SUNRISE, Fla. -Â Itchko Ezratti, founder and chairman of GL Homes, has spent nearly five decades building homes across Florida. From the beginning, his vision extended well beyond the homes themselves. Under his leadership, GL Homes Philanthropy has grown into a structured, statewide commitment to the families and communities that surround every GL Homes development.
The company has focused on the three pillars that Itchko Ezratti believes are foundational to a strong community: hunger relief, housing stability and education. This is not a campaign with a start date and an end date; it’s an ongoing commitment that has been embedded in the culture of GL Homes since its founding in 1976.
Hunger relief: Meeting Florida families where they are
Food insecurity affects more than 1.2 million Floridians. It shows up in neighborhoods across Palm Beach County, Broward County and communities throughout the state where GL Homes builds and GL Homes employees live and work. Itchko Ezratti recognized early that a company rooted in a community has a responsibility to address the most basic needs of the people in that community, such as hunger relief.
GL Homes Philanthropy's efforts work with key partnerships. One is with Feeding South Florida, one of the region's largest and most effective food banks, which distributes millions of pounds of food annually to families facing hunger across South Florida. GL Homes' ongoing support helps sustain that distribution capacity, ensuring that more families have reliable access to food.
Another is The Lord's Place Meal Mobile, which delivers meals and outreach services directly to individuals experiencing homelessness in Palm Beach County. Rather than wait for people in need to come to it, The Lord’s Place Meal Mobile goes directly to them where hunger and housing instability intersect.
The GL Homes Philanthropy partnership with The Lord's Place reflects Itchko Ezratti's belief that giving back means meeting people where they are, not where it’s convenient.
Together, these partnerships comprise a hunger relief strategy grounded in both scale and proximity, by addressing food insecurity at the regional level while maintaining the kind of direct, personal engagement that makes a real difference in individual lives.
Housing stability: Extending the act of home building
For Itchko Ezratti, the connection between GL Homes and housing stability work is not a stretch. It’s a natural extension of the same belief that has driven GL Homes since 1976, that a good home can change a family's trajectory. GL Homes Philanthropy actively supports Habitat for Humanity chapters across Florida, including Habitat for Humanity of Greater Palm Beach County, Habitat for Humanity of Lee and Hendry Counties, and St. Lucie Habitat for Humanity. These organizations make homeownership possible for families who otherwise would be priced out entirely.
Beyond financial support, GL Homes contributes through its Make a House a Home initiative, which donates surplus furniture, home goods and household materials to families transitioning out of homelessness or housing instability. In March 2026, for example, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Palm Beach County received a large donation of furniture and home goods through this program.
For a family moving into their first stable home, a bed, a couch and a kitchen table are not small things; they’re the difference between a space to live in and a home.
This approach reflects Itchko Ezratti’s philosophy at its most direct: The skills, materials and relationships that GL Homes brings to its own communities can and should be used to support the people who need housing stability most.
The act of home building doesn’t end at the closing table; it extends into the broader fabric of the communities that GL Homes has helped shape over five decades of Florida philanthropy.
Children and education: Investing in the next generation
Itchko Ezratti has always believed that philanthropy should begin with young people. The case is straightforward: Invest in children, and the community benefits for generations. GL Homes Philanthropy puts that belief into practice through a range of programs and partnerships focused on giving young people access to opportunity, safety and education.
The Boys & Girls Clubs partnership spans multiple counties, including Palm Beach, Lee, St. Lucie and Collier, providing after-school programming, mentorship and safe spaces for young people during the hours when they need support most.
GL Homes' Passion for Playgrounds initiative brings employees into underserved communities to build outdoor spaces for children, turning volunteer time into tangible infrastructure. Career City, another GL Homes engagement program, brings employees into elementary schools to introduce students to careers and professional opportunities that might not otherwise be possible.
Itchko Ezratti's commitment to education also extends to the donation of land. GL Homes has donated land for schools, fire stations, parks and public libraries across Florida, recognizing that the civic infrastructure of a community is as important as the homes in it.
The Canyon Branch Library in Boynton Beach is among the most recent and visible examples. The 32,000-square-foot library opened in January 2025 on land donated by GL Homes, giving the surrounding community a resource that will serve residents for decades.
This land donation reflects the Itchko Ezratti community philosophy: When you build in a place, you’re responsible for helping that place thrive.
GL Homes Philanthropy also supports the Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County, JAFCO (Jewish Adoption and Family Care Options), Place of Hope, and Youth Haven, extending its educational and youth support footprint across the state.
A culture of giving: Employees as philanthropists
What distinguishes the GL Homes model of giving back from standard corporate philanthropy is the level of personal engagement that Itchko Ezratti built into the culture. GL Homes employees don’t simply make donations from a distance.
They show up. They volunteer at food distributions, build playgrounds, read to elementary school students, shop for furniture for families transitioning out of homelessness, and participate directly in the work of the nonprofit partners that GL Homes supports.
That model of hands-on engagement was established deliberately. Itchko Ezratti understood that values don’t transfer through policy memos; they transfer by example, through watching leadership show up and experiencing a team culture where giving back is part of the job, not an add-on. The result is a philanthropic program that carries authenticity because the people behind it are genuinely present.
Programs such as Summer of Service and Volunteer Spirit formalize that engagement, mobilizing employees across the state each year in sustained volunteer activity. GL Homes Philanthropy isn’t a department that operates separately from the rest of the company; it’s a reflection of how the entire organization understands its role in the communities it serves.
Itchko Ezratti’s vision continues
Itchko Ezratti founded GL Homes on the belief that building a community means taking responsibility for the people who live there. As GL Homes grows and its communities expand across Florida, that responsibility grows as well.
Today, the same values that shaped the first GL Homes community in 1976 still guide every philanthropic partnership, land donation and volunteer hour, and will continue to do so in the decades ahead.
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