Stephanie Berman-Eisenberg

Stephanie Berman-Eisenberg (born May 13, 1972) is President/CEO of Carrfour Supportive Housing, a position she has held since 2006, Berman-Eisenberg has guided Carrfour's development into Florida's largest non-profit provider of supportive housing. Berman-Eisenberg earned a master's degree in administration, planning, and social policy from Harvard University's Graduate School of Education, and a bachelor's degree from Brandeis University.[1][2]

Stephanie Berman-Eisenberg
Born (1972-05-13) May 13, 1972
Miami Beach, Florida
Occupation
  • Chief executive
  • activist
Spouse(s)Seth Eisenberg
ChildrenAlex, Michael, and Zachary
Websitewww.carrfour.org

Berman-Eisenberg oversees a current inventory of more than 1,700 supportive and affordable housing units and "has led the effort to assemble more than $200 million in funding to develop an additional 500 units over the coming years."[3][4][5]

She serves on the City of Miami Beach Affordable Housing Committee, Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce Affordable Housing Committee, and the JPMorgan Chase Community Advisory Committee.[1] In 2011, The Miami Herald named her as one of South Florida's "20 most influential leaders under the age of 40."[6] In 2017, she was selected for The Miami Herald's CEO Roundtable.[7][8]

Her articles on homelessness in Miami have been frequently published on the Opinion Page of The Miami Herald, including "Stadium plan to house homeless no slam dunk,"[9] "A step forward for homeless vets,"[10] and "Fighting homelessness in Miami."[11] Berman-Eisenberg was named one of the most "Influential Business Women" by the South Florida Business Journal in 2013 and 2014.[12] She was featured in a national profile for Commercial Property Executive in January 2014.[13]

Ending homelessness
Ribbon cutting for new Miami affordable housing community. Stephanie Berman-Eisenberg, second from right, with Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado, second from left, and Miami-Dade County Commissioner Audrey Edmonson, center, 10/30/12.
Carrfour CEO Stephanie Berman-Eisenberg cuts the ribbon at the grand opening of Harvard House community in North Miami Beach, Florida.

Her efforts to implement novel, replicable approaches to reducing poverty and ending homelessness within many of Miami-Dade County's most economically-distressed neighborhoods have been widely profiled in news, business, and trade publications.[14][15] Berman-Eisenberg opposed a 2012 Florida Bill to use stadiums as temporary homeless shelters.[16]

In a presentation to the 2013 National Community Reinvestment Corporation conference, Berman-Eisenberg urged increased public/private partnerships to address the housing needs of people with special needs.[17] Shortly after his confirmation as the United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Dr. Ben Carson traveled to Miami where Berman-Eisenberg hosted him at Carrfour Supportive Housing's Villa Aurora community to show him the direct impact of federal housing subsidies.[18][19][20][21] In August 2019, Berman-Eisenberg urged Florida lawmakers to enact four measures to expand availability of affordable housing:[22]

  • Building and zoning codes should be modified to allow for some non-conforming uses as well as moderate density increases in areas that are conducive to affordable housing. Permitting costs should be reduced and property tax incentives broadened.
  • Our state legislature and local municipalities must embrace inclusionary zoning policies that require new residential developments to designate a percentage of units as affordable. The City of Miami adopted inclusionary housing legislation last year. Miami-Dade and other municipalities across the state should follow its lead.
  • Public land should be set aside for privately-developed affordable housing communities, helping to defray land acquisition costs and locating residents in close proximity to transit, schools and jobs.
  • The construction-permitting process must be streamlined. Currently, it can take a year or more to secure approval to build affordable housing in Miami-Dade. An expedited process would encourage more affordable development and fast-track the delivery of much-needed units.

Operation Sacred Trust
A formerly homeless Vietnam veteran who spent 18 months living in his truck thanks Stephanie Berman-Eisenberg, right, for ending homelessness in his life.

