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​Calling All Entries for Fair Housing Poster,
Poem, Essay and Video Contest

Grades 3 through 12 invited to participate

“Fair Housing: Unity in the Community” is the theme of this year’s annual Fair Housing Month poster, poem, essay and audio-visual contest. The contest is sponsored by the Palm Beach County Office of Equal Opportunity in collaboration with the Broward, Palm Beaches & St. Lucie Realtors® and the Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County, Inc.

Students in Palm Beach County are urged to create a poster, poem, essay or video that conveys the message that it is illegal to discriminate in the sale or rental of housing because of race, color, religion, familial status, disability, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status and gender identity or expression. Students may submit only one entry for each category no later than 5 p.m. on March 13.

Third, fourth and fifth grade students may submit a poster and/or poem; sixth, seventh and eighth-graders may submit a poster, poem and/or essay; and ninth through 12th grade students may submit an essay, poem and/or video.

All participants will receive five community service hours for each entry submitted.

First place winners in elementary and middle school will be awarded $100 cash. High school first place winners will be awarded a Tablet PC. Second place winners receive at least $50 at each level, and third place winners will be awarded at least $25 at each level.

Winners will be announced on April 3, and prizes will be awarded on April 15 at a reception in West Palm Beach hosted by the Broward, Palm Beaches & St. Lucie Realtors®, Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County, Inc. and the Palm Beach County Office of Equal Opportunity.

For contest rules and more information, please click here.

​PLEASE JOIN US on January 17, 2020 in West Palm Beach for "Transgender Dynamics in the Workplace"!

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Miami District Office and the Palm Beach County Office of Equal Opportunity (OEO) invite you to join us for this incredibly informative free presentation at the Palm Beach County Library (Main Branch) in West Palm Beach FL, from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on Friday, January 17, 2020.  We are partnering with Equality Florida, an advocacy group that works to protect the civil rights of Florida's lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender & queer residents, to discuss transgender dynamics in the workplace.  Our guest speaker, Gina Duncan, is Equality Florida's Director of Transgender Equality & is a national & international advocate, corporate trainer & speaker specializing in transgender dynamics in the workplace, classroom & society. 

For further details and to register for this event, please go to https://transgender-dynamics-jan-17.eventbrite.com.

Please share this information within your network! We hope to see you there! 

Questions?  Please contact Elaine McArthur at elaine.mcarthur@eeoc.gov.

2019 Voices of Florida Women Online Survey!

Wanting to be responsive to the specific concerns and needs of women in Florida, the Florida Commission on the Status of Women asks women to share about the challenges they encounter in their everyday lives through the 2019 Voices of Florida Women Online Survey. Available through November 30, 2019, they survey coincides with the 2019 Voices of Florida Women Listening Tour. The questionnaire is brief – it takes just a few minutes to complete – and it will give us important feedback to share with local, state and national leaders, and help us focus our future educational and collaborative efforts on the issues that matter most to women in Florida. Please click on this link and take the survey, then share it with your friends, colleagues, associates, networks. The survey will close on November 30, so don't miss this important opportunity to be heard. Please contact Kelly Sciba at ksciba@fcsw.net for more information regarding Voices of Florida Women.
Take the survey now!

Click here to take part in this brief survey.

  Click here to visit the Palm Beach County Business Opportunities Website,
Your One-Stop Information Source for Current Contract Opportunities!

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Office of Equal Opportunity Announces Requests for Proposals
for the Handicap Accessibility Awareness Grant Program for FY 2020

Palm Beach County Office of Equal Opportunity is seeking proposals from qualified agencies to improve accessibility and equal opportunity and promote or increase awareness of the rights and ambitions of persons with disabilities through an Awareness Program. Deadline for submission is July 11, 2019 by 5 p.m. to Palm Beach County Office of Equal Opportunity 301 North Olive Avenue, 10th Floor West Palm Beach, FL 33401 Please click here for more information or call (561)-355-4884

Office of Equal Opportunity Announces 2019
Fair Housing Student Poster, Poem and Essay Winners

In celebration of April being Fair Housing Month, the Palm Beach County Office of Equal Opportunity, the Realtors® Association of the Palm Beaches & Greater Fort Lauderdale and the Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County, Inc. announce the winners of their annual poster, poem and essay contest. This year’s theme recognized the 51st anniversary of the Fair Housing Act of 1968 and was titled “Fair Housing: A Rainbow of Neighbors.”

The goal is to raise public awareness of enactment of the federal Fair Housing Act, Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, familial status, disability, national origin, and gender, and to encourage fair housing opportunities for all citizens. In addition, Palm Beach County’s Fair Housing Ordinance prohibits discrimination based upon sexual orientation, age, marital status and gender identity or expression. Here are this year’s winners:

Elementary School Poster Contest Winners:

First Place - $100 gift card: Faith Balza (Homeschooled)
Second Place - $50 gift card: Nathan Narcisse (Glade View Elementary School)
Third Place - $25 gift card: Damaris Mitchell (Glade View Elementary School)

Elementary School Poem Contest Winners:

First Place - $100 gift card:  Maddison Rodriguez (Panther Run Elementary School)
Second Place - $50 gift card: Ethan Barrett (Everglades Elementary School)

Middle School Poster Contest Winners: (Bak Middle School of the Arts)

First Place - $100 gift card:  Ella Rinaldi
Second Place - $50 gift card: Elizabeth Bymel
Third Place - $25 gift card: Angelyna Rodriguez

Middle School Poem Contest Winners: (Bak Middle School of the Arts)

First Place - $100 gift card:  Alexandria Bright
Second Place - $50 gift card: Isabella Gonzalez
Third Place - $25 gift card: Britney Van

Middle School Essay Contest Winner:  (Bak Middle School of the Arts)

First Place - $100 gift card:  Carina Wang

High School Poem Contest Winners:  (Dreyfoos School of the Arts)

First Place - $100 gift card:  Amya Liburd
Second Place - $50 gift card: Jakob Leser
Third Place - $25 gift card: Katie Davis

High School Essay Contest Winners:  (Dreyfoos School of the Arts)

First Place - $100 gift card:  Shiri Ben-Israel
Second Place - $50 gift card: Dennis Gettinger
Third Place - $25 gift card: Jazzlyn Cabrera

Contest winners will receive prizes at a reception on April 17 at the Realtors® Association of the Palm Beaches & Greater Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach.