Budget Cuts + Surge In Need = Crisis

By Daniel Tran
Communications Intern
PATH Partners

South Florida homeless shelters are starting to feel the sting of the downward economy. Article: Link

Families are getting hit with home foreclosures, forcing them onto the street and into homeless shelters. However, homeless shelters are facing the same issues that is spreading across the country: limited beds and an increasing number of people who want them. In South Florida alone, there are more than 200 families on the waiting list for housing, a bleak thought compared to the approximate 15 families in past years.

Even with county-run shelters and churches opening their doors, there simply isn’t enough resources to accommodate for the increasing number of homeless people. Furthermore, as the economy dips, people are donating less to shelters and organizations as they deal with their own economic issues.

"The demand is up, and our donations are 50 percent less than what they were this time last year," said Rev. Avis Hill of Westgate Tabernacle Church. "With the economy as it is, we have a lot more families with children than we once did. We're just about maxed out."