In 2011, Berman-Eisenberg co-founded Operation Sacred Trust, a collaboration of social service agencies with a shared commitment to disrupting homelessness for South Florida veteran families. Between 2011 and 2020, the public-private collaboration succeeded in winning more than $15 million in federal grant funds for the initiative from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Supportive Services for Veteran Families program to provide housing prevention and rapid rehousing services to more than 8,000 very low-income veterans and their family members in Broward and Miami-Dade counties.[23][24][25]

In 2020, Operation Sacred Trust earned three-year national CARF accreditation.[24][26]

A 2012 Huffington Post article featured Operation Sacred Trust as a new model for ending veteran homelessness.[27]

“Disrupting veteran homelessness has to include building and sustaining sufficient affordable housing that meets the needs of our most vulnerable veteran families. That begins with a roof over their heads, but has to also mean formerly homeless servicemen and women have a place to call home that they value, and where they can be part of a community,” Berman-Eisenberg said.[28]

Response to COVID-19

In April 2020, Berman-Eisenberg urged policy-makers to rapidly respond to COVID-19's impact on a South Florida housing market that was already stressed. "Our community did not have enough affordable housing before the pandemic and we are not prepared for the onslaught that is coming our way."[29]

She called on local, state and federal housing officials to "use funding in non-traditional ways" to create additional affordable housing quickly, such as "incentivizing landlords of vacant non-affordable housing to reduce their rents to an affordable level. In addition, funding rental assistance programs will also bring immediate relief."[29]

"Unfortunately, we are a community that has spent years trying to build consensus around a plan, but never got to consensus or true community-wide implementation," Berman-Eisenberg said. "A commonality in all plans is that given the magnitude of the problem, a multi-pronged approach must be implemented. Rather than continuing to have dialogue and trying to reach consensus, I would urge that we as a community take on whatever we have the ability to do from any of the plans, and just do it. Whether you are a developer, lender, government or a private citizen, now is the time for us all to take action."[29]

Expansion

Berman-Eisenberg has sought to expand Carrfour's impact beyond Miami-Dade County.

In 2019, Carrfour broke ground on the Residences at Equality Park, its first development outside of Miami-Dade County.[30] “There’s a growing need for affordable housing in South Florida, particularly among underserved populations such as the senior LGBTQ+ community and those living with disabilities,” Berman-Eisenberg said. “Beyond providing a place to call home, Carrfour will partner with The Pride Center to ensure that residents at The Residences at Equality Park have convenient access to community services, healthcare, financial planning, and social networks that combat isolation.”[31][32]

In March 2020, Berman-Eisenberg announced a partnership "with Steadytown, a Melbourne-based family foundation focused on community development, to develop Heritage Park at Crane Creek, a mixed-income housing development here. The $22 million project will have 108 units of supportive, affordable and workforce housing with specialized services for formerly homeless and low-income individuals and families."[33]

In April 2020, Globe Street reported on Berman-Eisenberg's development efforts in Sarasota. "Carrfour’s plans include a minimum of 80 mixed-income apartments" with "rent [that] would range from $439 to $1,278, depending on the unit type. The affordable housing units would serve residents with an income between 33% and 80% of the annual median income for Sarasota County."[34]

Awards and recognition
  • R.E.A.L. Award, 2012, Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce[35]
  • 20 Under 40, 2011, The Miami Herald[6][36]
  • Reader's Choice, Best National Historic Rehabilitation, 2009, Affordable Housing Finance.[37]
  • Up & Comers Award, 2006, South Florida Business Journal[38]
  • Influential Business Women, 2013, South Florida Business Journal [39]

Personal

Berman-Eisenberg, a native of Miami Beach, is married and has three children; a son and two stepsons. She lives in North Miami Beach, Florida.[1]

gollark: I'm responding to TF3, not you.
gollark: That's not exactly true (humans are not anything like rational [WHATEVER NEUROCHEMICAL] maximizers), and even if they *were* it wouldn't be very helpful since the processes involved are intractably complex.
gollark: Sometimes I move from my chair to retrieve food and such.
gollark: It feels awesome to have wanted to vomit? How?
gollark: I mean, not that weird because US, but weird.

