Casa Familia hosted their All Jazzed Up Luncheon at the Coral Reef Yacht Club in Coconut Grove on Tuesday, July 13 featuring jazz music by bass player Alex Perez. The luncheon was held in support of the development of the Village of Casa Familia, a first of its kind affordable housing community designed to serve adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in Miami Dade County.
Special Needs Advocate for Miami Dade County, Susan Holtzman spoke on behalf of the Mayor Levine Cava. Executive Director of the Center for Autism and Related Disabilities, Dr. Michael Alessandri gave impassioned remarks about the South Florida IDD Community and said, “This organization and their aspirations are driven by love, choice, inclusion and community.”
“I plan to apply for an apartment and I hope to be able to live at the Village of Casa Familia,” said prospective resident Eric Jawitz in his remarks during the luncheon. “I currently live at home with my parents now I would like to live in my own apartment, but I don’t make enough money to pay for rent and get the help I need.”
More than 60 supporters of the Village of Casa Familia attend ed the Luncheon including Executive Director, Dr. Anay Abraham Senior Housing Director, Debbie Lawrence and board members and friends Marc Plonskier, Tom and Marie Ilene Whitehurst, Natasha Lowell, Bonnie Crabtree, Tracey Wilson Mourning, Michele Wiseheart, Erbi Blanco True, Irene White, Mike Allen, Annie Rose, Sonia Plana, Elena Bluntzer, Linda Jackson, Deveni Hodges Gibson, Susan Tarbe, Janis Cheezem along with prospective residents Eric Jawitz, Alex Perez, Allen Feldman, Carolina Rossel Jackie Rose and Nami Tandon.