For most of us, we have a safe place that we can call home. Sadly, that’s not the case for everyone. On Thursday, the community came together to support and celebrate an organization whose focus is to provide opportunities for those without a safe place to call home and for those that have obstacles – obstacles that can be overcome with some help. That organization is Hope Partnership, and with the official opening of its Hope Commons facility in Downtown Kissimmee, there is hope, through its partnerships in a centralized location, that there will be opportunities for lives to be changed.

Hope Partnership works to provide affordable housing and other necessary solutions for those in need in the Osceola community, and with the official opening of its Hope Commons facility, it can provide those solutions from one central location. Other organizations that will provide services from the downtown Kissimmee Hope Commons are iBuild, A Helping Hand Counseling Center, IDignity, and Habitat for Humanity Greater Orlando & Osceola County.

“We need partners and we need support,  and we need people around us to be a part of it. We have so many volunteer opportunities. We’re going to need people in this space to be welcomers in our lobby and to talk with people and welcome them and help to figure out what they need and what they’re looking for,” said CEO Reverend Mary Lee Downey.

All of this doesn’t happen without funding and volunteerism. Congressmen Darren Soto, looks to have secured $1 million for Hope Partnership, Commissioner is bringing financial support to Hope Partnership, while State Representative Kristen Arrington has been working on $500,000 being allocated from the State budget. Those dollars are dependent on Florida Governor DeSantis’ signature. Those funds however, according to Mary Lee Downey, are not enough to offset th enormous need in our community  – a need that continues to grow.

“There have been a lot of community partners, and Reverend Mary Lee Downey has built a wonderful team –  but they need the resources to get the work done. As we mentioned earlier, it really does take everybody, it really takes a village, and it’s great because Mary and her team have helped so many. People that call our office that have issues, they’re the ones that help them, so it’s great that we’re all going to be down here in Downtown Kissimmee together,” State Representative for District 46 Kristen Arrington shared.

“When we has the opportunity to step in be able to come into this space, it has been such a blessing. Our team has been growing, and we didn’t have enough space for everybody, and we needed a strong dignified place for people to meet with their case manager one-on-one, and now we do,” Reverend Mary Lee Downey shared with Positively Osceola after the Hope Commons ribbon cutting.

To be a part of what Hope Partnership is doing, whether that’s in volunteering or contributing financially, just go to thehopepartnership.org.