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EXCELLENCE OF CHAPMAN PARTNERSHIP STARTS AT TOP

January 22, 2014

Published on: Miami Today, Week of Thursday, December 19, 2013
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By any measure, Chapman Partnership, which has been helping the county’s homeless with a comprehensive support program for nearly two decades, meets high standards of excellence – and that excellence, says President & CEO H. Daniel Vincent, starts at the top.

“This organization’s excellence starts with our board of trustees,” Mr. Vincent says, “following the model of our founder, Alvah Chapman,” former publisher of The Miami Herald, chairman of Knight- Ridder newspapers, and a consummate humanitarian.

“It’s wonderful to have leadership like ours, which includes corporate managers from some of the larger companies in Miami- Dade. They want to make sure that quality is paramount in the services brought to people coming through our doors. They set the norm for our 170 employees and more than 19,000 volunteers and donors.”

The numbers tell the story. Since its doors opened in 1995, Chapman Partnership has assisted more than 96,000 of the region’s homeless, including 19,000 children, and guided more than 60,000 to selfsufficiency through its Miami and Homestead locations.

“We serve 800,000 meals each year,” Mr. Vincent says. “We have 800 beds between our two locations, which run between 98% and 112% occupancy. On average, 44% of our residents are families with children. There are 250 youngsters with us on any given night.”

One of those youngsters was Antonio Dixon, now a defensive tackle for the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles, who stayed at Chapman Partnership on three occasions growing up.

Services provided include emergency housing; meals, health, dental and psychiatric care; daycare; job training and placement, and assistance with securing stable housing.

“Partnerships are key to achieving excellence and leadership in our community,” Mr. Vincent says. Among major partners are Jackson Memorial Health System, Miami-Dade Public Schools, Citrus Health Network and Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust, of which Chapman Partnership is a private-sector partner.

Chapman Partnership, which has been cited by two US Housing & Urban Development secretaries, is visited by officials from around the country, drawn by its success rate of 63% in taking people off the street and finding for them a secure income and sustainable housing. That’s well above the national average. Of that 63%, 40% have gone on to unsubsidized, market- rate housing.

Operating on an annual $14 million budget, Chapman Partnership is a zero-debt organization that has never been in the red. Charity Navigator, America’s largest charity evaluator, provides another indicator of excellence – it has awarded Chapman Partnership three consecutive four-star ratings, a status achieved by only 11% of US nonprofits.

Chapman Partnership has weathered a struggling economy, Mr. Vincent says, and “while layoffs and lack of skills remain obstacles, we’re placing people in jobs – with an average hourly wage of $10.

“There are always going to be people who find themselves without a home, but they do not need to live on the streets.”