Nearly a year after Hurricane Ian hit, mom and two kids struggle to find housing

Eileen Zaffiro-Kean, Daytona Beach News-Journal
·4 min read
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DAYTONA BEACH – It has been nearly a year since Hurricane Ian slammed into southwest Florida, and Shenika Collins and her elementary school-age children still don't have a permanent roof over their heads.

"This is the first time I've been homeless. It's been horrible," said Collins, who spent part of this summer sleeping in a Daytona Beach park every night with her 10-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter.

Shenika Collins and her children, 10-year-old Myron Scott and 7-year-old A'Layah Powell, have been without a home since Hurricane Ian. The family has been staying at Daytona Beach's Hope Place family shelter since early August.
Shenika Collins and her children, 10-year-old Myron Scott and 7-year-old A'Layah Powell, have been without a home since Hurricane Ian. The family has been staying at Daytona Beach's Hope Place family shelter since early August.

Collins was living in Fort Myers when the Category 4 storm with 150 mph sustained winds roared into Florida on the afternoon of Sept. 28 last year. She survived the storm but became homeless and ended up in Volusia County with two kids, no money, and no car.

Living in the car

Collins survived the treacherous winds and 7-foot storm surge that rushed into Fort Myers, but when the storm passed she was left with a badly damaged apartment.

The 37-year-old had spent her whole life in Fort Myers, and she had every intention of staying there even after Ian tore up her roof and left leaks in her bathroom, kitchen and front door area. The apartment she had lived in for four years soon developed mold, a pungent stench and a bug infestation, but she stayed and kept paying her $1,300 rent.

She wound up in the hospital in February, right when the owner of the duplex unit she rented had ordered tenants to vacate so repairs could be made. By the time she got out of the hospital, she said all of her belongings had been dumped outside by the road and taken by anyone who wanted the abandoned items.

She still had her car, so that's where she and her kids lived. The car also allowed her to make money delivering food for Uber Eats and DoorDash.

After last year's Hurricane Ian left Shenika Collins and her children homeless, they wound up living in a Daytona Beach park. They're now staying at the Hope Place family shelter and working on getting an apartment.
After last year's Hurricane Ian left Shenika Collins and her children homeless, they wound up living in a Daytona Beach park. They're now staying at the Hope Place family shelter and working on getting an apartment.

One night in early March she was sleeping in the car in a Fort Myers hospital parking lot when a security guard ordered her to leave. She was so groggy when she drove off that she got into an accident and totaled her car.

There went her only semblance of a home and ability to earn a living delivering food.

Moving to Daytona Beach

She knew she needed to get a roof over her head as quickly as possible, but with so much of Fort Myers' housing destroyed by Ian, Collins had trouble finding a place she could use her Section 8 housing assistance voucher. When she learned she could use the voucher in Daytona Beach, she and a man she knew headed east with her kids in early April.

The foursome stayed in a Daytona Beach hotel, and she used the man's car to make money delivering food. But everything unraveled when he decided to go to Ohio, alone, in early July.

Collins said he dropped her off in Joe Harris Park, which is located on the edge of the Bethune-Cookman University campus in the Midtown neighborhood.

Suddenly she was alone and homeless in an unfamiliar city with two small kids she needed to protect.

"I couldn't feed, bathe or clothe my children," Collins said.

Helping hands begin to appear

People began to notice the threesome always hanging around the small park, and some of them started giving Collins money, food and clothing. Some Bethune-Cookman students were very generous, even letting her stay overnight at their homes a night or two and take a shower.

She and her kids used the park bathroom during the day, but when the building was locked at night they were outside and vulnerable.

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When it rained, they sometimes sought shelter in the amphitheater at Daisy Stocking Park just down the road.

In late July, someone with the Food Brings Hope program found out Collins and her kids had been staying at the park for a month. The Food Brings Hope worker got them into a hotel first, and made sure they had food. Then in early August, Food Brings Hope helped the family get a small apartment at the Hope Place family shelter in north Daytona.

The shelter has a cafeteria with free food and laundry facilities.

Shenika Collins plays with her kids, 7-year-old A'Layah Powell and 10-year-old Myron Scott, on the Hope Place family shelter playground one morning last week. Collins was a lifelong Fort Myers resident until Hurricane Ian hit last year and she wound up homeless.
Shenika Collins plays with her kids, 7-year-old A'Layah Powell and 10-year-old Myron Scott, on the Hope Place family shelter playground one morning last week. Collins was a lifelong Fort Myers resident until Hurricane Ian hit last year and she wound up homeless.

Shelter officials are helping Collins get into an apartment now that will accept her Section 8 voucher. She hopes to have her own place soon.

Her kids aren't in school yet, partly because they don't have the proper clothing. Sabrina Thayer, the lead case manager at Hope Place, said Collins' kids are enrolled at South Daytona Elementary School and will start going there soon.

Collins is also working on getting a car and a job.

You can reach Eileen at Eileen.Zaffiro@news-jrnl.com

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Homeless Hurricane Ian victim from Fort Myers finds help in Volusia