The B.R.I.D.G.E.S. field trip to the offices of Housing and Development Services on Thursday, May 17th was a great success. Ten students of Cypress Bay High School who are in the B.R.I.D.G.E.S. program visited HDS with their instructor and facilitator, Donna Mansolillo. When they arrived at the office, they were first greeted by Carla Otiniano, Program Manager of the HDS Foundation. Carla explained to the students what type of work HDS does and the different companies that make up Housing and Development Services – Housing and Development Software (HDS), eHousingPlus (eHP), and of course the HDS Foundation. Carla then brought the students to their first stop on their tour, eHP, where Naileth Garcia told them about how eHP helps with loan processing for affordable housing programs. After Naileth, the students were brought to the office of Cristina Gilson, CEO of Housing and Development Services, where they learned about the importance of an owner/operator at a company. A visit with Lorena Hernandez, Business Associate, was next. Lorena told everyone how the Business Department functions with all of the arms of the company to make things work together. Eddy Alfonso, Multi-Family Product Manager, followed with his explanation of the importance of computer programming. That led well into the next presentation made by Andrew Moffitt, Chief Technology Officer, who showed the students the server room. The last stop the students made was to the conference room. While there, Erin Batista, Manager of Office Administration, spoke to everyone about the roll of Human Resources in any company. After Erin spoke, the kids were served subs, chips, cookies, and soda for lunch. As they ate, AJ Silberman, Special Project Liaison, did a short presentation to them of how to use Microsoft Teams. Teams is a vital program tool at Housing and Development Software as it enables employees to manage and work together on various projects. To close the trip, Carla once again spoke to the students, at which time she presented Donna Mansolillo with a donation for Cypress Bay B.R.I.D.G.E.S. This donation check was a portion of the money raised at the Dan Marino WalkAbout Autism & Expo held on January 27, 2018. Donna and the students thanked Carla and Housing and Development Services for the check and also for the fun and informative field trip. Housing and Development Services looks forward to B.R.I.D.G.E.S. coming back to the offices next year.
