The Florida Campaign to End Child Homelessness

Posted on 12/07/2011 @ 12:49 PM

By Hershel Fried

Tonight, thousands of children in Florida will go to sleep in their family car, an emergency shelter, a seedy motel, or on the streets. Tomorrow night will be no different for these children, because they are homeless. They have no one to turn to and no safe haven. Each year, over 70,000 children in Florida experience homelessness.

Between January 2008 and 2011, unemployment in Florida skyrocketed from 4.8 to 11.9%. This past February, the state had the second highest number of home foreclosures in the country. As a result, many Floridians find themselves out of a job and living in substandard and dangerous conditions—a car, doubling up at a friend’s house, or crowded into a single motel room. Children, many too young to understand what is happening, are unable to regularly attend school, and develop behavioral and psychological ailments. Due to a lack of stability and poor school attendance, homeless children may be at greater risk of becoming involved in gang activities. Children who are homeless are sick four times as often as children living in stable housing, and go hungry at twice the rate of other children.

One family of four, two parents, and two children between the ages of 8 and 10, spend every day in South Tampa selling bottles of water and Gatorade for a dollar each. One day I brought them some groceries and chatted with them to find out their story. It’s not an unfamiliar story in Florida, or anywhere in the country where homelessness and jobless claims are on the rise. Two months ago, the husband lost his job due to company downsizing. Shortly after, the family found themselves homeless after their landlord defaulted on their trailer park, leading to a total eviction. Since their eviction, the South Tampa Family (as they call themselves) lives out of a motel room they can barely afford, and are driven to the same corner every day by the children’s grandmother. The husband refuses to accept government handouts for fear of becoming a burden on the system, and he has been applying for work since he was laid off in April. His wife has reservations about placing herself and the children in a temporary shelter. While most kids spend their summer months at summer camp or on vacation, the Tampa Family children help their mom and dad sell water on the street corner. When I asked the kids how they felt, they said they missed their friends but loved their family too much not to help them get through this very hard time.

Unfortunately, Tampa is a perfect microcosm of the dire situation Florida is in. A 2009 report, entitled America’s Youngest Outcasts: State Report Card on Child Homelessness, ranked Florida among the 10 worst states in addressing child homelessness. Across the state , an estimated 70,633 children experience homelessness each year. Based on the 25% high school graduation rate for these children, only 17,658 of Florida’s homeless children will graduate high school. Each child who doesn’t make it through high school will earn $200,000 less in their lifetime. That adds up to a statewide loss of $831 million per year. Expand the scope to a national level and the total loss is $41 billion.

The Florida Coalition for the Homeless and The National Center on Family Homelessness have partnered to create the Florida Campaign to End Child Homelessness (www.HomelessChildrenAmerica.org) The Florida Campaign is working tirelessly to bring child and family homelessness to the forefront of issues that must be tackled in the upcoming legislative session. But to make a truly lasting impact, Floridians must make their voices heard. To help end this tragic problem, call your local, state or federal public official and request that they meet with members of the Florida Coalition for the Homeless or their local Homeless Coalition.

For more information on how to help end child homelessness in Florida, contact Rayme Nuckles at:
Rayme@Fchonline.org

CITATION:
FamilyHomelessness.org
HomelessChildrenAmerica.org