Pankey Institute and Margulies Warehouse gave a new meaning to the "Art of Dentistry" for Lotus House! On December 11 and 12, an extraordinary coming together of over 50 volunteer oral surgeons, dentists, hygienists and assistants organized by The Pankey Institute as they created a make-shift, mobile dental clinic in the Margulies Art Warehouse to serve homeless women from the Lotus House Women’s Shelter free of charge. This heartwarming event brought smiles all around and new meaning to the “art of dentistry”!
Drumming, dancing, tasting and painting to blossom hope and make a difference in the
community. Internationally renowned performance artists will joined forces for the first time
ever in Miami this fall to put a spotlight on real issues facing South Florida’s homeless women
at the Fifth Annual Hope Blossoms - An Art Happening Fundraiser, benefiting the
Lotus House Women’s Shelter in downtown Miami. The event took place on October 16, at the Margulies Warehouse.
Constance Collins Margulies remembers the first time she saw a homeless person – she was 13 – and it left an indelible mark. “How can any of us be happy as long as one of us lives like this,” she wondered at the time. Nearly 40 years later, she has become a champion for homeless women and children in Miami-Dade.
Lotus House Women’s Shelter opened three years ago in Miami’s Overtown – an area many Lotus House residents call home. While community in-kind support remains strong, the current economic climate has led to financial difficulties. To help make ends meet, the shelter recently opened the Lotus House Thrift Shop near the Design District. “We are still in the infancy stages of it but it’s one way we’re trying to respond to what’s happening out there in the economy,” she says.
Moving forward, Ms. Margulies hopes to get up and running a small volunteer health clinic. Long term, she is banking on a recently started endowment to help sustain the clinic into perpetuity. “Just making it through the next five years will be an important goal for us, and beyond that we hope the shelter will be here as a resource for generations to come,” she says. From the courtyard at Lotus House’s Overtown operation, Ms. Margulies discussed her philanthropic calling with Miami Today staff writer Scott E. Pacheco.
Constance Collins Margulies remembers the first time she saw a homeless person – she was 13 – and it left an indelible mark. “How can any of us be happy as long as one of us lives like this,” she wondered at the time. Nearly 40 years later, she has become a champion for homeless women and children in Miami-Dade.
Lotus House Women’s Shelter opened three years ago in Miami’s Overtown – an area many Lotus House residents call home. While community in-kind support remains strong, the current economic climate has led to financial difficulties. To help make ends meet, the shelter recently opened the Lotus House Thrift Shop near the Design District. “We are still in the infancy stages of it but it’s one way we’re trying to respond to what’s happening out there in the economy,” she says.
Moving forward, Ms. Margulies hopes to get up and running a small volunteer health clinic. Long term, she is banking on a recently started endowment to help sustain the clinic into perpetuity. “Just making it through the next five years will be an important goal for us, and beyond that we hope the shelter will be here as a resource for generations to come,” she says. From the courtyard at Lotus House’s Overtown operation, Ms. Margulies discussed her philanthropic calling with Miami Today staff writer Scott E. Pacheco.
Constance Collins Margulies remembers the first time she saw a homeless person – she was 13 – and it left an indelible mark. “How can any of us be happy as long as one of us lives like this,” she wondered at the time. Nearly 40 years later, she has become a champion for homeless women and children in Miami-Dade.
Lotus House Women’s Shelter opened three years ago in Miami’s Overtown – an area many Lotus House residents call home. While community in-kind support remains strong, the current economic climate has led to financial difficulties. To help make ends meet, the shelter recently opened the Lotus House Thrift Shop near the Design District. “We are still in the infancy stages of it but it’s one way we’re trying to respond to what’s happening out there in the economy,” she says.
Moving forward, Ms. Margulies hopes to get up and running a small volunteer health clinic. Long term, she is banking on a recently started endowment to help sustain the clinic into perpetuity. “Just making it through the next five years will be an important goal for us, and beyond that we hope the shelter will be here as a resource for generations to come,” she says. From the courtyard at Lotus House’s Overtown operation, Ms. Margulies discussed her philanthropic calling with Miami Today staff writer Scott E. Pacheco.
This Friday is the fifth annual Hope Blossoms fundraiser at the Margulies Warehouse in the Wynwood Arts District.
The proceeds will go to the Lotus House Women's Shelter, a nonprofit started by the Sundari Foundation in 2006 that provides housing for homeless women and children in downtown Miami.
But the fundraiser won't be the conventional art event that it has been in recent years.
In this preview of a Miami Today Profile, Lotus House Founder and President, Constance Collins Margulies talks about the event and her aspirations and inspirations.
Look for the entire interview coming soon in Miami Today