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ORLNDO, Fla. \u2014 Only Channel 9 rode along with the Pathlight Home Outreach Team as they searched wooded areas and streets to meet homeless seniors where they are on Wednesday. Through its Three Bridges Program, Pathlight connects people 50+ years old with emergency and permanent housing in Orange County.<\/p>\n
Every day, Tara Pearson and her community outreach partner, Frank, make their rounds around town.<\/p>\n
Wednesday included handing out ponchos ahead of the rainy season and water for the hot days ahead, to a population you wouldn\u2019t expect to find in the woods.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor starters, we\u2019re seeing a lot of elderly people,\u201d Pearson said.<\/p>\n
In 2025, Pathlight, which provides services to the homeless, housed more than 700 people from Orange, Osceola, and Seminole counties. 70% of those were 45+ years old.<\/p>\n
That same year, 14 people aged 50+ were brought off the streets and placed in permanent housing through the Three Bridges Program.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reason for that is because most of them are on some kind of fixed income,\u201d Pathlight\u2019s President and CEO, Carl Falconer, said. \u201cWhen the rent increases, they can\u2019t keep up with that rent increase.\u201d<\/p>\n
Through the program, Falconer said the seniors are given the tools to eventually find permanent housing. He said if a solution isn\u2019t found to provide affordable housing for all, it will only have a domino effect on the rest of the community.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we\u2019ve priced our seniors out of living in our community, it means we have to do better, we have to find ways, find ways to build that into the community,\u201d Falconer said.<\/p>\n
Pathlight is currently renovating a building to become a community health and wellness center for all to use, 6 units for veteran housing, and a drop-in center for mental health services.<\/p>\n
Learn more about Pathlight and its services<\/a> <\/p>\n Click here<\/a> to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here<\/a> to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.<\/p>\n