A Case Prospectus

Learn more about the issue of homelessness and how it affects individuals, families, and our community.

35 Years of Innovation, Evolution, and Impact


Since 1987, Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida has been on a mission to transform the lives of men, women, and children by providing crucial services to end their crisis of homelessness. We are a short-term residential shelter that meets our guests’ immediate needs and specializes in housing-focused solutions. Our approach sets us apart, and it works.


• By focusing on diversion—identifying housing options outside the homeless services system—we ensure that our short-term residential shelter beds are used by those most in need.'


• By following a Housing First approach, we reduce the time our guests spend in shelter, mitigate trauma caused by homelessness, and return individuals and families to safe, stable housing as quickly as possible. For those who are eligible, we provide financial and supportive services through our rapid rehousing program.


• By providing comprehensive, wrap-around services—from daycare and youth programs to victims of crime and veterans’ assistance—we equip guests at our shelter with the skills they need to get on and stay on the path to long-term stability.


• By providing emergency day services, including meals, clothing, showers, laundry, and mail services, we meet the needs of unsheltered guests, and through outreach we extend our impact beyond our short-term residential shelters and into our community.


We make Central Florida a better place to live by serving over 800 individuals every day. During our most recently completed fiscal year we helped over 2,100 people find a home—an increase of nearly 10 percent compared to the prior fiscal year—improving their quality of life over the long term and strengthening our community.


Today, our community is facing unprecedented need and the Coalition has an opportunity to address that need.


The Center for Women & Families facility no longer matches our quality of care, and it now limits the number of people we can serve, as well as our ability to expand housing-focused solutions to meet our guests’ needs. Built as a television studio over 70 years ago, it costs us more money every year as its condition deteriorates.


If we want to excel as the leader in housing-focused care, deliver exceptional services with a uniquely innovative approach, and impact families today and generations to come, we need to serve more people and do so as effectively as possible. We need to consider a capital campaign so that we can build a trauma-informed facility that will serve the needs of this community long into the future through:

AN ENHANCED SHORT-TERM RESIDENTIAL SHELTER FOR WOMEN AND FAMILIES

A new short-term residential shelter specifically designed for single women and families will honor our guests’ dignity; enhance service provision, allowing for creativity and innovation; grant guests the privacy and independence they need to emerge from their crises; and enable us to serve more women and families than our current center allows.

AN ON-SITE MEDICAL CLINIC

Health is vital to stability. Many of our guests have untreated or undertreated health conditions when they arrive. Our children are often behind on well visits and vaccinations.


An in-house clinic will reduce barriers that keep guests from getting the care they need in a timely manner, improve our ability to provide comprehensive whole-person care, and reduce emergency-room visits that drive up costs and tie up critical resources. By partnering with providers with an established presence across Central Florida, guests will leave our short-term residential shelter with care plans and relationships in place, improving their prospects for health over the long term.

BRIDGE HOUSING

Because the supply of affordable housing is so limited—there are only 18 affordable housing units available for every 100 low-income households in Central Florida1—it can take longer to identify housing options than it can take to help guests emerge from their immediate crises.

By adding bridge housing, we will be able to move guests out of our short-term residential shelter while they continue to search for a more permanent home. This, in turn, will free up beds in our shelter and enable us to serve more people.

ENHANCED OPPORTUNITIES FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH

Childcare is a basic need. Parents cannot focus on housing security, employment, and income if they don’t have proper daycare or after-school care for their children. Expanded support through educational and recreational programs will provide the stability and normalcy children of all ages need during their families’ time of crisis and prepare them for success after they leave the Coalition.

A DAY SERVICES CENTER

There are 75 percent more unsheltered people in Orlando than there were before the pandemic.2 By creating a Day Services Center for single women and families, we will be able to focus on the growing needs of this population and expand our services to meet them. In addition to addressing their most basic needs, we will also increase referrals to our housing-focused programs that provide a longer-term solution to housing insecurity and homelessness.


Excelling in Housing-Focused Care

Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida has a strong track record of providing critical services that help our neighbors emerge from crisis and return to stable housing. With more people experiencing homelessness than ever before and an aging facility that is underserving organizational needs, now is the time to step boldly forward.


Building a trauma-informed facility that will provide space for an improved short-term residential shelter, an on-site medical clinic, bridge housing, enhanced programs for children and youth, and a Day Services Center will enable us to serve more women and families and serve them most effectively.


We will improve the quality of life for our entire community. We will impact the families of today and generations to come.

