The Community Foundation of Broward recently hosted an enlightening panel discussion to explore ways local philanthropy can do more to help people overcome homelessness.

Broward County government estimates that today there are more than 9,000 people experiencing homelessness in our community, with only 600 beds in local homeless shelters. Adding urgency to the crisis, a new state law bans people from sleeping or camping overnight on public property and puts local governments at risk of lawsuits if they don’t enforce the rule.

With a growing number of families, seniors and others in Broward facing the challenge of homelessness, the Community Foundation welcomed a team of experts to share their insights at our latest Private Foundation Roundtable – one of our meetings where fundholders, family foundations and other supporters interested in pressing community challenges can learn more about opportunities to make a difference.

“This is something we are all trying to better understand so we can show compassion and care,” said Community Foundation President/CEO Jennifer O’Flannery Anderson, Ph.D. “Where can our grantmaking and our leadership collectively have the biggest impact? What more can we do?”

To help answer those questions, we heard from:

• Tom Campbell, President and CEO of Broward Partnership, a nonprofit that provides housing as well as support for education, health care, job training, employment placement and other life-changing tools.
• Mikal Cartier, CEO of the TaskForce Fore Ending Homelessness, a nonprofit that connects people experiencing homelessness to housing and social services.
• Stephen Ferrante, Principal Partner of the Group Victory, a strategic planning consulting firm helping Broward Partnership and the county with efforts to end homelessness.
• Patrice Paldino, Director of Broward County Homeless Services, which leads a collaboration of local agencies involved in the local homelessness continuum of care.

The panelists’ wide-ranging discussion included how local governments are seeking to comply with the new state law without treating people facing homelessness as criminals. They shared how more seniors are facing homelessness for the first time because their fixed incomes don’t keep pace with rising rents, insurance prices, special condominium assessments or other housing costs. They highlighted the hurdles to providing temporary housing for the growing number of families facing homelessness, when many shelters were designed long ago for single men.

In addition, the panelists highlighted the value of preventative measures, such as emergency financial aid or other temporary housing help, that can keep people from spiraling into homelessness. They talked about the need for stronger data systems to drive decisions about responding to homelessness. And they discussed how philanthropy can fill critical gaps in the system of support required to tackle the complicated needs of the diverse population of people facing homelessness. For example, The Jim Moran Foundation supports TaskForce’s Elder Haven & Hope Program, which provides seniors facing homelessness temporary shelter and help finding permanent housing.

Key Takeaways

The discussion identified several opportunities for philanthropy to do more to help end homelessness, such as:

• Purchasing “pallet homes” – small, fiberglass shelters being considered by the county to provide temporary housing in designated locations.
• Training and hiring more caseworkers to connect people to the network of social services available for people facing homelessness.
• Providing training and other resources nonprofits need to increase their ability to serve people facing homelessness.
• Developing specialized workforce training programs to empower the chronically homeless to become self-sufficient.
• Expanding mental health services to provide lifelong care.
• Providing more emergency aid for rent, medical bills, transportation costs and other rising expenses to help prevent someone from losing their home.

Throughout its 40-year history, the Community Foundation has partnered with local philanthropists to provide millions in support for affordable housing, emergency financial aid, career training, mental health services and many other efforts to help people overcome homelessness. For example, a Foundation grant this year to Broward Housing Solutions supports rental subsidies that help more than more than 60 seniors with mental illness and other challenges remain housed while they continue receiving services.

Support for Social and Economic Mobility is one of the Community Foundation’s key grantmaking and leadership focus areas. Thanks to the power of endowment, the Community Foundation continues to provide support to empower hardworking residents to move to financial stability and have a strong economic foundation to break the cycle of poverty.

“When I think about working to end homelessness, I think about compassion, empathy, dignity and sharing humanity,” Jennifer said. “People often spiral into homelessness for many different reasons over a long period of time. You can’t un-spiral that overnight.”

To find out how you can partner with the Community Foundation of Broward to help people overcome homelessness and tackle other pressing community challenges, contact Vice President Kelly Marmol at kmarmol@cfbroward.org or 954-761-9503.

‍