The headliner for the 4th Annual Central Florida Leadership Prayer Breakfast was Florida First Lady, Casey DeSantis. Her husband, Governor Ron DeSantis, tagged along. The event, sponsored by Plant City’s All Pro Pastors International, was held on September 25 at the TECO Expo Hall on the Florida Strawberry Festival grounds, and drew 450 people.
Jomo Thomas, pastor of Plant City Church of God, stood as the first of several pastors who prayed from the podium. He asked for God to renew and refresh pastors and churches, for revival in America, and that God would speak to the people at the breakfast.
Governor DeSantis created the Faith and Community Initiative within days of taking office. According to Eric Dehlenback, the Governor’s Liaison for Faith and Community, Florida is one of 14 states that has a position like his, and Florida is the most faith-friendly state in the U.S.
“There is a price when you are exercising leadership,” Governor DeSantis said. “…For me, I am proud to take arrows to stand for what’s right. People ask, ‘What do you need to do to be a leader?’ The first thing is, put on the full armor of God. You do that and you are going to be able to stand strong. If you don’t have a foundation of higher truths, then I think you are susceptible to veering off course. From a public policy perspective, we had an insight, which is honestly common sense, that government bureaucracies are—when you are talking about lifting up people that are less fortunate—are not capable of getting the job done. We know. We have had 60-plus years of trying to pour money into these causes, and hoping that would get rid of poverty, but that is not the case. So, what do you do to be able to lift people up? You realize the resources that are in the community.”
“We recognize the vital role that the faith community plays in lifting people up who need it,” the Governor continued. “So instead of us relying on bureaucracy—somebody writing a check from government—we now have a process where, when someone is in need, that goes out to Hope Florida partners, our churches, and it goes out to charities. It goes out even to the business community that wants to help, and it moves the ball forward in a really, really good way. We have embraced this. I think the proof is in the pudding. We have had over 30,000 people—just in the last year and a half—who are now either partially or totally off government assistance. It is because they are on a path of self-sufficiency. There are a lot of states that, anything to do with faith, they will immediately cut it out, and those states are not successful in navigating these issues. And so we think, first of all, it is the right thing to do; and second, it has become something that has proven to be effective, so we are going to do it.”
“As First Lady….I am very blessed to have the opportunity to do a lot to be able to help,” Casey DeSantis said. “….As it pertains to the child welfare system, there are a lot of really good things that are happening, particularly in the faith-based community. But how does that relationship work with government? How does it work with the non-profit sector to be able to give meaningful help to people in need?….It was siloed….And it’s not necessarily throwing money at a program. It is accountability for the program. It’s outcomes. And at the end of the day, are you really helping the people that you set out to help in the beginning? So, what we decided to do was take a very different approach to how we meaningfully—and that is a big word—help people who are in need. And particularly for me, I thought of a single mom, because I understand how difficult it can be to raise little ones. You are trying to keep a job. You are trying to look out for your children. You are trying to keep the lights on. You are trying to put food on the table. There are resources out there, but how do you find them? I went to the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) web site, and I couldn’t understand it. It was kind of a hot mess. My heart went back to that single mom, and I was thinking, ‘How do you know which entity to go to for which help, and how do you keep track of it?’ Government payments would normally be where the story ends. But we went in and we looked exterior of government—like what are the non-profits in the community that can help triage that need?”
“We are the first state in the Union to wrap our arms around the faith-based community,” the First Lady continued. “When someone informs DCFS of a need, that is input into an electronic system that goes out to non-profits. Then the non-profits raise their hands to deliver the answer to that mom’s front doorstep. Now you see how government is transformed. It becomes a communicator and a collaborator between good people in need and good people who are willing to help. The two have always been there, but didn’t know how to make the connection. Government is uniquely positioned to make that connection. And what has been amazing is that when you see this. That single mom may go back there multiple times, but 80 percent of the time, requests are input only once per family. Why is that? It’s because the faith-based community will not unsee what they have seen. They are going to wrap their arms around, and rally in support of, in this case, the single mom. Then you have changed the entire dynamic of what has happened. And it doesn’t stop there. As the governor mentioned, we have transitioned off of public assistance 30,000 people because it is a pathway to economic self-sufficiency and prosperity. Now we are working to provide economic opportunities—Department of Education vocational, technical, rapid credentialing, paid internships, and résumé writing opportunities. People in the Hope Florida program want to be able to change their situation in life. They want to be successful, they just need help.”
“That philosophically different approach to government—we are doing it in every germane agency,” The First Lady added. “Instead of relying on the government, how about we harness what is already out there? What is unique about Hope Florida is we are getting in front of problems instead of waiting on problems….We are keeping people out of the child welfare system. We are keeping people out of juvenile justice. And honestly, we need more of your support. It is one of the reasons I was excited to have the opportunity to come down here. We have more than 2,000 institutions of faith signed up to support the Care Portal. We have 20,000 institutions of faith across the State of Florida. If they all knew Hope Florida was there, we would be able to meet more needs, and help more people.”