Number of homeless families grows amid foreclosure

Number of homeless families grows amid foreclosure crisis
Kate Santich Sentinel Staff Writer
August 14, 2008
Annette Eagan registered her 12-year-old son for middle school Wednesday -- then dropped him and his younger brother at a Boys Town shelter while she drove back to an old Sanford rooming house.

She came to Florida hoping to find work. Instead, she has used up her savings while looking.And because there are no family homeless shelters available in Seminole County, Eagan had to break up her family to save it."I can't be picky," she said of the arrangement. "At least I know my sons have a roof over their heads. They have food. They're safe."

Amid a foreclosure crisis and sour economy, the number of homeless families is growing. In Seminole County alone, more than 600 school-age children are expected to spend at least part of the year in motels, shelters or even tents in the woods, according to a new report. An additional 450 homeless children in the county are younger than 5, officials estimate.

"The immensity of the homeless student population shocked all of us," said Beth Davalos, a social worker who helped deliver the results of a yearlong study of Seminole County's family homelessness Wednesday. "After all, just a few years ago we had one of the highest income levels in the state."

Davalos spoke at a meeting of social-service agencies hoping to address the "housing crisis in our own backyard." Led by the all-volunteer group The Children's Cabinet, speakers called upon law enforcement, government, nonprofit organizations, churches and private businesses to work together to address the issue.

Hundreds of homeless children also live in Orange and Osceola counties, but Seminole is the first to take a united approach to solving the problem.

"I think we've come to a time in this region, in this county, where we are saying that what's happening is not acceptable," said Ray Larsen, executive director of the Central Florida Commission on Homelessness.
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