FORT LAUDERDALE, FL – On Monday, Congressman Jared Moskowitz (D-Florida) organized a roundtable meeting with Broward County’s leading public officials and homelessness experts to discuss concrete steps local and Federal government officials can take to address homelessness and housing costs. The role of the roundtable was to provide a frank, honest conversation between all parties involved. Photos from the roundtable are found here.

During the roundtable, Moskowitz and the local officials agreed that the County and Federal government have a role to play in combatting this problem. In the coming months, more details on the next steps from all parties involved will happen. Still, Moskowitz will push federal policies that will address affordable housing, support housing programs from HUD, assist with public safety, and provide employee assistance.

“There’s no denying that we face a housing affordability issue in Broward County, further exasperating homelessness. Thousands of our fellow citizens do not have a home. It’s time we have an honest conversation about housing affordability and homelessness. I hope this roundtable will start a productive dialogue among community leaders and help us find commonsense solutions to this growing issue,” said Moskowitz.

Officials who joined the roundtable are:
Congressman Jared Moskowitz
Nan Rich, Broward County Vice Mayor
Fran Esposito, CEO of Broward Partnership
Victoria L. Mallette, National Alliance to End Homelessness
Dodie Keith-Lazowick, Board Member with Broward Partnership
Dr. Rebecca S.E. McGuire, Broward Housing Options Solutions & Support
Melanie Geddes, President & CEO LifeNet4Families
Carl Falconer, CEO of TaskForce Fore Ending Homelessness, Inc.
Lt. Edward Rafailovitc, BSO Homeless Outreach
Nazbi Chowdhury, United Way of Broward County
Luisa Agathon, Neighbor Support Management City of Fort Lauderdale
Lisette Woskobojnik-Palmero, Program Manager for Homeless Initiative City of Fort Lauderdale
Francisco Isaza, M.S., 211 Broward

Quotes from attendees are found below:

“It’s incredibly important to address homelessness and the housing crisis in our community. For our organization, policy makers, and community leaders to come together like this is a powerful way to affect change”, said Fran Esposito, CEO of Broward Partnership. “This is an opportunity to continue our collaborative efforts to find and fund reasonable solutions.”

“On behalf of Chairman Ronald L. Book and the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust, we are honored to share our challenges and successes with our neighbors in Broward County,” said Victoria L. Mallette, Executive Director of the Homeless Trust. “Collaboration at all levels and scaling up housing resources are the keys to realizing our shared vision of ending homelessness.”