32922: A ZIP code in need, and a nonprofit's efforts to be a community 'hub'
The pandemic brought a 450% increase in the number of Brevard families on the brink of homelessness.
Between coronavirus, job uncertainty and spiraling food and housing costs, it's been a rough three years for those families and nonprofits alike. Every day, 75 Space Coast families seek aid from Family Promise alone.
But soon, with Family Promise moving into a bigger space with more resources and holding a race to raise funds, those seeking assistance will have access to more options.
In their 2,800-square-foot building in Rockledge, without assistance from community partners, the 10-year-old nonprofit doesn't have the space and resources to meet their goal of doing something more to help Brevard’s needy get out of poverty.
So later this month, Family Promise will move from the Rockledge property, owned by Grace Life Church, into a decommissioned fire station in an area of Cocoa determined to have the county's highest population of people in need.
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On Feb. 24, they'll hold a 5k race in Viera, with funds raised going toward enhancing services for community members.
In their new 6,000-square-foot space, they’ll be like an “octopus,” said Executive Director Tara Pagliarini — a place where the organization will have arms reaching out into the community, serving as a hub for services such as shelter and housing stabilization, healthcare, education and more.
“The goal is to reach out to connect to what exists already in our county and all these different arms that are pulling in quality partners with that same vision — that every family should have a home, a livelihood and the chance to build a brighter future,” Pagliarini said.
“We know that all of these pieces — housing and child care and healthcare and education — don't happen in a silo. If one thing kind of is impacted, they tend to all have that trickle-down effect and can create a perfect storm for a family.”
'We had the finger in the dam'
While the pandemic caused a significant increase in the needs of the community, it’s been a steadily growing problem for about 10 years, Pagliarini said.
Pre-pandemic, she said, about 40% of the county was a paycheck away from losing housing.
“The reason for the relocation and how it’ll change how we operate is that over the years, from the day that we became operational in 2013 to about 2020 right before the pandemic, we just saw a significant increase in the number of families facing homelessness,” she said.
“And then when the pandemic hit, it came to fruition that we saw this massive increase in volume of referrals.”
Many of the people being referred to Family Promise, which currently helps provide shelter, stabilization and homelessness prevention, didn’t have the savings to stay afloat when the pandemic hit.
At the most, 30% of a person’s monthly income should go to rent, according to Chase.com. However, the people Family Promise serve then and now were spending 50% to 80% of their income on housing costs.
Then, in 2020, when so many lost their jobs and getting unemployment took months for many — while some didn’t get unemployment at all — there wasn’t enough money saved up to pay for their apartments and homes.
“It just felt like we had the finger in the dam,” Pagliarini said. “If we take it out, it’s just (going to flood), and that’s what happened.”
With so many people in need and finite resources, Family Promise started to look at how they could help best — and what areas of Brevard needed help the most.
Moving to 32922
It started with a ZIP code: 32922. In 2020, when Family Promise examined what areas of Brevard were most impacted by the pandemic, they found this area of Cocoa suffered the most.
“When we mined the data, 73% of families in that ZIP code face housing instability, and they are the No. 1 callers to our hotline 211 in the county for child care, for health care, for educational support,” Pagliarini said.
“Not all of Brevard County experienced the pandemic or the housing crisis the same way, but there are definitely pockets of poverty that have been significantly impacted by COVID and the housing crisis, and so the intent was to go there.”
It was that discovery that spurred them to develop a moving plan. The first step was to find a building.
The city of Cocoa had been planning to demolish an old fire station, one decommissioned in 2017. Instead, when approached by Family Promise, the city decided to donate it, giving Family Promise a 20-year lease for $1 a year.
“Partnering with an organization like Family Promise of Brevard to repurpose one of our old, empty buildings and make it a hub of vital services for our community is a huge asset for us in addressing economic instability within Cocoa," said Cocoa Mayor Michael Blake in a statement to FLORIDA TODAY.
"Family Promise, an organization that is established and has a record of success in helping families throughout Brevard experiencing homelessness, will bring new opportunities to this building and to our community."
In addition to the fire station, Family Promise received a $1.465 million grant from the Department of Children and Families through Brevard Homeless Coalition to cover most of the renovation costs.
The nonprofit is still working on final steps to get it ready for the move. Though it needed a lot of work, the larger building will not only bring them closer to those in need, but will provide space to partner with other groups in the community.
“The approach was to hedge against what we were experiencing,” Pagliarini said. “Let’s not only bring our services that help families who have lost housing or are about to lose housing, but let’s bring alongside partners … let’s create spaces in the building to bring those partners under the same roof.”
Once moved in, they’ll have two full-time navigators from the Early Learning Coalition, as well as a navigator from Career Source.
They’ll also offer classes through Workforce Alliance, Brevard Health Alliance and the Economic Development Commission. These classes, available through scholarships, will provide certifications that will help increase people’s ability to get jobs with better income.
The goal is to not only help people in immediate crisis, but also to help them eventually move out of poverty, Pagliarini said.
Shelter day and night
Right now, Family Promise operates mostly on their own out of the Murrell Road home. Each day, they work with about 75 families fighting to stay in their homes as housing prices continue to rise throughout Brevard and the country.
For the unhoused families they work with — about four at a time — Family Promise has a unique way of providing nightly shelter.
During the day, families stay at Family Promise’s day shelter. But at night, for the span of a week, they’ll stay at one of approximately 13 churches partnered with Family Promise. There, volunteers spend the night providing food, shelter and company for the families.
Family Promise provides beds to the churches offering shelter. It’s a good way to use the resources already available as an alternative to a traditional shelter, Pagliarini said. And it’s a good way to serve in your own community, she added.
“It’s a way to have hands-on ministry in Brevard County without having to go to another country to do hands-on or boots-on-the-ground kind of work for people who are in crisis,” she said. “It’s a way to do it here locally, and it’s a great use of existing resources.”
Each family, on average, spends about 29 days with Family Promise and the churches before they’re back in a more stable environment.
“Each location is very creative about how they do it. … They may turn (an) office into a bedroom for a family of four because they move all the furniture out or they move it against the wall, but the church that they stated at last week, Church of Our Savior, they created a big event tent in their main hall, and they made it really fun,” Pagliarini said.
“I think the key is really about making people feel safe and welcome and that they belong, and that they’re not an imposition, but they’re invited in ... that the congregations we work with want to invest in their long-term success through short-term action.”
They hope to have at least 600 participants for the Feb. 24 event and are seeking sponsorships. They also need volunteers.
The "Wizard of Oz" theme was chosen to help runners understand Family Promise's mission and the population they work with, Pagliarini said.
"We all know that there's no place like home," she said.
"When we're talking about the families we're serving, we're talking about just making sure that everybody has that chance to have a place to call home."
Finch Walker is the education reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Walker at 321-290-4744 or fwalker@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @_finchwalker
Ways to support Family Promise's mission
On Feb. 24, Family Promise will hold its annual "Journey Home" 5k race at 6 p.m. at Church at Viera. With a Wizard of Oz theme, this year's character is Toto. In the past, runners have dressed up according to theme, and are encouraged to do so again this year or even bring their dogs.
Registration — $15 for kids 12 and younger and $30 for adults — is available day-of or online on Family Promise's website. Runners will get shirts, participation medals and prizes for each age category. Wesche Jewelers in Melbourne has donated a $2,000 gift card that participants can bid on.
In addition to the race, volunteers looking to help or congregations interested in hosting families can sign up on Family Promise's website. Donations can also be made there.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Family Promise preps to be a 'hub' amid Brevard housing crisis
