ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. \u2014 Kim Kendall lost her husband in 2024. Left to raise her two children on her own, she said no one stepped up to help.<\/p>\n
\u201cEver since my husband died in 2024, nobody wanted to step up and help. Basically, we\u2019ve been on our own,\u201d Kendall said.<\/p>\n
The family bounced between extended stay hotels before finding their way to the Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida in March.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re helping me compose myself half the time, and helping me with my home journey to basically get up and get out and be on our own again,\u201d Kendall said.<\/p>\n
Now the organization that took Kendall\u2019s family in is getting a major boost. Orange County is awarding the Coalition $1.46 million to expand outreach and crisis intervention services across Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties.<\/p>\n
Mimi Coenen, chief operations officer for the Coalition, said the funding will help outreach teams find people living unsheltered who might otherwise go unnoticed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis funding is going to enable us to have teams that can go out and find individuals that need our help, that are precariously housed or living somewhere where it\u2019s not meant for human habitation,\u201d Coenen said.<\/p>\n
Coenen said that work has gotten harder since Florida\u2019s camping ban took effect, making people more reluctant to be found by outreach workers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the new camping ban legislation, people are more reluctant to be found. There\u2019s a reluctance to put forward what your situation is,\u201d Coenen said.<\/p>\n
The Coalition served nearly 4,800 people last year, and more than 500 of them were experiencing homelessness for the first time, according to the organization. The most recent regional count found more than 2,700 people experiencing homelessness across Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties, though advocates say the real number is likely higher, since the count does not include people doubled up with friends or relatives or living in motels.<\/p>\n
The Coalition is also in the middle of a major expansion. Construction is underway on a new center for women and families on its Parramore campus, part of what the organization calls its next chapter in serving the community.<\/p>\n
As for Kendall, she says she and her children are now looking at houses of their own.<\/p>\n
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