Editor’s note: This is a guest blog from our partners at Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida.

In June, Habitat for Humanity Greater Orlando & Osceola County teamed up with Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida to participate in the first phase of Feeding America’s Leading for Transformation Program.

As part of the competitive application process for the program, Second Harvest needed to identify an “adaptive challenge” facing Central Florida and select a key community partner that they could learn with and from, all while working on solutions to address the challenge together.

At the time, a newly released report showed that the Orlando metropolitan area ranks worst in the country for affordable housing availability. Recognizing the direct connection between housing and food security, Second Harvest asked Habitat to come alongside them to prioritize the needs of the community in developing and refining their programs, especially those aimed at “shortening the line,” and to create new strategies that draw from each organization’s strengths and expertise.

“Along with Habitat’s excellent reputation, they bring a lot of experience with client-centered design through their Neighborhood Revitalization program. We are excited to collaborate with them on this opportunity,” said Dave Krepcho, Second Harvest Food Bank’s President & CEO.

Based on powerful, proven leadership development learnings, the focus of the program is to help leaders sharpen the results-based skills and relationships necessary to achieve measurable and equitable improvements in their respective communities.

In October, they will meet again in Chicago for the final 2-day Challenge Lab Session where they will take a deeper look at solving their complex adaptive challenge.

-Lauren Moskowitz from Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida