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The governing body of Lotus Endowment Fund Inc., the supporting foundation benefitting the nation’s largest homeless shelter for women, youth and children, is expanding its board with the addition of two longtime supporters who will help advance the expansion of the shelter’s services and impact.
The Lotus Endowment Fund, which supports Miami’s Lotus House shelter, has elected philanthropist, world-renowned model, and wellness advocate Gisele Bündchen, and prominent land use attorney Javier Aviñó as its newest board members.
Bündchen, a passionate philanthropist and dedicated advocate for women and children, is a Miami resident who recently donated $1 million to fund a new playground at the Children’s Village, a new facility under development across the street from the Lotus House shelter which will address the health, educational, therapeutic, and social needs of children and youth.
Aviñó has been a longtime supporter of Lotus House through his role as the Land Development & Government Relations Practice Group Leader at Miami-based law firm Bilzin Sumberg. The firm has provided pro bono services to Lotus House for more than a decade, including spearheading all facets of land use, zoning and permitting, and tax credit financing for the development of the new Children’s Village and Lotus Village.
“Gisele and Javier have been tireless supporters of Lotus House who have each made a direct impact on our growth and success, so their election to our board is a natural progression,” said Lotus House founder Constance Collins. “Lotus House has made tremendous progress toward ending homelessness for women, youth and children in Miami, and that mission will expand to preventing homelessness as we launch an innovative new national model for a neighborhood children’s resource center in the Children’s Village this coming year.”
Since opening its doors with 34 shelter beds in 2006, Lotus House has grown to serve more than 11,000 women, children, and youth. In 2018, the organization debuted the state-of-the-art Lotus Village, which has set national standards for trauma-informed shelter design, operation, and programming with capacity for up to 500 women and children. Today, more than 80 percent of the shelter’s guests successfully exit the shelter system following their time at Lotus Village, far exceeding the national average of between 60 and 65 percent.
The Children’s Village, now under construction across the street from the shelter, will further the nonprofit’s mission of ending – and preventing – homelessness. Centered on the educational, wellness, and special needs of children and youth, the five-story, state-of-the-art facility will expand Lotus House’s reach into the surrounding community.
Features will include a preschool for children ages three to five, afterschool and summer programs, child and family therapeutic services, a wide range of programming in science, technology, literacy, and the create arts, access to healthcare and social services, a playground, and a vast array of community resources and activities.
“We are ending and preventing homelessness in the Children’s Village by investing in children – they are our future,” Constance Collins added. “We are more than halfway through our $25 million capital campaign, and we continue seeking philanthropic support from the community for this life-changing project.”
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