On your mark, get set, ruffle those feathers, duckies!
Friday marked Pathway Homes’ second Duck Race at Island H20 Water Park. These ducks made quite the splash fundraising to prevent homelessness in the Central Florida area.
More than 7,000 people face homelessness in the Central Florida area, and Pathway Homes combats it everyday. Pathway Homes provides housing and supportive services to adults with serious mental illness and other co-occurring disabilities in Central Florida.
Pathway Homes partners with Central Florida Homeless Services Network (HSN) to use funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Central Florida Foundation, Osceola County and other public and private partners to move individuals from homelessness into permanent stable housing.
Duck Race 2022 had an amazing turn out of more than 700 ducks sponsored in the race. With many public faces at the event, such as quirky and witty emcee Tom Sorrells, News 6 Chief Meteorologist, Dr. Silica Lambert-Woodard, Pathway Homes CEO, Brought together an amazing group to put on this event to combat and bring awareness on the homelessness concern in the area.
“More than 7,000 local residents of Central Florida battle with mental illness and are un-housed, and we need to take a stand,” Lambert-Woodard. “We have been here since 2014 and our mission is to bring hope to those individuals. None of this would be possible without the aid of our commissioners and law enforcement. Housing is a right, not a privilege.”
Both Kissimmee Police Chief Jeff O’Dell and Osceola Sheriff Marcos Lopez, spoke on the cause Friday.
“This cause makes a great impact in our community,” O’Dell said. “Without this, many of our residents suffer, it also keeps the crime rate down.”
As these ducks raced down the lazy river, the distanced each traveled was more symbolic than just a race. Every sponsored duck in the race made a difference. Standing by Pathway Homes’ objective, “Having a permanent home makes the difference.”
