A New Center for Women and Families Is Rising in Parramore: 112 Beds, a Clinic and Childcare Under One Roof
The Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida has broken ground on its Foundations Project at 18 North Terry Avenue — a 105,000-square-foot Center for Women and Families that will lift the Coalition's daily capacity from about 800 people to 1,160.
Construction is underway in Parramore on the largest expansion in the Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida's history. City and county leaders broke ground on Wednesday, Oct. 28, on the Foundations Project — a new Center for Women and Families at the Coalition's campus at 18 North Terry Avenue that will encompass more than 105,000 square feet across six storeys and replace an aging facility on the downtown campus. Mayor Buddy Dyer, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings, City Commissioners Shan Rose and Michael Scott and Congressman Maxwell Frost joined Coalition representatives for the groundbreaking, the City of Orlando says.
What rises there is built around keeping families together and services in one place: 112 additional short-term residential beds, more than 20 bridge-housing units with over 75 beds, an on-site health clinic, expanded meal service, and childcare and youth programs under the same roof. The city says the center is expected to expand the Coalition's service capacity by 40 to 50 percent — from about 800 people a day to roughly 1,160 — with housing, healthcare and supportive services arranged as a pathway from crisis to stability for women and families experiencing homelessness.
The money is public and itemized in the city's release: a $10 million investment from the City of Orlando through its Accelerate Orlando initiative, $19.5 million from Orange County through federal community development, disaster recovery and emergency solutions grant programs, and $3 million in federal Community Project Funding secured by Congressman Frost, alongside community partnerships. DeAngelis Diamond is the construction contractor. For a neighborhood that sits in the shadow of downtown's stadiums, the project is the week's biggest local build — Bungalower carried the groundbreaking in its Nov. 2 list of the ten things to know in Orlando — and its doors are aimed at the families Orlando's growth story most often leaves out.
