Every day, hundreds of homeless and near-homeless individuals access our shower, clothing, kitchen with warm meals, mail services and an array of other programming through Camillus House Day Center. Mr. Francisco Perez (Age 38) used to be one of them.
During April 2024, he entered the holistic and intricate system of Camillus care network via our Day Center. Through the Day Center program, people sleeping on the streets can access basic-needs services while seeking to address the multitudes of personal challenges to overcome. 
That is why this onsite drop-in programming is popularly known as Oasis for Hope in the Miami-Dade community.
Towards June 2024, Francisco found employment at Hyatt Regency, thanks to the persistent support from Ms. Maria Clark, Camillus House Employment Specialist along with Camillus House case managers who helped him strive towards meeting his career and housing goals.
While he continued pursuing his goals to find his footing, Francisco was temporarily housed in Camillus and by December 2024, he had made a tremendous transformation into self-sufficiency, finding himself a stable place to live in.
Today he shares an apartment with his friends, and he is saving every penny so that he can be reunited with his whole family – and when that happens, it will be a special heartfelt reunion!
To prepare for his financial independence, Francisco sharpened his life skills through CamYOU (short for Camillus YOUniversity) under the aegis of Workforce Development programming with courses under Financial Literacy and Budgeting alongside an array of other diversified job training sessions.
At our main campus at Camillus, everything from Personal Budgeting to Computer Literacy (Computers 101), Household Management, Housing Search, Preparing for an Interview, GED, Cooking 101, and many more life skills programming are offered. The sessions are grouped around four key areas: Core Needs and Resources; Independent Living; Job Readiness; and Social & Personal Development for Healthy Living.
Camillus House is on a mission to amplify our services and diversify the plethora of workforce programming we provide to meet the critical needs of our growing population as evident by the fact that the number of unique clients we serve each year through our Day Center has significantly increased from around 2,500 clients to as many as over 4,000 clients in just a period of five years. By supporting the Camillus House Workforce Development Initiative, our passionate community partners have helped close the gap in community need by ensuring that many more successful job placements are effectuated for those previously experiencing homelessness.
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