Glenn Fournier
The time and talent given so freely by our wonderful volunteers are treasured resources at Coalition for the Homeless. One such volunteer is Coalition Board member Glenn Fournier, of Fournier & Associates., Inc.
When Glenn was employed by CNL Financial Group, Inc. a number of years ago, he began looking for a way to serve the community, and to "give back" in ways he had not thought about before. Through a friend, Glenn became aware of the Coalition and its mission to address the needs of homeless men, women and children in our community and just "knew it would be a good place to become involved." As he says, "I also knew they needed help." His desire to assist resulted in the election to the Coalition's Board of Directors for a three year term in October 2005, and his re-election in 2008.
Once his decision to assist the Coalition was made, Glenn became instrumental in obtaining the monetary support of CNL and encouraging their involvement in other ways. When he subsequently started his own company a few years later, Glenn became even more committed to the Coalition's future. Once Orange County and the City of Orlando announced their much-appreciated capital funding support of the Coalition's upcoming Men's Service Center (MSC), Glenn quickly recognized that our nonprofit would need the assistance of someone well-versed in real estate development, project management, negotiation, contractual agreements, and the myriad specifics necessary to bring a major construction project to fruition.
Glenn also believed that using his professional expertise to lead and accomplish this historic and much-anticipated project was how he "could make a significant contribution to the Coalition." Needless to say, his fellow Board members, the Coalition staff and our community partners were – and are – eternally grateful!
The rest, as they say, is history. Glenn has worked untold hours leading the charge to move the Coalition's upcoming residential facility for homeless men from conception to reality, with the goal of breaking ground on the MSC in fall 2011. He compares his activities to that of an orchestra leader. "I'm trying to ensure all of the Coalition's needs are met and helping with the key players," says Glenn. He has helped orchestrate the required tri-party agreement between the Coalition, Orange County Government and the City of Orlando; assisted in selecting design professionals; provided design oversight; and has been a resource to all parties during the permitting process. Though Orange County will be responsible for the facility's construction management, we are grateful that Glenn will be right up front when needed.
One last tidbit about this esteemed volunteer...Glenn has a" pure love of sharing real, Cajun cooking with people." And Coalition employees are fortunate to be some of those very people! For a number of years now, Glenn has partnered with another Board member to cook a holiday appreciation luncheon (truly a feast!) for our staff. What can we say, but….it's delicious and we love it!
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