Homeless Voice Services

The Homeless Voice houses, feeds, and finds jobs for anyone who is homeless. We serve 500 homeless daily and serve over 45,000 meals each month.

 

The Homeless Voice distributes a street newspaper in Florida on street corners of Broward, Dade, Hillsborough, Orange, Polk, and Palm Beach Counties in major cities such as Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa, Miami, and Fort Lauderdale, The Homeless Voice Newspaper has three functions.

1. Educate the public on homelessness and poverty issues
2. Provide temporary employment to those without a job
3. Raise additional funds for the Florida based shelter

 

We have grown into a multifaceted agency that feeds, shelters, and arranges for each homeless person to receive the necessary access to social and noncompulsory religious services to enable a return to a self-reliant lifestyle.

 

For the small percentage of people incapable of living independent lives, we provide a caring and supportive environment for their long-term residency.

 

The COSAC Foundation was originally established in May 1997 to partner with other social service agencies, in the area, that provided help to the homeless population. COSAC also independently feeds the homeless or anyone in need of food. The COSAC Foundation opened it’s first homeless shelter in 1999 and named it COSAC Quarters (the shelter money was raised by spare change). We have grown into a multifaceted agency that feeds, shelters, and arranges for each homeless person to receive the necessary access to social and noncompulsory religious services to enable a return to a self-reliant lifestyle. And for the small percentage of people incapable of living independent lives, we provide a caring and supportive environment for their long-term residency.

 

 

 The above video helps to illustrate our scope of care for the homeless population here in South Florida.

 

To provide the homeless population access to shelter, food, employment opportunities or referrals, as well as access to social services all toward the aim of enabling their return, if possible, to self-reliance.

To accomplish this COSAC is the hub organization. We developed the Homeless Voice Newspaper, a COSAC funding tool, which has been responsible for employing homeless people and therefore giving them income to survive on the streets. Also, the “The Homeless Voice” is the means by which we advocate on behalf of the homeless population and to educate the public as to the true nature of homelessness and ways we can all work to eliminate the bias against this sector of our population and to help empower those affected by homelessness to regain or maintain their self-esteem and sense of self-worth during their transition through difficult times. The Homeless Voice became the official name of our homeless division, which operates four facilities in Broward County. We created the COSAC Quarters Hotel for the poor, a hotel with 21 rooms that serve the indigent or people with limited income. The clients receive three meals a day at Arnolds Café, named after the great homeless advocate Arnold Abbott. Another agency is the Day Labor Company, employees of which match an outside company labor request with a suitable shelter resident. Lastly, COSAC Foundation decided to become the South Florida County Food pantry. This service helps us provide food for those “nearly homeless” families.

To end discrimination against the homeless population and to develop such an effective network of services that we greatly reduce the time a person or family emerges out of homelessness back into self-reliance.