Jolina Tabet, Grace Cutié, and Valentina Ventresca-Narvaez. {Courtesy}
By Faran Fagen
Like many high school students, Coral Glades High School junior Joline Tabet got a side job at a fast food restaurant to earn some work experience and pocket a little extra cash.
What she didn’t count on was forging relationships with the homeless men and women who frequented the restaurant and turning that experience into a citywide movement to aid people without housing in Coral Springs.
“I witnessed the raw experience of their everyday struggles,” Tabet said. “Learning about their lack of access to resources and their reliance on each other showed me that everyone in the community can make a difference.”
Tabet, 16, of Tamarac, and fellow juniors Grace Cutie, of Margate, and Valentina Ventresca-Narvaez, of Coral Springs, run a homelessness awareness campaign called House of Hope.
Their main objective is to spread awareness of the unattended issue of homelessness and how it can negatively impact the welfare of people. Through the Coral Glades Health Occupations Students of America or HOSA Club, they’ve collected over $1,000 worth of donations and involved over 10,000 students since November.
They continue to advertise volunteering at the local Chabad of Coral Springs every other Wednesday and encourage community members to donate anything they can.
“As we researched further, we realized how extensive the issue was and recognized that it needed to be addressed, if not by authority figures, then by us,” said Cutie, 17. “We saw that doing things such as collecting donations or raising money made a world of difference and decided to expand the project even more.”
After taking their House of Hope project to competition, they won first in the region and hope to have such success at the upcoming state competition and hope to be able to make nationals to broaden their project reach and make as much of a difference in many communities as they can.
“This project made me realize how serious of an issue homelessness is, and I grew to care more because it made me want to make even more of a serious change within my community,” said Ventresca-Narvaez, 17.
The girls were motivated by what they saw as the lack of recognition homelessness receives throughout healthcare and the government.
Grace Cutié, Valentina Ventresca-Narvaez, and Jolina Tabet distribute goods for their nonprofit “House of Hope.” {Courtesy}
“It showed how much of a difference we can make, even if we don’t always realize it,” Cutie said. “By just donating three bags of clothes, there was an automatic sense of fulfillment, and it showed the ability my friends and I have to positively impact those who experience homelessness.”
House of Hope is developed under Coral Glades High School’s HOSA (Health Occupations Students of America) club under the leadership of Advisor and Coach Alison Madej.
The girls have used the club to reach members of the school as well as take this project to competitions. The homeless community is seen to be related to many health disparities, and using the school’s health-oriented club helps develop future advocates for the community.
To Tabet, the highlight of House of Hope has been enrolling members and volunteers.
“Through developing our project for competition, we found that we have reached over 10,000 people with our campaign,” said Tabet. “Knowing that I’ve been a part of such change continues to bring me hope for a positively changing environment.”
They’ve reached outside community members through their Instagram @house_of_hope22 and encouraged current students to share the vital information they have learned about the homeless community to spread maximum awareness.
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Author Profile
- Faran Fagen, who teaches high school journalism, graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a Journalism degree and from Florida Atlantic University with a degree in Education. He's worked at The Palm Beach Post, SunSentinel, and MLB.com. He lives in Coral Springs with his wife and two children. Oh, and his three dogs -- who all think that they're his favorite.
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