Rachel Kyler Daily News
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July 19, 2008 - 5:00PM The heat, cold and mosquitoes. Finding food, clean clothes or a place to lay your head at night. The stress of living on the street takes a toll on the body and soul. "Every day was a long drawn out process of knowing who to contact or how to get things accomplished," said Rusty Julian, 49. Julian has been homeless for about two years and is staying at the Waterfront Rescue Mission in Fort Walton Beach. "There's no one, simple, easy route of being homeless," he said.
Now, more local families are fighting battles similar to Julian's. The number of homeless men, women and children has more than doubled in recent months, according to local homeless agencies. Since spring, the number of people visiting local shelters and food distribution sites has increased from between 120 and 150 unique visitors per month to more than 600, said Lenore Wilson, executive director for Opportunity Inc., a homeless advocacy group. The increases have been "stunning," Wilson said. With skyrocketing prices for rent, groceries, gasoline and utilities, more and more people are living paycheck to paycheck, Wilson said. "The economy has certainly caused many people to just bail out. A lot of people who never thought they'd be in this position are," she said. "Their costs are going up, but their incomes are not." The area often sees an increase of homeless people in the winter when they cannot find seasonal work, Wilson said. But when the numbers didn't decline this spring and summer, Wilson said local homeless advocates knew "this is not going to be a usual year." Families are living in tents and cars, while others are still in their homes under the cloud of eviction notices. However, those numbers are harder to get a handle on, Wilson said. Many of the emerging homeless population are people in their 50s and 60s who have been laid off. Although they are skilled workers, they're having a hard time finding work, she said. "They just call me and say I'm being evicted," Wilson said.
People who commute from Crestview to Fort Walton Beach to work are also being hit hard. "The gas prices are just eating them alive," Wilson said. Lancy Colaco, a social worker at the Waterfront Rescue Mission, said she has been busy from morning to night. "It's definitely related to the economy," she said. "A lot of people do not have the money for rent. They just can't make ends meet. There is no affordable housing." "They are not bums," she continued. "It's such a misconception people have. We have people with master's degrees ... we have people with fourth-grade educations. It just varies." The Waterfront Rescue Mission has 12 beds in a women's dorm. But beyond that there are no shelters for women and children from Santa Rosa County to Walton County, Colaco said They're "under the bridge, in the woods in cars, if they have them," she said. Chaplain George McCaulley at the mission said staffers are doing more for the women's mission than they have in the past nine years, "because there are more women out there on the street," he said. For many, once they fall out of the system, it's very challenging to regain a foothold, Wilson said.
Child care, health care and day-to-day expenses become overwhelming. For a day laborer, one night at a motel may eat up a day's wages. But to shower, stay out of the elements and avoid trouble, it's a necessity. "You cannot save on the street," Colaco said. As the number of homeless people increases, many agencies and churches are struggling to find enough supplies, such as toothbrushes, hygiene products and socks. To know the needs, you need to see them, Wilson said. "I would love to have everybody to spend at least one morning or afternoon somewhere in a volunteer capacity. I think it would be very illuminating," she said. Daily News Staff Writer Rachel Kyler can be reached at 863-1111, Ext. 1440.