On The Road To Mickey, There Is Hope

This is Part Three of a three-part series in titled "Homeless In The Shadows Of Mickey."

Pastor James K. Palmer of the Worship Center International in Kissimmee, Florida knew something had to be done.

With the US Highway 192 tourist district turned into a last resort for families who have lost their homes, pastor Palmer was on a mission: Help these families move into stable housing and hand the US 192 corridor back to the tourist.

Pastor Palmer is the founder and leader of the "Project 192 Outreach", which is a coalition of local businesses and groups who's sole mission is to get these families back on the road to stability; and the first step is to get them back into normal housing. "It is unacceptable...because we need to return the industry to the industry," Palmer told WFTV channel 9, the ABC affiliate in Orlando. "They would come in and that would create jobs and help the economy turn around."

And Osceola County desperately need a turn around.

No other county was hit harder by the recession then Osceola County, who's economy completely depends on tourism. When the recession hit, the tourism industry slowed to a crawl, and visitors were now opting to stay closer to the action, either on theme park properties or on International Drive to save money. When the business on US 192 began to dry up, jobs began to dry up as well, and many families suddenly found themselves unable to maintain the mortgage or the rent. The same strip which once enticed families going to see Mickey Mouse, Harry Potter or Shamu, now was the last resort for hundreds of families who had no other place to go.

Agatha Foster and William Rivera were one of those families.

Two years ago, the couple lost there employment and soon after, their home. Without any family to help, they ended up at the Seralago Hotel & Suites, which sits right beside the Old Town entertainment complex, where they raise their three children. "There's nothing for them to do," said a sobbing Foster as she described life at the hotel to WFTV in December. "You don't know your neighbor next door. I don't let them go outside." The Project 192 Outreach is trying to help families like Agatha Foster and William Rivera. In six months, the outreach has relocated 70 families, including 150 children, to more secure and stable housing. The outreach collects donated items from big hotels in the region, such as mattresses, dressers and even bags of bedding that goes to families when they finally move out of the motels.

But the need is greater.

In Osceola County, over 2,000 students in the school system were considered homeless. Nearly 17 percent of the county's population, and just over 30 percent of children, are classified as "food insecure" , in which families are unable to consistently access nutritious and adequate amounts of food necessary for a healthy life. To put it another way, families are going hungry. In fact, the food insecurity rate for children in Osceola County is 3 percent higher then the state average of 27.5 percent, and is the highest in Metro Orlando. Greg Higgerson, the vice president of the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, sees on a daily basis the growing need in Central Florida. "The need in Central Florida is really at a historic level," Higgerson told the Osceola Gazette-News. "The number of families out there struggling now is tremendous."

While Second Harvest is helping with the hunger issue, The "Give Kids Safe Shelter" organization is teaming up with the Project 192 Outreach to provide the housing. For 11 years, Give Kids Safe Shelter, supported by six other local children's agencies, has been trying its best to eraticate child homelessness in Osceola County. In a county where 67 school bus stops are in front of the US 192 motels, getting children out of motels is essential.

This three-part series has looked at the homeless problem that is plaguing Central Florida. But the problem goes beyond the land of Mickey Mouse.

Stories such as the ones coming out of Orlando, are being played out all over the country. Families that have been hit by the economic downturn are facing down a long road of hopelessness and despair. Men, woman and children living out of motels, car or in homeless shelters are at their wits ends. Hopefully, this series will spur a call to action. Agencies across the country are in need of help, and it gonna take the effort of the entire nation to get the most vulnerable back on their feet. It is time for us to become a nation that take care of our own. It is time for us to help the less fortunate get back on a stable standing so they can take care of themselves. To get children back in a normal place to live so they can blossom into the best they can be. But before we can solve the problem, we must first realize that the problem exist.

We cannot ignore this problem anymore.