COCOA, Fla. — Leaders with Matthew’s Hope say they spent an additional $70,000 since opening as a warming shelter this year.
Since January, the nonprofit has opened five times for several days to allow the homeless to come in during cold weather. It has opened seven times since November, founder Scott Billue said.
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Matthew’s Hope leaders say they spent an additional $70,000 this year while opening as a warming shelter
In addition to a cot and blanket, the nonprofit also provided food, showers, and medical services to their clients
Leaders say more than 1,300 people visited weekly across their Brevard and Orange county locations, plus mobile outreach
In Brevard County, leaders say they saw an average of 175 people each time they opened. At the Orange County location, 135 to 150 people would come in. Including their mobile outreach teams, Matthew’s Hope surpassed 1,300 visits every week, organization officials said.
“We end up having staff here 24/7. We’re running our buses to pick people up throughout the day, every day,” Billue said. “We’re having our medical team on site. We had to buy cots.”
To accommodate those visiting, Matthew’s Hope filled its outreach center with cots. The group provided food, showers and medical services to those visiting.
The $70,000 doesn’t represent what it costs the organization, but rather an additional cost to provide its services, Billue said. The money came out of its operating budget, which pays for expenses like insurance, salaries and utilities.
“Anytime this happens for any nonprofit — some kind of crisis of one kind or another — can be a setback, and this particular type of setback, you can’t plan for,” Billue said. “It hadn’t happened to us in 15 years. The last time it happened to us was 2010, when we first started.”
The community was helpful, bringing in donations when the shelters opened as a shelter. The nonprofit is asking for help once again to make up those funds.
Leaders of other organizations said they felt similar impacts.
Chris Ham, president of Rescue Outreach Mission in Seminole County, said approximately 30 to 40 people visited each night that the center opened as a warming shelter.
The mission opened for nine days, expanding its capacity and receiving cots and blankets from the county.
“We converted our dining room, offices and other areas to open up as much capacity as possible to help those in need,” Ham said in an email to Spectrum News. “While at the shelter, we provided additional meals and resources to all.”
The outreach mission is still evaluating its bills, but officials estimate close to $10,000 in unbudgeted costs.