Lee County Homeless Coalition has a new leader, focused mission

There’s a new leader in the fight against homelessness in Southwest Florida,

Therese Everly became the executive director of the Lee County Homeless Coalition last week, and she has fresh ideas for how the community can come together to make real change.

Everly hopes her background will provide a unique perspective, having worked in real estate and currently serving on the Lee Health board of directors.

She says she wants to put more emphasis on homeless prevention by lifting up the people and families that may be on the verge of becoming homeless before it happens.

She says more money is coming into the community due to the CARES Act and the American Rescue Plan Act, so she plans to have those dollars put to good use in Lee County.

Everly believes one of the county’s main problems to be a lack of communication among the different agencies that serve the homeless.

“There are so many great agencies working out there,” Everly explained. “So my goal is to just help them collaborate and convene and make us all move forward in a more impactful way. It is impactful work, but we’re trying to increase access, we’re trying to scale it.”

Everly says she takes this new job very seriously and wants to ensure the community is not just working to put roofs over people’s heads, but also providing them the services they need to keep that roof.

For more information on the Lee County Homeless Coalition click here.