2023 Annual Housing Fair
Community Partners of South Florida teamed up with the Riviera Beach Community Development Corporation to host the Annual Housing Fair at the Riviera Beach Marina Event Center on Saturday, March 4, 2023.
Over 200 Palm Beach County residents attended the event and over 20 different vendors and programs were on hand with resources and information for attendees.
“We really are focused on comprehensive community development,” said Community Partners of South Florida’s Chief Operations Officer, Kelly Powell. “In addition to housing services, we are looking at mental health needs - a huge issue in the community right now - along with our community services.”
In addition to food trucks and face painting, the free and family-friendly event also featured workshops in both English and Spanish on topics such as taxes, pre-purchasing and post-purchasing.
Presented by the Riviera Beach Homebuyer’s Club, the Annual Housing Fair was sponsored by Bank of America, Chase and Citibank.
“We initiated a homebuyer’s program through the Riviera Beach Homebuyer’s Club and we engaged almost 600 people that have gone through our financial literacy program,” said Community Partners of South Florida CEO, Scott Hansel. “350 of those received a pre-purchase counseling certificate to be able to start on the process of buying a home and 30 people right now are pending closing. There’s a lot happening. It’s challenging, but it’s possible.”
The Annual Housing Fair would not have been possible without the hard work and determination of numerous partners, all working on behalf of both their respective organizations and Palm Beach County residents.
“The Riviera Beach Community Development Corporation, Community Partners of South Florida, the Riviera Beach CRA and the city are interested in a total community,” said Riviera Beach CDC’s Executive Director Annetta Jenkins. “Kelly mentioned comprehensive community development and housing is like the foundation of strong families. It's the foundation of healthy neighborhoods."
Community Partners of South Florida is committed to working with families to build strong neighborhoods in which residents thrive and our partners are crucial to our mission.
“We will be focusing on the social determinates of health,” added Powell. “You can't get healthy if you are worried about paying your light bill or you don’t have a house to live in or you’re taking care of your kids and you don’t know if you have the support to get them in childcare so you can work.”
“We believe in investing in people and place and addressing the systems that impact and create obstacles for many of our neighbors.” said Hansel. “We really consider ourselves a comprehensive community development organization focused on all those variables and those variables are all interrelated, they don’t just stand alone.”
For more information on comprehensive community development, affordable housing or how you can get more involved in your community, please reach out to our main office at 561.841.3500 or info@cp-cto.org.
For housing resources, visit cp-cto.org/homeownership or Contact Vice President of Housing Services, Lynda Charles, at lcharles@cp-cto.org or call 561.841.3500 ext. 1014