References
  1. "Stephanie Berman-Eisenberg, President & CEO". carrfour.org.
  2. Danseyar, Susan (25 March 2015). "Profile: Stephanie Berman-Eisenberg". Miami Today.
  3. Foong, Keat (29 March 2012). "PROFILE: Carrfour Supportive Housing". Multi-Housing News.
  4. O'Meara, Mark (May 2013). "HUD's Neighborhood Stabilization Program Brings Harvard House Back to Life" (PDF). Journal of Tax Credits. Miami.
  5. "Company Overview of Carrfour Supportive Housing, Inc". Business Week. New York. 14 May 2014.
  6. Krischer Goodman, Cindy (9 May 2011). "Enthusiasm and dedication to community help these 20 leaders stand out" (PDF). Miami Herald.
  7. "Meet the new members of our CEO Roundtable". Miami Herald. Miami. November 20, 2017. Archived from the original on 20 November 2017.
  8. "Holiday parties celebrate employees and the year's successes". Miami Herald. Miami. December 10, 2017.
  9. Berman-Eisenberg, Stephanie (3 February 2012). "Stadium plan to house homeless no slam dunk" (PDF). Miami Herald. Miami.
  10. Berman-Eisenberg, Stephanie (11 November 2012). "A step forward for homeless vets". Miami Herald.
  11. Berman-Eisenberg, Stephanie (29 January 2014). "Fighting homelessness in Miami". Miami Herald.
  12. "SFBJ '13 Influential Business Women". South Florida Business Journal. Miami. 26 July 2013.
  13. Rascon, Erica (8 January 2014). "Executive Spotlight: Stephanie Berman-Eisenberg, Carrfour Supportive Housing". Commercial Property Executive. Miami.
  16. "Publicly Funded Arenas to Serve as Homeless Shelters: Bill". Associated Press. Miami. 24 January 2012.
  17. Berman-Eisenberg, Stephanie (20 March 2013). "How Special Needs is Driving Community Development" (PDF). National Community Reinvestment Coalition. New York.
  18. Hanks, Douglas (13 April 2017). "Ben Carson tours Miami housing complex built with grant Trump wants eliminated". Miami Herald.
  19. Sayre, Wilson (13 April 2017). "HUD Secretary Ben Carson: Public-Private Partnerships Are 'The Answer' To Affordable Housing". WLRN Radio.
  20. Hohmann, James (14 April 2017). "The Daily 202: Trump doesn't know much about history. It's making his on-the-job training harder". The Washington Post.
  21. "Carrfour hosts HUD Secretary Ben Carson for listening tour stop". Fatherhood Channel. 17 April 2017.
  22. Rodriquez, Rene (3 August 2019). "How to boost Miami's affordable housing? Cutting red tape would help, say developers". Miami Herald.
  23. - U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Supportive Services for Veteran Families website.
  24. - Operation Sacred Trust website.
  25. Henthorn, Robert (4 August 2011). "Initiative Aims to Disrupt Homelessness for South Florida Veteran Families". Fatherhood Channel.
  26. - Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities website.
  27. Lilly, Christiana (11 November 2012). "Operation Sacred Trust Combats Veteran Homelessness In South Florida With $1 Million Grant". Huffington Post.
  28. Henthorn, Robert (4 April 2015). "Help Needed Ending Veteran Homelessness". Fatherhood Channel.
  29. San Juan Goodman, Rebecca (24 April 2020). "Berman-Eisenberg: Pandemic to stress need for already-limited affordable housing in Miami". Miami Herald.
  30. Steele, Jeffrey (25 October 2019). "Florida's 1st LGBTQ Senior Housing Project Breaks Ground". Multi-Housing News. Fort Lauderdale.
  31. Bandell, Brian (23 October 2019). "Affordable housing project for LGBTQ+ seniors breaks ground". South Florida Business Journal. Fort Lauderdale.
  32. Kallergis, Katherine (24 October 2019). "Financing in hand, Florida's first LGBTQ+ senior housing development breaks ground". The Real Deal. Miami.
  33. McCurry, John (19 March 2020). "Nonprofit to Build $22M Affordable Housing Project in Melbourne". Globe Street. Melbourne.
  34. Mechem, Brynn (9 April 2020). "Sarasota County to see start of two affordable housing projects". Sarasota Observer. Sarasota.
  35. "Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce Announces Winners of 2012 R.E.A.L. Awards". Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce. 11 May 2012.
  36. Krischer-Goodman, Cindy (28 September 2014). "Miami Herald's '20 under 40': Many past winners in the new generation of leaders". Miami Herald.
  37. "Miami Affordable Housing Developments Receive National Recognition". U.S. Conference of Mayors. 10 August 2009.
  38. South Florida Business Journal (8 June 2006). "Up & Comers Awards". South Florida Business Journal.
  39. "Influential Business Women". South Florida Business Journal. Miami. 26 July 2013.
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