This New Program Will Provide ‘Bridge Housing’ to 28 Service Resistant, Chronic Homeless Individuals
The TD Charitable Foundation, the charitable giving arm of TD Bank, America’s Most Convenient Bank®, and CITY Furniture provided critical funding to help complete the recent renovation and furnishing of 12 apartments with 28 bedrooms at Camillus House’s Somerville Residence, a campus-style housing facility primarily serving veterans since 2017.
The newly renovated apartments will provide temporary, permanent housing and support services in a shared setting for 28 chronically homeless individuals identified by Camillus House’s specialized outreach teams. The aim of this bridge housing program is to immediately transition vulnerable persons out of homelessness by providing a stable, supportive housing experience to facilitate placement into fully independent living in a permanent housing setting.
The TD Charitable Foundation generously donated $150,000, which was crucial in supporting the completion of the project that had received an initial capital grant of $346,000 from Miami-Dade County’s Public Housing and Community Development Agency.
“Many Floridians face the challenge of finding an affordable, permanent place to live due to the high cost of housing in today’s market, which has only been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The TD Charitable Foundation is pleased to work with Keith Koenig and CITY Furniture to support Camillus House and help make sure that some of the most vulnerable members of the community, particularly our veterans, have access to the housing and assistance they need,” said Nick Miceli, Florida Regional President at TD Bank and Board Member of the TD Charitable Foundation.
CITY Furniture donated more than $76,000 in furnishings and accent pieces, which was instrumental in making the 12 apartments move-in ready for the individuals who will reside there. Their generosity and support of this Camillus facility has been ongoing, as CITY Furniture completely furnished this 48-unit complex when it was originally opened in 2000 to serve homeless families and subsequently refurbished the units for 35 veterans.
CEO of CITY Furniture, Keith Koenig adds, “Our ongoing partnership with the Camillus House has been an extremely rewarding relationship over the years. To see the direct impact we are making on citizens within our own community is extremely meaningful to everyone in our organization.”
This final phase of the renovation concludes a complete overhaul of this facility, which has been a permanent home to 35 veterans residing in studio and one-bedroom apartments, and another 20 veterans in low demand transitional housing.
The final renovations included:
Renovation of 12 two-and-three-bedroom apartments along with modification of select units to be handicap accessible.
Remodeling of common area spaces on the ground floor, including a teaching kitchen, public restrooms, and residential laundry room.
Creating ground floor office space, sectional roof replacements, waterproofing and exterior painting of the entire facility.
“We’re extremely grateful and humbled by the support of the TD Charitable Foundation, CITY Furniture and Miami-Dade County for helping us bring this project to fruition,” said Hilda M. Fernandez, Camillus House CEO. “This was truly a private/public partnership that will transform the lives of countless individuals for years to come, while helping Camillus House move the needle in our goal to end chronic homelessness in Miami.”
About TD Charitable Foundation
The TD Charitable Foundation is the charitable giving arm of TD Bank, America’s Most Convenient Bank®, one of the 10 largest commercial banking organizations in the United States. Since its inception in 2002, the Foundation has distributed over $243 million through donations to local nonprofits from Maine to Florida. More information on the TD Charitable Foundation is available at https://www.tdbank.com/corporate-responsibility/the-ready-commitment/funding-opportunities/
About CITY Furniture
CITY Furniture plays an integral role in the South Florida community through philanthropy and company sponsored volunteerism. As South Florida’s top-selling furniture retailer, CITY Furniture is an innovative, “green” industry leader and community steward ranked among the nation’s Top 100 Furniture Stores. CITY Furniture operates over 20 showrooms from Miami through Vero Beach, and in Southwest and Central Florida, as well as 14 Ashley HomeStore showrooms as the brand’s Southeast and Southwest Florida licensee. For information: www.cityfurniture.com.
Media Contact: Ginette Grey
786-878-5691 [email protected]