ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — 2024 broke records and made headlines for the surging number of people living on the streets of Central Florida, but one local non-profit announced they had a ‘record-breaking year’ saving people from homelessness.
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Leaders with the Christian Service Center announced the non-profit rescued 1,243 adults and children from homelessness in 2024, surpassing their goal for the year and breaking last year’s record.
It comes as the region has seen a 28 percent increase in homelessness according to the 2024, Point in Time Count, an annual census for homelessness across Orange, Osceola, and Seminole Counties.
According to the Executive Director of the Christian Service Center, Eric Gray, the local non-profit uses a color-coded chart to carefully track those lifted out of homelessness every year.
Gray told Channel 9 the non-profit has been doing this work for over 50-years but has become more efficient in stretching funding to help more families.
According to Gray, some people are provided transportation costs to be reunified with family other places, some are matched with housing funding, and some never become homeless to begin with because of the non-profit’s intervention.
Gray told Channel 9 the non-profit often intervenes to cover move-in assistance.
This helps low-income families who live pay-check to pay-check secure new housing, since apartments often require a security deposit and first month’s rent up-front.
“Most people have jobs. They have an income, but they have a barrier to getting back into an apartment, which is they can’t afford the security deposit and the first month’s rent,” said Gray.
Channel 9 spoke to Rahim K who has been living out of his car for several months but got approved for move-in assistance for an apartment through the Christian Service Center.
Rahim told Channel 9 he drives Uber and has his CDL, but the non-profit’s support means he will be able to move into a new home as he pursues an audio engineering degree at Full Sail University.
“Things have slowly come together. With this program that they have it’s going to help me a lot said Rahim.”
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