JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 The emails started coming in \u2014 women on the verge of homelessness, many with children, not knowing where to turn. They had reached out to social service agencies, but shelters were full or no one followed up. News4JAX wanted to know if this was an isolated trend \u2014 and an expert says it\u2019s not.<\/p>\n
\u201cTwenty years ago you were seeing the majority men, and now it\u2019s getting close to almost a 50-50 split,\u201d said Brian Snow, who has spent more than 20 years working with people experiencing housing instability. \u201cWhich is extremely alarming to us.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Crisis poverty\u2019 pushing families to the edge<\/p>\n
Snow points to a shift in why people are losing their homes. It is no longer just chronic unemployment or addiction \u2014 it is something he calls \u201ccrisis poverty.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMore and more people are becoming homeless due to crisis poverty,\u201d Snow said.<\/p>\n
Crisis poverty happens when a family simply cannot financially survive one emergency after another. Medical bills. A job loss. A family member who needs care. Each crisis chips away until there is nothing left.<\/p>\n
That is exactly what happened to Jolean.<\/p>\n
A lifetime of carrying others<\/p>\n
Jolean\u2019s story starts young. At 13, she was living on her own. At 19, she stepped up to take custody of her brothers after her mother became unwell. Over the years, she had two children of her own, then took custody of her brother\u2019s children, and is now helping care for her grandson \u2014 who required multiple brain surgeries.<\/p>\n
Then the home she was renting was condemned for extensive repairs. Just like that, Jolean and six children had nowhere to go.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis time I can\u2019t do it no more. I\u2019m tired. I\u2019ve done so much and I try not to ask for help,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s not anyone\u2019s job to help me. I have kids who need me and I feel helpless and I\u2019m tired.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sulzbacher Center providing a lifeline<\/p>\n
Jolean and the six children are currently being helped on a 30-day basis by Jacksonville\u2019s Sulzbacher Center, which has been serving people in need since 1995. Sulzbacher Village offers 70 affordable apartments and 56 units for people who need housing immediately \u2014 or who would otherwise be living in a car or on the street.<\/p>\n
Snow says the long-term answer is straightforward, even if it is not easy.<\/p>\n
\u201cHousing. Affordable housing,\u201d he said. Sulzbacher is also planning to open a second housing development for single men \u2014 100 units \u2014 in the near future.<\/p>\n
Funding cuts raise concerns<\/p>\n
Mayor Donna Deegan has made affordable housing a priority. But the outlook is complicated. Amendment 3, on the November ballot, could cut up to $300 million from city coffers if it passes \u2014 raising serious concerns about the future of housing programs.<\/p>\n
The city has already reduced its funding for Sulzbacher, dropping its contribution from $375,000 last fiscal year to $250,000 in the new fiscal year.<\/p>\n
Snow pushes back on skeptics who question spending tax dollars on housing assistance.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe face of homelessness is not what you think it is,\u201d he said. \u201cPaying a little more in taxes to be great to the community that we live in \u2014 to make sure that people are not on the streets and getting a nutritious meal \u2014 it\u2019s worth that little tax.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jolean\u2019s message to other women<\/p>\n
For women going through what she has been through, Jolean has a simple message:<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t give up. Do not be afraid or embarrassed. Do not let pride get in the way. Do not be so afraid of the no that you stop looking for the yes.\u201d<\/p>\n