“The Coalition is not just an overnight shelter that gives people a meal and puts them back on the streets. They provide services that help people achieve stability and improve their quality of life. With a new facility designed specifically for women and families, the Coalition will be able to maximize the number of clients they serve and maximize the opportunities they provide to help people get back on their feet and make sure they stay there.”

— Ben Lalikos, chairman, board of directors

To download the Case Prospectus as a PDF, click below:

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1 Central Florida Commission on Homelessness, “Homelessness in Central Florida: What you need to know,” www.cfch.org



2 Homeless Services Network of Central Florida, “Unsheltered homelessness on the rise in Central Florida,” news release, May 1, 2023.

The Impact of Homelessness

Homelessness is an incredibly complex issue that impacts both those experiencing homelessness and the entire community.

View the questions and answers below to learn more.

  • How many homeless people are there in Central Florida?

    The 2022 Point-in-Time (PIT) Count found 2,151 homeless men, women, and children on a single night in Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties. The count includes anyone staying in a homeless shelter, as well as those sleeping in the woods, in their cars or on the streets. However, this count does not include those who were not found on the night of the count, doubled up with relatives/friends or living in a motel until their money runs out.


    According to Orange County Public Schools' figures, more than 9,000 students experienced homelessness this past academic year. 

  • What are the main contributors to homelessness?

    Loss of income, low wages or unemployment: Any disruption for low-income families – unexpected illness and medical expenses, unemployment, divorce, loss of transportation, etc. – can create a financial crisis that results in loss of housing.


    Lack of affordable housing: The average rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Orlando requires an hourly wage of over $21.08 – putting it out of reach for many working poor. A couple who are both employed full-time at minimum wage ($8.25 per hour) can face significant hardship, preventing them from meeting their other basic needs, such as nutrition and health care, or saving for their future. (Source)


    Domestic violence: Victims of domestic violence flee their homes, sometimes with only the clothes on their backs. Nationally, approximately 50% of all women who are homeless report that domestic violence was the immediate cause of their homelessness. (Source)


    Substance abuse or mental illness: A common stereotype of the homeless population is that they are all alcoholics or drug abusers. The truth is that a high percentage of homeless people do struggle with substance abuse — but it is both a cause and a result of homelessness, often arising after people lose their housing. For many homeless individuals, substance abuse co-occurs with mental illness as a way to self-medicate.


    Aging out of foster care: Youths aging out of foster care are at high risk for becoming homeless during the transition to adulthood. Compared to other youth in the United States, kids who age out of foster care are more likely to not have completed high school or received a GED, they often suffer from mental health problems, many are unemployed and live in poverty, and nearly 40% become homeless. (Source)

  • How does homelessness impact an individual?

    The effects of homelessness on men, women, and children are vast. Homeless individuals may experience an increased risk of many physical and mental issues, such as:


    • Poor physical health
    • Nutritional deficiencies
    • Sleep deprivation
    • Mental Illness
    • Physical and sexual assault
    • Drug dependency
    • Premature death
    • Loss of self-value
    • Increased chance of entering the criminal justice system
    • Development of behavioral problems

  • How does homelessness impact the community?

    According to the Economic Impact Report released by the Central Florida Commission on Homelessness, the average cost per day for a chronically homeless individual living on the streets, including incarceration and hospital stays, is $84.93 per day — over $30,000 per year.


    However, $26.59 per day (FYE 2018) is the cost of an individual staying at the Coalition while awaiting housing. This adds up to just over $9,700 per year.

Featured Story

Dawn & Miracle

Dawn, along with her two-year-old daughter, was evicted from her apartment after discovering her roommate was stealing her portion of the rent, rather than paying the landlord.

"We didn't have anywhere to go. I tried to keep Miracle as comfortable as I could in the backseat of the car. Honestly, the only thing I knew to do was pray that there was something out there that could help us."

Luckily, Dawn called the Coalition and was welcomed into our Rapid ReHousing Program, where she met her Housing Manager, Brenda.

Brenda says, "While my clients are with me, we work on making budgets and creating goals for the future." Another key aspect of Brenda's role is to build relationships with property managers and landlords.

"A lot of the families come to me with past evictions or things in their background that can cause some roadblocks," Branda explains. "To get through that barrier, I assure the landlords that my clients will have me by their side supporting them. I also make it a point to thank them because without them giving these families a second chance, they would have nowhere to go."

Within a month of becoming homeless and living in their car, Brenda handed Dawn the keys to her new apartment.

"I'm thankful that the Coalition has programs that can help families like mine. We are truly blessed beyond our measure," Dawn says.