those hats. 

“CDC of Tampa every year has a Suit Up and Show Up program," she said, "Where they have 100 young men, 10 schools here in Hillsborough county refer the young men to the program.”

The leadership program helps turn young African American men into adults and leads them down a positive lifestyle – a small gesture that can help positively impact the next generation.

Mrs. Coney is selling her iconic hats to help raise money for the Suit Up and Show Up program and other programs put together by the CDC of Tampa.