community court coordinator<\/a> and Pompano Beach\u2019s housing and social services manager.<\/p>\n\u201cIf they feel like it’s a regular courtroom it’s scary, you know, and we don’t want them to feel scared,\u201d Rhett said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a judge, but she doesn’t judge,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
\u201cWelcome to Community Court. We\u2019re glad you\u2019re here,\u201d Broward Judge Kathleen Angione told a participant.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a table set up for defendants with cases in front of the judge.<\/p>\n
But an increasing number of people \u2013 who are not charged with anything — are showing up simply seeking help. The program\u2019s services include mental health, medical screenings, help getting identification, employment, and housing.<\/p>\n
One of those walk-ins was 34-year-old Yessenia Hernandez. The single mother arrived at Community Court in July with her three children.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a struggle,\u201d Hernandez said.<\/p>\n
After the day\u2019s official proceedings ended, she had the chance to speak with Judge Angione.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just coming to see what kind of help I can get for my family,\u201d Hernandez said.<\/p>\n
During their discussion, Hernandez described the challenges of finding affordable housing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey’re all asking for like three months of rent to move in,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Angione asked Hernandez about her employment history.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat kind of work do you do?\u201d the judge asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was doing FedEx and before that I was waitressing,\u201d Hernandez replied. \u201cI wasn\u2019t working for a little while because we were in a situation where we didn\u2019t want to pay for childcare because it was more than rent.\u201d<\/p>\n
After the hearing, Hernandez told NBC6 she was considering leaving South Florida.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can’t stay here, it\u2019s not sustainable for me,\u201d Hernandez said. \u201cMy plan is to move to Tallahassee in the next year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her teenage daughter said the prospect of relocating has been difficult.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s kind of hard for me hearing that we might move to Tallahassee,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Hernandez\u2019s situation reflects a broader affordability crisis affecting many families.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are really, really hurting,\u201d Rhett said.<\/p>\n
She said long waiting lists for affordable housing limit what service providers can do.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe cannot house everyone. It’s just impossible. It\u2019s just not there,\u201d Rhett said.<\/p>\n
According to Pompano Beach data, the number of community court walk-ins, including both individuals and families, has steadily increased over the years since the program began in 2022.<\/p>\n
![\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/9fd1975b-a29f-4785-b629-3bdc48fcf7af.png\")
<\/p>\n
The court\u2019s goal is to connect people with resources. \u201cDo we have the job list that we can give her?\u201d the judge asked.<\/p>\n
Nearly three months later, NBC6 caught up with Hernandez after she finished a shift at a Dunkin\u2019 location. She has been employed there since August but still does not have permanent housing.<\/p>\n
Hernandez and her children are living in an extended-stay motel. She said she followed up with a service provider she met through community court in hopes of receiving assistance with move-in expenses and initial rent payments. But so far, she\u2019s had no luck.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey told me my case was closed and they didn\u2019t know why. That I had to restart the process all over again. So, I\u2019m doing that now. It\u2019s probably a shelter after that,\u201d Hernandez said.<\/p>\n
NBC6 asked Rhett about Hernandez\u2019s case, and she said she\u2019s looking into it.<\/p>\n
Despite the setbacks, Hernandez remains optimistic.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m hopeful that we\u2019ll get to a point where something will come through where we can live in a stable place, in one place for a while,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
There are three community court locations in Broward County<\/a>: Pompano Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and Hollywood. All accept walk-ins for those looking to access the program\u2019s basic services.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As housing and living costs continue to climb across South Florida, some people are turning to an unexpected…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":426596,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[249,251,250,167725],"class_list":["post-426595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","tag-fort-lauderdale-news","tag-squeezed-in-south-florida"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426595","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=426595"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426595\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/426596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=426595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=426595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=426595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}