2O21 Florida Impact Award Recipient: GL Homes
The Florida Impact Award recognizes a business or nonprofit organization that has created a specific project or body of work whose impact is currently transforming the future of its Region or beyond and has the potential to transform Florida as a whole.
What better way to start the day off right than with a good night’s sleep? That’s the philosophy behind the GL Homes Good Night’s Sleep program.
Created in January 2015, Good Night’s Sleep provides all the furnishings to make a house a home for people transitioning from homelessness to independent living. Founded in 1976, GL Homes (www.glhomes.com) is a Florida homebuilder.
GL stands for good luck and that’s exactly what the company strives to spread throughout our state. GL Homes believe so strongly in its philanthropic mission, the company created a separate website to shine a spotlight on the efforts of its charity partners in Florida and beyond.
The mission of GL Homes Philanthropy (www.glhomesphilanthropy.com) is to make a difference in the communities where its employees live and work. Through GL Homes’ collaboration with its nonprofit partners, clients who were formerly homeless or at-risk of homelessness are given the creature comforts and essential items that many of us take for granted when moving into a new home. Once a client is ready to transition to independent living, Good Night’s Sleep ensures that each person has a new mattress, box spring, linens, towels, pots and pans, cleaning supplies, a TV, glassware, dishes and small kitchen appliances (e.g., coffee pot). The Good Night’s Sleep program specifically works with nonprofits that assign a case manager to each client for at least one year after leaving the shelter/facility to ensure client stability and success. In financial contributions alone, GL Homes’ Good Night’s Sleep and its sister initiative, Make a House a Home, have donated $400,000 to charities in Palm Beach, Pasco, St. Lucie and Collier Counties. Donations of high-quality furniture and Whirlpool appliances from GL model homes and offices has totaled an additional $250,000 and counting. Donated items (no more than two years old) include: refrigerators, microwave ovens, desks, coffee tables, lighting, tables and chairs, artwork, sofas, rugs and patio furniture.
Some of the nonprofits that received donations through Good Night’s Sleep: The Lord’s Place and Gulfstream Goodwill Industries (both in Palm Beach County), Place of Hope (Palm Beach and Martin Counties), Boys & Girls Clubs of St. Lucie County, Youth Haven and St. Matthew’s House (both in Collier County), and Habitat for Humanity of East & Central Pasco County. As new home construction expands in Florida, GL Homes Philanthropy will continue Good Night’s Sleep, actively seeking out nonprofits that serve the homeless and those at risk of homelessness.
Full List of Nominees:
AARP
African American Chamber of Commerce of Central Florida
Ben Crump Law
Central Florida Community Arts
Florida Alliance for Simplified Funding Strategies
GL Homes
Institute for Sustainable Communities
Northeast Florida STEM2HUB Ecosystem
PNC Bank
Quantum Foundation
Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading
Tamiami Angel Funds
The Miami Foundation