If Courtney was the soul of TaskForce and Scott brought a different perspective, then there is no doubt that Lorraine Wilby was and still is the heart of TaskForce.  Lorraine brought an undying love and compassion to the people we serve, along with her never ending Girl Scout thriftiness and ingenuity.   

As one of the founding members of the TaskForce Fore Ending Homelessness, Inc, Lorraine brought to the organization her then 25+ year career in Non-Profits, holding roles such as Director of Housing for the Broward Partnership for the Homeless, Operations Director at the Salvation Army, and Crisis Line Director at 211 of Palm Beach. She thinks back to working in those settings and is happy for the experience but realized even then that she could be doing more.   

This was all before she met the love of her life “Courtney”. She fell in love with Courtney, but she was already in love with helping people who are homeless. Fortunately for the TaskForce, the two of them together proved to be an overwhelming force for positive change in our community.       

From the beginning it wasn’t just work for them, it was pure determination.  She laughed thinking of Scott and Courtney sitting at their dining room table, trying to come up with a name for the organization.  Eventually landing on TaskForce Fore Ending Homelessness.  She loved listening to them laughing and thinking aloud, as they thought of reasons why they should use “Fore” instead of “For”. Scott for his love of golf and Courtney for the “Fore” of the boat.  All of them were always looking “fore”ward and knew that their main goal was to help the local homeless population, specifically those that were unsheltered. They knew they had something that was needed in this community back in 1999.   

In June of 2008, Lorraine took over as the CEO for TaskForce and successfully ran it with Courtney for 12 years.  Over the years she honed her skills in Program Development, Grant Writing, Policy and Event and Volunteer Management.  She recalls that she would write a grant application, hand it to Courtney who would head off the bathroom, where he did his best thinking, and later he would return with a handful of notes and rewrites.  He would push her to ask for more, get more from them and eventually the two of them would compromise on what they would submit for approval.  Together they grew the organization over the next decade and doubled the services and the staff. 

Now as a “retired” person she continues to show love for the TaskForce, the community and especially the people we serve by offering her wisdom and expertise as a trainer and consultant.  We are forever grateful to her for laying the groundwork of a great organization and her undying dedication to making a difference.