"The people who are homeless were living in homes here and became homeless. These are not transients -- these are neighbors."

This entry's title is a quote from Cathy Jackson this morning in an Orlando Sentinel article about yesterday's Project Homeless Connect (scroll down for info on volunteering opportunities). I can tell you from our own experience at HOME that these are in fact neighbors, and even, in many circumstances, neighbors who were formerly well ensconced in middle class neighborhoods. All is not well in Florida (and many other places as well).

We have seen a drastic uptick in calls in the past 6 weeks- my guess is that folks were able to use their tax refunds and stimulus checks to pull through during May, but that money is now gone. Many calls are coming from families who have never utilized the social service system and are very uncomfortable and ashamed to do so. My personal take is that social services are the safety net for all of us. As a participant in society, the basic social contract is that you help out and contribute when you can, and when you need services they will be there for you as much as for the next person.

HOME has several new programs for families just like the one discussed in the above article. We have a scattered site program that helps families with a portion of their monthly rent over a period of time, and we also can help working families with first month's rent and part of their security deposit.

Thursday was a particularly good day and a perfect example of how this new program can work. We had been working with a family who moved here from out of state in November when they were forced to short sell their home. The home they rented here was foreclosed upon unbeknownst to them (until authorities showed up to lock up the house). Luckily, the husband had been working day labor 6 days a week, and the wife at a local big box establishment. They have one 12 year old son, and would take turns working and staying with him. When they lost their home (and deposit, by the way, because the management company went under), we offered them a choice between a motel voucher for one month, or first month's rent. They opted for first month's rent, and after a few grueling weeks of living in a motel, working to save money, and trying to find an acceptable rental, found a place early this week. We were able to get the landlord a check within a few days, and also have applied for a portion of the security deposit. The wife calls just about every day to update us and let us know if they have any needs. Oh, and she has also offered to come volunteer for us in her spare time. :) There is nothing better than helping a family get a roof over their head.

So please, think twice before you judge a homeless person or family. They may very well have been your neighbors, coworkers, or fellow parishioners.

If you would like to help, HOME accepts donations for emergency housing/first month rent. 100% of donations go directly to families in need. Simply use the JustGive button on our site and mark your donation "HOMEFast." You can also send a check with this same notation.

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