Grand Avenue Economic Community Development Corp.
Ending Homeless through Permanent Housing and Jobs
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
We are working to end homelessness in our community by providing permanent supportive housing and employment opportunities to the homeless and those precariously housed. We also provide a drop in center for homeless and very low income persons who have severe mental illness.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Safe Haven at Maxwell Garden
The Safe Haven program within Maxwell Garden provides permanent supportive housing to chronically homeless persons with mental illness in a traditional single room occupancy environment, i.e. shared kitchen and bathrooms. Services are provided on a 24 hour basis. Most residents enter the program without income.
Maxwell Terrace and Maxwell Garden Apartments
These programs provide over 500 units of permanent housing to formerly single homeless persons in our community. A majority of the persons living in our housing have disabilities, both physical and mental. Without the availability of our housing, these persons would be living on the street.
Sobiks Cafe at Maxwell Garden
This program provides training and employment to formerly homeless and low income persons. It is part of the Sobik's Sub Franchise which was granted to us by Sobiks. We also partner with Starbucks through Catalyst Kitchen and provide Starbucks products through the We Proudly Serve Program. The shop is open from 11:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and serves lunch and Starbucks products to customers. It also provides catering.
Pathlight Kitchen
Pathlight Kitchen is our program that provides training and employment for formerly homeless and very low income persons in our community through culinary education in a training kitchen environment. It is located at Maxwell Terrace.
RESTORE
Provides supportive services to formerly chronically homeless residents along with housing.
Employment Center
The Pathlight HOME Employment Center provides employment assistance to Pathlight HOME residents as well as the Greater Orlando Area. Services include resume & cover letter writing, professional seminars, weekly recruitment and 1:1 support from Employment Counselors. The Employment Center is open Mondays-Fridays 9am-6pm. Closed 12-1pm daily.
Pathways Drop In Center
Drop In Center for Persons with Mental Illness living in the Central Florida area.
Where we work
External reviews

Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsNumber of homeless participants engaged in housing services
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Homeless people, Low-income people
Related Program
Maxwell Terrace and Maxwell Garden Apartments
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
These numbers represent unduplicated persons served on any given day of the year. It does not represent the total number of persons served during the year.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
1) Reduce the number of persons sleeping on the street in our community 2) Assist formerly homeless persons with maintaining permanent housing 3) Residents experience increases in quality of living and income 3) Do all of the above with maximum cost savings to the community
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
1) Provide affordable, decent housing for formerly homeless persons 2) Provide supportive services to our residents, as well as leverage community resources to provide additional contracted supportive services to our residents.3) Provide economic opportunities through culinary training and employment to our residents and very low and low income residents of the community through our programs, Sobik's and Pathlight Kitchen. 4) Provide social and economic opportunities to low income and homeless persons with severe mental illness through our Pathways Drop In Center program.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
1) Operating and managing over 500 affordable, decent permanent housing units for the homeless in Central Florida 2) Expertise to develop additional affordable, decent permanent housing units for the homeless in Central Florida 3) Expertise to provide supportive services to chronically homeless persons in Central Florida 4) Expertise to provide economic opportunities through culinary training with our three kitchens and culinary staff 5)Operating and managing a drop in center for consumers with severe mental illness.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
We have just begun the measurement process. We have determined that we are housing chronically homeless persons at an average annual cost of $13,500 per person which includes provided supportive services on site. This cost is approximately $5,000 less than the average cost of other supportive housing programs in our community as calculated by the Central Florida Commission on Homelessness in its 2018 report.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
The people we serve tell us they find data collection burdensome
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Grand Avenue Economic Community Development Corp.
Board of directorsas of 07/26/2023
Ms. Jann Rigell
Envolve Pharmacy Solutions
Term: 2023 - 2024
Norweida Maxwell
Community Volunteer
Larri Thatcher
Legal Aid Society of OCBA
Jann Rigell
Envolve Pharmacy Solutions
Ladd Fassett, Esq.
Fasset, Anthony & Taylor, P.A.
George Hodges
TD Bank
Laura Whitfield
United Way
Velvet Greene
Express Scripts, Inc.
Michelle Howard
The MVK Group
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
No data