{"id":107163,"date":"2026-01-06T03:38:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T03:38:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/107163\/"},"modified":"2026-01-06T03:38:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T03:38:07","slug":"orange-county-approves-funding-to-expand-homeless-shelter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/107163\/","title":{"rendered":"Orange County approves funding to expand homeless shelter"},"content":{"rendered":"

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. \u2014\u00a0Orange County leaders have approved new funding to expand temporary housing at the Samaritan Resource Homeless Services Drop-In Center<\/a>, allowing more families in crisis to access short-term shelter and support.<\/p>\n

What You Need To Know<\/p>\n

Orange County approved $335,500 to expand temporary housing at the Homeless Services Drop-In Center<\/p>\n

Funding opens all 30 units, increasing capacity to help up to 100 families each year<\/p>\n

The total contract with the Samaritan Resource Center now stands at $1.45 million<\/p>\n

Families receive short-term housing and wraparound services to prevent a return to homelessness<\/p>\n

Orange County leaders have approved new funding to expand temporary housing at the Samaritan Resource Homeless Services Drop-In Center, allowing more families in crisis to access short-term shelter and support.<\/p>\n

The approved amendment adds $335,500 to the county\u2019s contract with Samaritan Resource Center, bringing the total contract amount to $1.45 million.<\/p>\n

Currently, the program can serve about 20 families at a time. With the additional funding, all 30 housing units will be available, increasing capacity to help up to 100 families each year.<\/p>\n

According to the center\u2019s executive director, the program focuses on stabilizing families quickly and helping them move into permanent housing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe goal is to house families who are out on the streets who are experiencing homelessness,\u201d said Zeynep Portway, executive director of the Samaritan Resource Center. \u201cWe put them in a hotel, work with them on either increasing their income or help them get a job\u2026 and then within 12 to 16 weeks, we help them get into a place and move into their own apartment and sign their own lease.\u201d<\/p>\n

For families already receiving help, the impact is immediate.<\/p>\n

Ana Garcia says that she and her children became homeless two months ago and had nowhere else to go. She says the center stepped in quickly, providing housing, child care support, and essential resources.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve been providing us with literally anything I ask for,\u201d Garcia said. \u201cJust having her be in a safe, warm spot has been a blessing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another mother, Tomarrow Butler, says the program has allowed her to focus on her children and plan for long-term stability.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can focus on my kids more,\u201d Butler said. \u201cThey can feel safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

County leaders say the added resources will help address key barriers to stability, including employment challenges, child care needs, and access to support services, while reducing the likelihood of families returning to homelessness.<\/p>\n

Leaders at the Samaritan Resource Center say the expanded funding allows them to continue offering short-term housing paired with wraparound services such as case management, employment assistance, mental health support, and access to food and basic supplies, all aimed at helping families achieve long-term stability.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. \u2014\u00a0Orange County leaders have approved new funding to expand temporary housing at the Samaritan Resource…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":107164,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[28924,1571,1011,274,3949,1644,1190,115,139,141,140,278,835],"class_list":{"0":"post-107163","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-orlando","8":"tag-ach-housing","9":"tag-affordable-housing","10":"tag-app-human-interest","11":"tag-app-top-stories","12":"tag-bryanna-howard","13":"tag-housing","14":"tag-human-interest","15":"tag-news","16":"tag-orlando","17":"tag-orlando-headlines","18":"tag-orlando-news","19":"tag-top-stories","20":"tag-vod"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107163"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107163\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}