FSHC Tampa Summit
The Florida Supportive Housing Coalition hosted its first regional summit in July at the USF CAMLS Center on July 9th. This innovative new format brought together housing experts and leaders across the greater Tampa Bay area for a day full of discussion on Storm Preparedness and Disaster Recovery, two topics that are very relevant to the region considering the impact of hurricanes over the past few years.
The morning kicked off with Tampa Fire Chief Barbara Tripp welcoming our attendees and sponsors, followed by a powerful session lead by Amy Foster with the City of St. Petersburg highlighting the successes of the Sunrise St. Pete initiative to strategically deploy $160 million in disaster recovery funding and sharing how communities can navigate complex federal funding processes, accelerate aid delivery and address equity in disaster response. FSHC’s Vice President, Susan Morgan, led an engaging panel of experts from the Tampa Bay areas focused on best practices before, during and after storms occur. They also shared key strategies to plan smarter, recovery faster and build stronger developments that can withstand the storms the Tampa Bay region endure each year.
Following our morning plenary sessions, FSHC and its conference attendees welcomed Bemetra Simmons, President and CEO of the Tampa Bay Partnership for her Keynote Speech: Storm-Tested, Future Ready. Bemetra called on the Tampa Bay region to move beyond rebuilding and toward rethinking how we invest in long-term resilience. She explored the critical role housing plays in protecting the mental, physical, and financial wellbeing of residents and shared the importance of regional preparedness, and the strategic actions we must take to ensure a more resilient Tampa Bay.
In the afternoon, our breakout sessions kicked off with our “Funding – Where’s the Money” panel which brought together bankers, syndicators, and public finance experts to help attendees discover how to access $50 Million of funding available through the Affordable Housing Program Grant. The other breakout session focused on “Insurance on the Frontlines” and provided insider trips from insurance experts on what really matters before, during and after a disaster. Our final two breakout sessions of the day highlighted the Impact of Hurricanes on Elder Housing Stability, where a panel shared the impact of hurricanes on the elderly community and how we can improve our preparation for those serving this vulnerable community; In our Blueprint Before the Storm breakout session, panelist shared the best way to develop a playbook to keep operations moving when everything else stands still.
Our final session of the day was led by Doug Griesenauer, Vice President of Community Impact with the United Way Suncoast. His session “Addressing our Ongoing Storm: ALICE and Financial Hardship’s Impact on Resiliency” explored how many people are struggling in the Tampa Bay area, the impact this has on resiliency and what we can do to address these needs.
FSHC wants to express its gratitude to our Sponsors, Speakers, and Attendees for what was a successful day of learning and collaborating on an issue that is always prevalent in the Tampa Bay Region. Events like these would not be possiblewithout everyone’s continued support and engagement.
Next up, we have our Ft. Lauderdale Summit with a focus on Behavioral Health and Supportive Housing at the Urban League of Broward County on October 7th, followed by our Policy focused Jacksonville summit at the Florida BlueConference Center on November 6th. Register today to make sure you do not miss out on more key discussions around Supportive Housing!
