Tuesday, August 25
S3 Restaurant, Fort Lauderdale Beach
Broward House has made a difference in the lives of people living with HIV and AIDS for nearly 30 years, and the volunteers who help further Broward House’s mission have been involved in 
the greater Broward County LGBT community for just as long, if not longer. These people make an impact not just through the work they do but through their power to love and care about people in need. Four special community advocates and Broward House volunteers will be honored on Tuesday, August 25 at Broward House’s Spirit of Hope Grand Reception.
Join the honorees and hundreds of civic-minded community members at S3 Restaurant (505 N. Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd.) from 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. for an evening of recognition, where Broward House and the community say thanks to this year’s Spirit of Hope honorees. These honorees have made a special impact on Broward House and have worked to make Broward County a better place for all segments of the LGBT community.
The Spirit of Hope grand reception will include food and drinks, live music, a silent auction, and dancing. Funds raised from ticket sales and the silent auction will go straight to Broward House so they can continue to provide top-notch social and health services to patients and families dealing with HIV and AIDS.
The four Spirit of Hope honorees for 2015, who will be recognized for their work on Tuesday, August 25, are:
Anthony Timiraos: He was one of the original five founders of Our Fund, created in 2011, and he currently serves as Our Fund’s chief executive officer. Timiraos, along with Our Fund’s founders, noticed that for every grant dollar given to non-profit organizations, only a mere fraction found its way to LGBT-specific causes, thus necessitating the work of Our Fund, which hopes to correct such anti-LGBT bias in the issuance of grants on a local level. Over $2.6 million has been given in grants to organizations that serve the LGBT community in the past four years, and Our Fund has grown to become the largest public funder in the state of Florida.
Dr. Réquel Lopes: Dr. Lopes is the owner of Trinity Acupuncture. She has worked for over two decades in the field of public health as well as in community development and fundraising. She started her work with people impacted by HIV/AIDS in New York City, volunteering in the Gay Men’s Health Crisis’s buddy program and spending her spare time as an activist for ACT-UP and Black AIDS Mobilization. In South Florida, she has helped fundraise with Broward House and The SMART Ride. Later this year, she will open the Live Well Holistic Center in Fort Lauderdale, which will serve low-income communities and offer top-notch holistic healthcare.
Rev. Joel Slotnick: He is the Minister of Congregational Care at the First Congregational Church of Fort Lauderdale, affiliated with the United Church of Christ. He has participated in Broward House volunteer efforts for ten years and has been a volunteer in various South Florida programs for the past thirty years. He has worked a number of roles on the board of Pride South Florida, and has worked as a mentor and a tutor in Miami-Dade and Broward Public Schools. In Broward, he specifically worked as a tutor in the Each One Teach One literacy program organized by the Broward County Library.
Robert Moelius: Robert has worked with Broward House as a supporter and volunteer since 2009. He is also heavily involved in the Wilton Manors Kiwanis chapter, where he serves as treasurer and president-elect. He is the advisor of the Wilton Manors Kiwanis Kids and Student Council, and is the co-advisor to the Fort Lauderdale Key Club, open to high schoolers. When he isn’t spending volunteer time with Broward House and Kiwanis, he also volunteers with Kids in Distress, Abandoned Pet Rescue, and Grateful Paws.
Tickets are available for purchase right now and can be bought by going directly to browardhouse.org. The price is $100 per person.
ABOUT THE SPIRIT OF HOPE SOCIETY
The Spirit of Hope Society is a way for people in the community to show their support by making a monetary contribution to Broward House. These tax-deductible contributions can be given yearly, quarterly or monthly. Spirit of Hope Society Partnership Levels range from $600 to $10,000 yearly. What does that money do? $600 yearly can provide 20 clients with 30-day bus passes so they won’t miss any of their doctor’s appointments and it also gives them the freedom to get to their jobs and visit family and friends. On the other end, $10,000 pays for three home-cooked meals a day for one month for more than 85 people who are living in Broward House’s assisted living facility.
Currently, Broward House is in the process of creating a Spirit of Hope Monument, which will be seen at the entrances of all of their service centers. It’s a way for the organization to say “thank you” to all of its kind donors and to honor the memories of those who have passed on.
If you’d like more information on the Spirit of Hope Society, you can read more about it by visiting browardhouse.org/spirit-of-ft.
For more information on Broward House, go to browardhouse.org. “Like” Broward House on Facebook by going to facebook.com/browardhouse.
