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Queendom - students organized themselves by village
Our Observations at the Florida People's Advocacy Center
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Makayla Pringle- Writer
Joya Kelly-Planner
Jayla Rhodes-Communicator
Latrice Johnson-Creator
Bria Scott- Researcher
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Partners:
Florida Immigrant Coalition
Florida AFL-CIO
Rethink Energy
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Mission: We make it easy to make a difference. Florida PAC combines sound, timely research and analysis with the voices of those affected by specific policy proposals and budget decisions. Why? Because informed discussion around problems and solutions is the essence of civic engagement and the democratic process.
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Motto: Get Involved
Services:
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Main Goal is to focus on training advocates on poverty, fairness, equality, and social and economic justice.
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1)Year round training sessions on how the legislative process works, and on how to advocate on behalf of the community.
2)Training sessions on how to redirect the conversation to achieve the goals of your community.
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Volunteering Days: Centered around those affected by Hurricane Michael.
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October 24th 2018- Delivered bread to the Second Harvest Food Bank and the Kearney Center. Folded over 300 pairs of tuxedo shirts to be donated.
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October 25th 2018- Separated clothes into sections to be sent off to Panama City, Marianna FL, and other cities affected.
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October 31st 2018-Folded over 400 pairs of pants to be donated and helped to organize the work space.
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November 7th, 9th, and 14th 2018- Worked on homelessness and affordable housing projects given by Ms. Mithcell.
The Most Significant Experience:
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When we had the responsibility of delivering bread to the Second Harvest of the Big Bend and the Kearney Center.
-Seeing a plethora of people who were in need of food and knowing that we helped in delivering something that would feed a large amount of people in the community really warmed our hears.
-It was a very humbling experience and it made us appreciate and value all the things that we have because we are very fortunate to have a roof over our heads, clothes on our backs, and food on our tables.
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Conclusion:
From volunteering at the Florida People's Advocacy Center we learned about:
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homelessness and affordable housing.
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We learned how important it is to give back to the community.
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We learned to be appreciative and thankful for all that we have.
And we learned the importance of teamwork.
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What was learned:
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Homelessness- An individual who is homeless and lives in a place not meant for human habitation, a safe haven, or in an emergency shelter.
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Chronically Homeless- People who have experienced homelessness for at least a year or repeatedly, while struggling with a disabling condition such as a serious mental illness, substance use disorder, or physical disability.
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Affordable Housing -housing which is deemed affordable to those with a median household income as rated by the national government or a local government by a recognized affordability index.
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Sustainability (sustainable development)- Our project fostered sustainability in that giving food to the less fortunate will help nourish their bodies and providing them with professional clothing will help them with job interviews, increasing their chances of finding work. This would later benefit the future generations because it could potentially decrease the amount of homelessness in the future. Also, giving back in this way takes nothing away from future generations and by having difference companies donate unsold food and clothes helps to eliminate waste and garbage build-up.
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Looking at Affordable Housing at a Local, State, and National level.
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Local
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Total affordable apartment properties: 32
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Total low income apartments: 4,021
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Total rent assisted apartments:2,146
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Housing units: 74,388
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Median household income: $39,681
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Median rent: $971
State​
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737,435 low-income renter households are cost burdened.
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61% of cost burndened households in Florida have 1-2 members.
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212,797 cost burdened households are headed over by someone 55 or older.
National​
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Housing choice voucher: 2,015,000
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Public housing: 1,161,000
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Project based section-8: 1,275,000
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Other programs: 443,000
Total: 4,893,000
Looking at Homelessness on a Local, State, and National level.
Local
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Total Chronically Homeless:78
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Sheltered Emergency:555
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Sheltered Chronically Homeless:56%
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Sheltered Chronic:10%
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Unsheltered Homeless:148
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Unsheltered Chronically Homeless:22%
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Unsheltered Chronic Homeless:15%
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Totally homeless on a given night:1,072
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Homeless per 10,000 people in the general population:24.4
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State
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Total homeless population:32,190
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Total Family Household Experiencing Homelessness:2,846
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Veterans Experiencing Homelessness:2,817
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Persons Experiencing Chronic Homelessness:5,615
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Unaccompanied Young Adults (18 years old-24) Experiencing Homelessness:2,019
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National
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Total Homeless population:643,067
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People in families:238,110
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Suffer from mental illness:25%
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Considered chronically homeless: 17%
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Fleeing domestic violence: 13%
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Veterans: 12%