Leading Miami Coalition For The Homeless Bobbie Ibarra Seeks To Build Greater Community Support Around The Issue

After working everywhere from Citibank to Miami-Dade County to Jungle Island, long-time Miamian Bobbie Ibarra recently took the helm of Miami Coalition for the Homeless.

The organization raises money by selling surplus military equipment and has an invested endowment worth more than $5 million. It disburses that money to a number of groups throughout the community that do everything from offer meals to the homeless to provide shelter to try to get them employed.

Only a few weeks on the job, Ms. Ibarra said she’s looking for a better way to oversee the group’s coalition fund and wants to establish a strategic plan that lines up with the goals of the Homeless Trust, which the coalition helped start.

Miami has garnered attention nationwide for its staggering reduction in homeless, from more than 8,000 to less than 800 living on the streets today.

Ms. Ibarra said it is difficult to pinpoint what’s needed to completely eradicate homelessness, or if it could actually be done, but that increased community support around the issue could help reduce that number.

Finding that support is her primary goal.

"The biggest mark for me would be for there to be a ground flow of community support around the issue," she said. "That’s working with faith-based communities who share like missions, getting parishioners to speak to the issues."

She discussed her plans for the coalition, her thoughts on the City of Miami’s "no-panhandling law" and the controversial panhandling meters with Miami Today staff writer Zachary Fagenson.To read the entire issue of Miami Today online, subscribe to e-Miami Today. To read this profile article in its entirety, subscribe to e-MiamiToday. With the e-MiamiToday you will be able to read the entire contents of Miami Today online exactly as it appears in print. Or order this issue, to receive a regular printed copy of this week’s Miami Today. You may also subscribe to the printed edition of Miami Today to receive the newspaper every week by mail. If you are reading this in Miami Today’s “Online Archive” as an archived web page and would like to see the entire article that was published, call Miami Today, 305-358-2663 and ask for the Circulation Department.   Top Front Page About Miami Today Put Your Message in Miami Today Contact Miami Today © Copyright 2011 Miami Today designed and produced by Green Dot Advertising and Marketingvar gaJsHost = ((“https:” == document.location.protocol) ? “https://ssl.” : “http://www.”);document.write(unescape(“%3Cscript src='” + gaJsHost + “google-analytics.com/ga.js’ type=’text/javascript’%3E%3C/script%3E”));var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker(“UA-4990655-1”);pageTracker._initData();pageTracker._trackPageview();