040518 SWB DIGITAL EDITION

Harris Rosen visits children at
Tangelo Park Elementary School
A SOUTHWEST ORLANDO
ICON REFLECTS ON
25 YEARS OF GIVING BACK 407.996.4890 | RosenHotels.com
If home is where the heart is, then Harris Rosen’s home is global and his
heart infinite. As a sea of homemade “We Love Harris Rosen” banners
bobbed among crowds of eager Haitian children, clad in pristine blue and
white school uniforms to thank the man who provided their brand new
school, the recipient of the outpouring was overwhelmed. “I never get
used to this type of attention,” said Harris Rosen, founder and owner of
Rosen Hotels & Resorts. Rosen was recently in Haiti for the dedication of
l’Institution Mixte Saint-Jean de Jonc l’Abeille-Harris Rosen school. And
to greet many families who now – thanks to him – experience a rare sense
of security in the impoverished country. Rosen’s team just completed
the rebuilding of more than 100 homes devastated by 2016’s Hurricane
Matthew. The new homes are hurricane- and earthquake-resistant with
solar panels, bathrooms and more.
For more than half of the 43 years Rosen’s now nine hotels have provided
Orlando’s best “home away from home” and thousands of jobs for Orlando
residents, he has been quietly, with intensity, creating better homes for
others. He says he does this because “it’s the right thing to do.” Whether
rebuilding physical structures such as in Haiti or entire communities such
as in Southwest Orlando’s Tangelo Park, his first philanthropic endeavor
25 years ago, or more currently in downtown Orlando’s Parramore district,
the positive change is palpable. By providing free college scholarships
(including room and board), free childcare (which also provides more
than 10 full-time jobs) and parental support to Tangelo Park, high school
graduation rates have soared to almost 100 percent and crime is nearly
non-existent. All of this and more, because the community has united
under Harris Rosen’s umbrella of hope and promise of a better life for its
future generations.
In Southwest Orlando, where Rosen has called home for more than 45
years and raised his family including his now-adult children Jack, Joshua,
Adam and Shayna, he has focused on families through building The Jack
& Lee Rosen SW Orlando JCC and donating millions to refurbish the ailing
YMCA Aquatic Center. He also funded the Rosen College of Hospitality
Management at UCF and sponsors more than 20 charity galas at his
hotels. “I’ve been blessed beyond my wildest dreams with my business,”
said Rosen, “and most importantly with the fellowship and support of my
own community. It is because of these blessings, I’m able to help others.
And am so grateful to do so.”