Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Operation: Reveille-HELPING OUR HOMELESS VETERANS


Operation: Reveille

Tampa/Hillsborough County

 
As a member Hillsborough County  Affordable Housing Advisory Board , a Veteran and a member of Affordable Housing committee thru Greater Tampa Bay Realty Ass, I thought it was essential that I mentioned this extraordinary event that will take place next month. The event is called OPERATION: Reveille, it will provide housing to a few homeless Veterans. Below is the action plan for the program.

On November 11, 2014, as a part of President Obama’s goal to end Veteran homelessness by 2015 and the Veteran’s Administration’s 25 Cities Initiative, the Tampa Hillsborough Homeless Initiative (THHI), in collaboration with the City of Tampa and Hillsborough County, will launch Operation: Reveille-Tampa/Hillsborough County. 

 

In one day, this will bring together federal, state, and local government agencies, faith-based organizations, housing providers, intense case management, employment services, job training, legal assistance, mental health services, substance abuse treatment, social security, veterans benefits, financial counseling, health care, household supplies and other services.

 

The start of the Operation: Reveille will begin with each Veteran being assigned a volunteer, a Comrade.  Based on the Veteran’s needs, a Comrade will assist the Veteran throughout the day going through all of the available services.  They will get a hot breakfast together, followed by an assessment.  This will assist the Veterans by determining which of the on-site services are needed for housing stability.  Veterans will be able to schedule follow-up appointments with any of the 20 providers through a Case Manager that they will have assigned to them for up to 12 months.  The final assessment of the day will be “housing selection”.  Each Veteran will be presented with various housing options.  This will provide up to 12 months of housing and wrap around supportive services for 50 Veterans.  Each home will be pre-furnished and stocked with food and household supplies. 

 

 

Goals:

1.    Rapidly re-house Veterans on Veteran’s Day

2.    Bring together a wide range of partners to ensure a collaborative impact on a national level.

3.    Develop a system that ensures a Veteran never sleeps on the streets of in an emergency shelter in Hillsborough County.

Partners:

Ø U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development

Ø U.S Department of Veteran Administration

Ø Hillsborough County Department of Homeless Services

Ø City of Tampa Housing and Community Development

Ø Tampa Housing Authority

Ø Tampa Bay Rays Foundation

Ø Greater Tampa Association of Realtors (GTAR)

Ø Tampa Bay Lightning

Ø Support the Troops

Ø Rebuild Together

Ø Tampa Port Authority

Ø St. Vincent DePaul

Ø Catholic Charities

Ø Tampa Crossroads

Ø ACTS
 
 
Ainsley Daux
Florida Realty

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Out and About in Tampa Bay

                                     
                                                      Out and About in Tampa Bay
What a great way to end the month of September! First, the Buccaneers win their first game of the season by beating the super power Pittsburgh Steelers at home.

Then, Microsoft founder Billionaire Bill Gates is partnering with the Lightning owner, Jeff Vinik to reshape Channel-side, which will bring hotels, shops, restaurants and entertainment. Both events are great things for the Tampa Bay area. We also cannot forget that Derek Jeter is retiring to his Tampa Bay home on Bay-Shore Blvd.

The Tampa Bay Lightning season opener is October 10th and sports analysts are predicting a great season for them.

When we take a look around we see that Tampa really does offer many forms of entertainment, sporting events, and interesting venues.

This past Saturday, my wife and I spent the afternoon in Central Ybor City.  We walked thru historical 7th Avenue. We enjoyed dinner and a nice cold beer at the Tampa Bay Brewing Company. The Tampa bay Brewing Company offers 8 core and 38 seasonal beers along with a unique menu. The menu offers reasonably priced beer infused with great tasting food.  Although the rain brought us back inside, where else can you spend most of the day outdoors in early fall and still have a feeling of summer.
 Since the night was still young, we made our way to the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. There we were able to have drinks and enjoy live music. Our gaming didn’t pay off but we still had an enjoyable evening.

Ainsley Daux
Florida Realty
Tampa Bay Real Estate
Brandon Florida Real Estate