Lillian (Lilly) Hernández Caraballo is a bilingual, multimedia journalist based in Central Florida, reporting for WMFE 90.7 in Orlando. Before joining Report for America, Caraballo was a writer, paginator and editor for the weekly periodical Hometown News and an associate producer for Spectrum News 13, a top 20 TV market. She graduated from University of Central Florida in 2021 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism, a minor in writing and rhetoric and a certification in Hispanic media. At the school, Caraballo was editor-in-chief of NSM Today, the student newspaper, and interned with several news outlets, including WKMG News 6, WUCF 89.9 and the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting. During her time at WUCF, she collaborated to host, manage and web produce the award-winning project “The Road to Freedom Avenue: The Legacy of Harry T. and Harriette V. Moore.” Her role in that project was instrumental in earning the organization a National Edward R. Murrow Award in 2022, for Excellence in Digital Reporting, among other accolades.
Beat: Housing and homelessness
While Central Florida has become one of the fastest growing areas of the country, it has become one of the most expensive places to live. It is an area dependent upon the service sector industry, but those jobs have not kept up with the cost of living. The housing and homelessness reporter will focus on the issue and its different facets ranging from class, race, age and beyond.