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Camillus House News
Camillus House receives $500,000 gift from FPL Foundation
December 19, 2008
Front: Ed Joyce, Pam Rauch, Dr. Paul R. Ahr, Manny Rodriguez, Eloy Villasuso, Marlene Santos. Back: Brother Charles Searson, Jorge Luis Lopez, Brother Bill Osmanski, Brother Raphael Mieszala.
“FPL Day at Camillus House” features holiday presents to 300 homeless persons
Camillus House today celebrated the season of giving with community leaders accepting a $500,000 commitment from the FPL Group Foundation to its Capital Campaign during a special ceremony at the Camillus House Shelter. FPL also shared the holiday spirit by donating 300 Christmas gifts to individuals who are poor and homeless.
Leaders from Camillus House and FPL joined Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, Miami City Commissioner Angel Gonzalez and other dignitaries in the shelter’s Courtyard to launch a long-term partnership to benefit the community’s homeless population.
"At FPL, we’re committed to being good neighbors in the communities where we work and live,” said FPL President and CEO Armando J. Olivera. “This holiday season, we’re honored to support Camillus House as it dramatically expands its mission of helping Miami’s neediest residents.”
In addition to making its $500,000 commitment to the Capital Campaign, FPL representatives provided 300 holiday packages for Camillus House clients. Each package included a warm blanket and a variety of personal care and hygiene products.
“The true spirit of the Christmas season is the spirit of giving,” said Dr. Paul Ahr, President and CEO of Camillus House. “Today, FPL has exemplified the type of corporate citizenship and community concern that makes the holiday season particularly joyous. We are truly grateful for FPL’s generosity and appreciate that the company shares our commitment to ending chronic homelessness in Miami.”
Camillus House will recognize FPL’s generosity with the naming of the FPL Welcome Center at its new 3.1-acre Camillus House Center located at 1603 Northwest Seventh Avenue. The FPL Welcome Center will be the initial point of contact for individuals entering the campus and will serve as the access site to basic human and emergency services, including clothing, shelter and bus tokens. The Welcome Center also will be critical in developing clients’ trust and serving as an important first step to engaging persons into more intense services, such as drug and alcohol treatment.
The 340-bed Camillus House campus is scheduled to be completed in 2010 and will provide expanded new treatments and housing facilities to the chronically homeless.
Camillus House has provided humanitarian services to the poor and homeless in Miami-Dade County for 48 years. Established by the Little Brothers of the Good Shepherd in 1960, Camillus House has grown steadily over the years from a small overnight shelter into a full-service center.
