Rosen launched the Tangelo Park Program in 1993, offering free preschool for children aged two to four and promising college scholarships for graduates who enroll in Florida public colleges or vocational schools, covering tuition, books, and transportation.

As beneficiaries grew, Rosen expanded support to higher education, funding scholarships for high school graduates pursuing college or vocational training in Florida and giving families a clearer plan for the future.

Beyond academics, the initiative coincided with social improvements: crime declined, property values tripled, and new families moved into the community, thanks to collaboration among Rosen, local schools, the YMCA, Tangelo Park Baptist Church, and other organizations.

Rosen funded and facilitated the creation of home-based preschools by renovating spaces and covering operating costs for resident-trained preschool teachers, directly engaging local residents in early education.

By 2015 Rosen had invested about $11 million of his own money in Tangelo Park, with ongoing annual funding around $500,000, drawing national attention for its scalable neighborhood-focused model.

The philanthropic approach emphasized sustainability and community involvement, creating a kindergarten-through-college mechanism rather than a one-time gift, and serving as a model of place-based, long-term investment in children’s education.

Harris Rosen, an Orlando hotelier and philanthropist, launched Tangelo Park to address poverty, drugs, and crime by investing in early education and college scholarships rather than direct financial aid.

The program built neighborhood preschools within Tangelo Park by renovating homes into teacher-led spaces, ensuring families faced no tuition costs for children aged two to four and integrating education into the community.

The initiative dramatically improved outcomes: Tangelo Park’s high school graduation rate rose from under 50% to nearly 100%, with more than half of youths going to college, while elementary schools achieved strong state assessment performance.

Rosen passed away in November 2024 at age 85, but Tangelo Park’s educational opportunities remain a central part of his philanthropic legacy.