O

n Sept. 25 at the Broward Convention Center, you
will be able to spend an unforgettable evening
with Admiral Vern Clark (Ret.) who served on the

Joint Chiefs. He was stationed in the Pentagon on 9/11
when it was attacked. Joining the Admiral will be Seal
Team 6 Master Chief Sniper Rick Kaiser, who is Executive
Director of the UDT Seal Team Museum in North
Hutchinson Island, outside of Fort Pierce.

The evening will shed light on homeless veterans and
families with small children who live on the streets in Fort
Lauderdale. Over the past several years, a committed
group of talented service providers, businesses,
organizations and faith based churches have been
working together to eliminate veteran homeless by 2016
and family homeless by 2020. It started with a
conversation with a Navy Special War Operation Group
(SWOG) Seals who were training in Fort Lauderdale and
has grown into a movement within the community.

Almost everyone wants to help, but we really didn’t know
what to do, or more importantly how to do it.

To address these issues, we solicited the help of Broward
College President David Armstrong and Vice President of
Community Affairs Nancy Botero to coordinate a “dream
shop symposium.” Mayor Jack Seiler, County Commissioner
Chip LaMarca and Andy Mitchell, President and CEO of the
Fairwinds Group, began working together to develop a
synergistic approach to help those left behind on the streets
and neighborhoods of Fort Lauderdale This process was
directed by Teri Justice, Broward College Foundation, and
was an effort to build on the Broward County My Way
Home plan. These 25 service providers and business leaders
met at Broward College for almost six months looking to
discover where we are today and to identify the gaps in
services for the homeless population in our community. The
report, available on our website, gave a clear way forward
for the community. The simplification of the Broward

The Landings & Bay Colony

16

Operation Lift Hope - 
Leave No One Behind

Special Feature