Homlessness Seminar Is Saturday

With more than 2,000 Manatee County children homeless on any given day, community members and government leaders will come together Saturday to explore solutions.

The public is invited to “No Place like Home,” a three-hour forum that gets under way at 9 a.m. Saturday at Renaissance on 9^th, 1816 9^th Street W., Bradenton.

Dr. Robert Marbut, an expert on homelessness, is the keynote speaker.

Marbut is a founder of Haven for Hope, a Texas nonprofit that provides shelter for homeless people and connects them with services for finding jobs, health care and permanent housing.

Manatee County Government will co-host the event with the Community Coalition on Homelessness and People Assisting the Homeless.

Adell Erozer, executive director of the Community Coalition on Homelessness, said people often approach her asking how they can make a difference in the homeless situation, especially for children who have no home.

“This forum is an opportunity for community members to work together to explore options that could be adopted in order to increase housing that people can use as they work towards stability and sustainability,” Erozer said.

“Homelessness is a complicated issue with many contributing factors, but one thing that can be done is to increase the number and type of emergency and transitional beds that are available to people in crisis.”

Manatee County Neighborhood Services Director Cheri Coryea said the Saturday forum is “crucial” for anyone impacted by a housing crisis in their life or the lives of people they know.  

For more information on the forum, visit this area of the County’s website, www.mymanatee.org