Venice Goodwill employee receives rent help from Season of Sharing to stay in his home

Todd Kirschner was tired of the long commutes to his job that could stretch up to two hours each way.

He enjoyed the work, but after putting in eight or nine hours as a painter at high-end residential developments throughout Sarasota and Manatee counties, he’d often face an exhausting drive through heavy traffic back to the room he rented for $675 a month in a Venice home.

“I loved the people, I just couldn’t do the travel,” said Kirschner, 57.

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This summer he decided to strike out for a different job. But one week quickly turned into another and then another as new employment prospects failed to pan out.

Kirschner’s savings already had taken a hit the previous year as pandemic-related closures forced work stoppages at his painting job. He got himself through that time by picking up hours as a dishwasher and line cook at a local diner for several months.

Now into the fall, Kirschner watched his savings completely dwindle as he scrambled for a new job. His landlord let him tap into the money he’d put down as first and last month’s rent. Once that disappeared, he fell behind even further.

“Bills don’t stop coming in because you’re out of work,” he said.

Finally, he saw a help-wanted sign at a Goodwill Manasota center. Kirschner inquired and eventually was hired for a spot in the agency’s Bargain Barn in North Port. But it would be a number of days before he could start, and he’d have to go through orientation.

“Please, I’ll work right now,” Kirschner remembers desperately telling Goodwill employees. “I need to make rent.”

Kirschner had spent 30 years laboring around the country in construction – from electrical to framing, painting and roofing work – and along the way had either slept on job sites or in the great outdoors – what he wryly called “urban camping.”

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But at this point in his life, with arthritis in his back and hand, it wasn’t something he relished repeating. Instead, facing homelessness, Kirschner envisioned he’d soon be living out of his 1992 Suzuki Vitara. He just had to find a spot to safely park overnight.

Before it could get to that, Goodwill employees knew where to turn. There was something that could help, even though Kirschner hadn't asked: Season of Sharing.

Goodwill put him in touch with the nonprofit Laurel Civic Association to process the application. Before he knew it, he was approved for the $1,800 maximum annual allotment that would go straight to pay his landlord and utilities to help him get caught up.

Kirschner was dumbfounded.

“You’ve got to be kidding me! I didn’t believe there was something out there that could help,” he remembered replying.

“I’ve never asked anyone for help,” Kirschner added on a recent morning over a cup of coffee at Peach’s Restaurant, his former employer, located in the same plaza as the Goodwill Manasota center where he’d originally seen the hiring sign.

Situations like Kirschner’s are on the rise for many Sarasota-Manatee residents due to rents that have risen more than 40% over the past year and a critical shortage of affordable housing, particularly for workers in the area’s large service industry, said Antonio Nazario, a Good Partner Coach at Goodwill Manasota.

“This is why we have the community resources and the partnerships that we form, to enhance their quality of life, to overcome barriers that they’re facing,” Nazario said.

One of the big goals of funds like Season of Sharing is to prevent homelessness. And in this case, that’s exactly what Nazario, Goodwill and Laurel Civic Association were able to do.

For Kirschner, Goodwill supplemented Season of Sharing with other help, including gas cards that he can use to fill his tank to get back and forth to his Bargain Barn job.

Unaccustomed to seeking assistance, Kirschner – who recently shelled out $50 for a new tire for his car – never told Nazario that he was unable to afford more than $100 in prescribed antibiotics and an inhaler after a recent bout with pneumonia. Once Nazario learned of this, he said Goodwill would be able to help with that as well.

For now, Kirschner said that though his budget remains tight while he replenishes the remaining first-last rent money he owes his landlord, at least now he can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

“It was pretty dark for a bit,” Kirschner said. “I don’t exactly know who I would call and thank. But I’m extremely grateful.”

How to help

Season of Sharing was created 21 years ago as a partnership between the Herald-Tribune and the Community Foundation of Sarasota County to get emergency funds to individuals and families on the brink of homelessness in Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte and DeSoto counties. There are no administrative fees and no red tape – every dollar donated goes to families in need to help with rental assistance, utility bills, child care and other expenses.

Donations to Season of Sharing may be made online at cfsarasota.org/donors/support-season-of-sharing, or by sending a check (payable to the Community Foundation of Sarasota County) to Attn. Season of Sharing, 2635 Fruitville Road, Sarasota, FL 34237. Contact the foundation at 941-955-3000 for more information or to request a credit card form. All donations are tax-deductible.

This story comes from a partnership between the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and the Community Foundation of Sarasota County. Saundra Amrhein covers the Season of Sharing campaign, along with issues surrounding housing, utilities, child care and transportation in the area. She can be reached at samrhein@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Venice man gets help from Season of Sharing to stay in his home