FORT MYERS, Fla. (May 24, 2013) – In conjunction with its annual Father’s Day festivities, the Housing Authority of the City of Fort Myers will be holding an essay contest for youth who want to nominate their fathers for the organization’s Father of Year Award.
Explaining why their father should be Father of the Year, all participating students should include with their essay a cover page with their name, age, grade and the name of their father. Essays should also be typed, doubled spaced and stapled in the upper left-hand corner.
The contest is open to all students in Lee County between first and 10th grade. Students in grades 1 through 5 should submit a 100-word essay, while grades 6 through 8 should submit 150 words and 9 through ten submit 200 words.
Please submit essays to the HACFM’s CSS office suite #103, located at 4224 Renaissance Preserve Way in Fort Myers, on or before Saturday, June 1.
This year’s Father’s Day Event will be held on Saturday, June 15 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Clemente Park located at 1936 Henderson Avenue in Fort Myers. The event will be filled with a variety of fun and entertainment for the entire family including a BBQ cook-off, a youth basketball tournament, youth games, live entertainment and more. All children interested in playing in the youth basketball tournament must be between 8 and 13 years old and register to participate.
As part of President Obama’s Fatherhood and Mentoring Initiative, the HACFM’s annual Father’s Day Event is a nationwide day of events encouraged by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The Fatherhood and Mentoring Initiative partners with the Administration for Children and Families, White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse, fathers, mothers, family-serving organizations and other leaders from across the country who wish to be positive role models and mentors for the children in their lives and communities.
Federal partners of this year’s Father’s Day Event include the U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Justice.
Currently, the HACFM serves more than 3,500 low-income families throughout the greater Fort Myers community. The HACFM provides high quality, stable and sustainable housing and related services to people in need. In addition, the staff works diligently in providing programs such as Resident Services/Family Self-Sufficiency and HOPE VI Community Supportive Services. The goal is to help families become self-sufficient, therefore strengthening the communities that use public and private resources efficiently and effectively.
The HACFM serves as a catalyst for increasing access to safe, affordable housing, and helping develop, preserve and revitalize communities through affordable rental housing. The agency is dedicated to empowering families with the means to become as self-sufficient as possible, encouraging and facilitating movement toward financial independence beyond the need for HACFM services, while recognizing the needs and limitations of the mentally and physically disabled, aged and infirmed.
For more information or for assistance, please call 239-332-3825.
