Palm Beach County's annual Mayor's Ball returns to PGA National Resort & Spa on August 29, this year with a “Boots & Bourbon” theme, at a moment when the county's homeless population has grown sharply and a new state law is pushing local governments to act fast. Tickets run $550 per person, and the evening will include a bourbon tasting, dynamic auction, curated dining, live music from country artist Jordan Oaks, and an interactive hat pyrography station, all built around a single goal: raising money to help move people off the street and into stable housing.
The gala is organized by the Homeless Coalition of Palm Beach County, whose CEO Alexandria Ayala-Long discussed the event and the broader crisis facing the region, as reported by WPEC. The ball brings together philanthropic, business, civic, and community leaders from across the county, and this year's “Boots & Bourbon” theme is meant to honor advocates, volunteers, donors, service providers, and neighbors who work on homelessness issues year-round. Proceeds are earmarked for coordinated care initiatives, housing stability programs, and supportive services aimed at long-term solutions for vulnerable residents.
A Growing Crisis Behind the Gala
The need behind the fundraiser has become more urgent. Palm Beach County's January 2024 Point-in-Time census counted 2,126 individuals experiencing homelessness, a 14.6% jump from the 1,855 people counted the year before, according to the Palm Beach County Community Services Department. That federally mandated annual census tracks both sheltered and unsheltered residents over a 24-hour period, and the upward trend has only added weight to the coalition's fundraising push.
Perhaps more striking is who is newly showing up in those counts. Data presented by the Homeless Coalition of Palm Beach County in March 2026, during the annual Sen. Philip D. Lewis Bruncheon in West Palm Beach, found that roughly 70 percent of people experiencing homelessness in the county are facing it for the first time. The figure suggests the crisis is being driven less by chronic homelessness than by newly displaced residents squeezed by rising housing costs.
A New State Law Raises the Stakes
Local governments are also operating under a tighter legal clock. Florida House Bill 1365, signed into law in March 2024 and effective that October, prohibits unauthorized public camping and sleeping on city or county property, and it allows residents, businesses, or the Florida Attorney General to sue non-compliant local governments starting in January 2025, per the Florida Senate. The law has placed legal pressure on municipalities to move unhoused populations off streets and sidewalks, whether by opening shelter beds or funding rapid rehousing.
That pressure has already prompted regional coordination. In June 2024, Palm Beach County Mayor Maria Sachs convened a regional mayors' symposium at the Palm Beach County Convention Center to align municipal responses to homelessness and affordable housing shortages ahead of the state's public-camping penalties, as Hoodline previously reported. That meeting focused on local housing tools and cross-jurisdiction cooperation, laying groundwork for the kind of private philanthropy now on display at the Mayor's Ball.
Leadership With a Personal Stake
Ayala-Long took over as CEO of the Homeless Coalition of Palm Beach County in 2025, arriving with a background rooted in local public service. In 2020, she made history as the youngest person and first Latina elected to the Palm Beach County School Board, according to Palm Beach Illustrated. During her time on the board, district data revealed that nearly 6,000 students were experiencing homelessness, including children living in cars, on couches, or under bridges, a statistic that appears to have shaped her move into homelessness advocacy.
Under Ayala-Long, the coalition functions as a lean funding hub rather than a direct service provider, disbursing gala proceeds to frontline partner agencies for costs like move-in fees, security deposits, and emergency shelter resources. Since 2015, the coalition's gap-funding programs have helped place 2,411 individuals into permanent housing, and its network of partner service providers has assisted more than 37,000 people since 2012.
Building on Last Year's Turnout
This year's gala follows a similar format to 2025's event, when the Mayor's Ball took on a “NashVegas” theme at the same PGA National Resort, raising money for partner agencies including Gulfstream Goodwill, The Lord's Place, Adopt-A-Family, and the Homeless Outreach Team, according to Gunster. The annual event, first established in 2014 by then-Palm Beach County Mayor Priscilla Taylor to support the county's Ten-Year Plan to End Homelessness, has raised more than $1.5 million since its founding.
This year's “Boots & Bourbon” theme keeps that tradition going while acknowledging a harder reality: more residents are falling into homelessness for the first time, and a new state law leaves less room for local governments to look away. Organizers are betting that an evening of bourbon tastings, live entertainment, and photo opportunities can still translate into real dollars for rapid rehousing and shelter supplies across Palm Beach County.
