Hoboken Housing Authority Executive Director Carmelo Garcia was honored recently by Politic365 as one of the P365 Game Changers in Washington, D.C. The Game Changers are a distinguished group of bipartisan, multicultural leaders from across the country whose foresight and active engagement in both the public and private sectors are critical to America’s domestic success and global leadership.
Garcia was honored for his innovative thinking in approaching housing. He has developed programs that have encouraged youth to embrace education, while their parents are encouraged to get involved in their child’s education and extracurricular activities. Parents are also invited to participate in job fairs and workforce enrichment throughout the year.
During the panel discussions at the ceremony, Garcia spoke about his HEY Model. The HEY Model stands for threading “housing, education, and youth development” together. By combining the three, families have been better responding to the program and have been more engaged with each other and the community at large.
“People don’t care how much you know, unless they know how much you care,” said Garcia.