What's New

Project Homeless Connect

The City of Orlando, Orange County and Homeless Services Network of Central Florida are co-sponsoring the fourth annual Downtown Project Homeless Connect on Friday, December 4, 2009, from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. at the Downtown Recreation Center, 649 West Livingston Street, next to the Amway Arena.  Project Homeless Connect is a one-day, one-stop event to provide a broad range of services to people experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness.

Census Bureau Jobs

The U.S. Census Bureau is recruiting temporary, part-time census takers for the 2010 Census. (See flyer.)  These short-term jobs offer good pay, flexible hours, paid training, and reimbursement for authorized work-related expenses, such as mileage incurred while conducting census work. Best of all, census takers work right in their own communities.

It's easy to apply. Call the Orlando Local Census Office at 407-473-6130 and schedule an appointment to take the employment test. You may also call the toll-free Jobs Line at 1-866-861-2010 or visit the website www.2010censusjobs.gov. Testing will be conducted every Friday at the HOLA Office at Primrose Plaza, 595 N Primrose Drive, Orlando through the end of February, 2010.  The Dr. James R. Smith Community Center, 1723 Bruton Boulevard, Orlando, is also a testing facility.  .

New Prescription Drug Card
The City of Orlando and the National League of Cities offer a new discount prescription drug card for Orlando residents.

Florida Housing Help

Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer invite you to participate in Florida Housing Help. Florida Housing Help is a community outreach program designed to educate and assist families facing foreclosure. The event will be hosted by District 2 Commissioner Tony Ortiz on Saturday, November 7, 2009, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Engelwood Neighborhood Center located at 6123 La Costa Drive. This free workshop will include legal assistance, information on foreclosure assistance programs and the opportunity to meet with mortgage lenders, Housing and Urban Development certified counselors, local housing authorities and credit counseling services. For more information or to register, please call 850.413.3089 or 1.877.MY.FL.CFO (1.877.693.5236). Registration is not required.

Economic Green Leaf Program

During these tough economic times, many local businesses have been challenged in terms of finance, growth and opportunity. A new statewide pilot program, the Economic Gardening Loan Program, is designed to provide the help that small businesses need to expand, creating jobs and opportunities for our residents.

Businesses with 10-50 employees and annual revenues of $1-25 million are invited to apply for this pilot loan program which offers eligible businesses the opportunity to receive a low interest loan of up to $250,000-and the applications are being administered right here in Orlando.

The Black Business Investment Fund of Orlando was recently selected to be the administrator of the State’s Economic Gardening Loan Program. Businesses do not need to be minority-owned to qualify. For more information, visit bbif.com or call 407.649.4780.

Upgrade Your Connections

On November 18, 2009, the City’s Purchasing & Materials Management Division will be participating in a vendor networking event titled “Upgrade Your Connections.” The reverse trade show is a unique opportunity for local businesses to meet and connect with City of Orlando purchasing professionals and other governmental agencies throughout Central Florida. Participants will gain important insight and opportunities on how to do business with government. The event will be held at the Rachel D. Murrah Civic Center in Winter Park from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The reverse trade show is sponsored by the Central Florida Chapter of the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing. More information is available at nigp-cfc.org.

Training Workshops for Organizations
The Office of Neighborhood & Community Affairs offers technical assistance and capacity-building workshops to neighborhood organizations, schools and nonprofit organizations. Workshops are free of charge. Call 407.246.3787 to reserve your seat at one or more workshops.

Project Planning and Budgeting
This workshop will introduce participants to project management methods, as well as techniques for justifying needed resources, projecting costs, budgeting a project, tracking and controlling work related to the project

Wednesday, December 9, 2009, 3:30 - 5 p.m.
Beardall Senior Center, 800 South Delaney Avenue

Thursday, February 11, 2010, 10 - 11:30 a.m.
Dr. James R. Smith Neighborhood Center, 1723 Bruton Blvd.


Outcome Measures
Outcome measures help organizations assess the impact of their work. Organizations are recognizing the importance of providing evidence that their services are improving the lives of participants, regardless of the size of the organization. While this is not a new philosophy, it is crucial in today's competitive fundraising atmosphere to demonstrate an organization's capacity and performance. This training will provide an overview of the outcome measurement
process, identify specific process steps and provide suggestions for evaluating and using the information.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010 10 - 11:30 a.m.
Callahan Neighborhood Center, 101 North Parramore Avenue

Thursday, March 11, 2010, 10 - 11:30 a.m.
Orlando City Hall (Harvard Room 9th floor)
400 South Orange Avenue

Get Your Buy Local Orlando Membership Card

The Buy Local Orlando campaign is a pro-active and practical approach for connecting the businesses of Orlando with the buying power of the local community. Get your Buy Local Orlando card for FREE at participating merchants, City Hall, Downtown Orlando Information Center, the Disney Entrepreneur Center or by requesting one online at buylocalorlando.net.

By signing up for the Buy Local Orlando card, consumers pledge to support Orlando's local economy and will have access to the following benefits:

• Searchable database of local merchants and businesses
• Instant savings through merchant discounts or offers
• Periodic emails informing of local events, new merchant members and special offers and discounts

When consumers choose to buy locally, those dollars are spent over and over again in the community. Local businesses drive our local economy by creating jobs and opportunities for our residents, circulating money, maintaining property values, generating tax revenue and strengthening our economy.

If you're visiting a Thornton Park business, be sure to take advantage of the FREE parking at the Thornton Park Central parking garage on Monday nights after 6:00 p.m.

Visit BuyLocalOrlando.net for more information and to register your card.

To create more opportunities for local contractors and infuse money into the economy, Mayor Dyer has expedited the bidding of construction projects. The following capital improvement projects are currently advertised on our web site. Visit cityoforlando.net/public_works/projects/proj_bid.html for more information on these projects:

• Z.L. Riley Park Expansion Project
• Eastern Regional Reclaimed Water Distribution System Phase II Transmission
• Eastern Regional Reclaimed Water Distribution System - In-Line Booster Pump Station
• SR 408/400 (1-4) Interchange Pond 6 Modification
• Pinebluff Avenue Drainage Improvements

Florida Attorneys Saving Homes: A Pro Bono Foreclosure Prevention Project "Safe at Home" - is a project designed to assist Florida homeowners who are facing a foreclosure or fear the possibility of foreclosure. The project is NOT designed to assist those who are already in foreclosure. For more information about this program visit
http://www.floridabar.org/tfb/TFBConsum.nsf/basic+view/B84E143F383FF617852574AA004ECC57?OpenDocument.

Orlando Connects: The City is allocating Community Development Block Grant funding to HANDS to administer housing counseling services to Orlando households. These services include one-on-one counseling, pre and post purchase counseling and foreclosure counseling. In addition,  the City amended our Local Housing Assistance Plan to expand the number of agencies we partner with to offer additional foreclosure prevention support for our residents.