Understanding the need in our community and the services that help neighbors rebuild stability From 2024 to 2025, the total number of people experiencing homelessness in Seminole County went from 420 to 436, a 3.8% increase. That figure includes people sleeping in emergency shelters and traditional housing. [1] Behind every number is...
Shane discovered career direction, confidence, and community at The Sharing Center Unsure of what came next Before enrolling in ProjectRISE, Shane was feeling stuck. He wanted to grow, contribute, and find his path, but wasn’t sure where to start. “I was looking for a passion,” he shared. “It was clear I liked helping...
With Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week approaching, here’s how our community can make a difference Hunger and Homeless Awareness Week (November 16–22, 2025) encourages us to look beyond statistics and see the people in our own neighborhoods who are struggling to find stability. In Seminole County, homelessness affects families and individuals...
How The Sharing Center empowers individuals with the skills and confidence to achieve lasting employment Finding meaningful employment isn’t always easy—especially for those who are unemployed, underemployed, or navigating challenging circumstances. That’s why The Sharing Center created ProjectRISE, a comprehensive five-week workforce development program designed to equip individuals with the tools...
Our community has seen trials and crises at whiplash rates in recent years. A global pandemic, extreme hurricanes, and unattainable costs of living have cornered many into poverty. In many cases, one late rent or mortgage payment led to an eviction notice, while a loss in income or increase of...
With a quick search on the internet, you’ll find a plethora of research findings describing a correlation between health literacy and socio-economic status. According to information compiled in The Journal for Electronic Health Data and Methods, these factors are “directly associated with clinical and behavioral risk factors and healthcare outcomes.” Under...
Our donors, volunteers, and staff are the heart of our mission. Every service shared relieves families and individuals from the burdens of poverty because of the compassionate care of our community. For this reason, while heart-shaped confections and floral arrangements are in abundance this month, we want to express our...
Families and individuals around Central Florida face the unexpected every day. One slip on the playground results in an unexpected medical bill, and one high credit card charge leads to a missed rental payment. As a result, the hardships continue to mount at indescribable rates. With your support, The Sharing Center...
It costs approximately $35,424 for a single adult and $93,228 for a family of four to survive in Central Florida. That’s according to Heart of Florida United Way’s Household Survival Budget released in 2022, based on updated research conducted from public sources. That means an individual needs to earn $40,000 to...
What comes to mind when you think about what it means to experience poverty? For most, physical descriptions of what life is like when individuals and families lack the monetary resources needed to meet their basic needs come top to mind. However, poverty's accompanying psychological effects on an individual continue to...
White picket fences, freshly cut lawns and wrap-around porches perfectly fit together to portray the American Dream at its finest. Although this portrayal of what life was like in the 1930s no longer looks the same, the yearning for something better still rings true for many today. For Shannon and Jocelyn,...
The final days of September were overcome with uneasiness and exhaustion as the landfall of Hurricane Ian left residents across Central Florida exposed. The catastrophic storm produced unprecedented amounts of flooding and destruction in its wake, but the heart of Seminole County has remained unwavering through it all. While some were...
Media Alert The Sharing Center Launches Emergency Relief Efforts In Support Of Seminole County WHAT: The Live United Village has been activated as an emergency relief center for Seminole County to provide food, water, emergency kits, and other essential resources to the surrounding community. WHO: All services and programs at The Sharing Center...
News Release For more information, Margaux Pagán Director of Marketing & Innovation margaux.pagan@thesharingcenter.org (407) 260-9155 AdventHealth Invests Impactful Gift to The Sharing Center’s Expansion LONGWOOD, FL (July 11, 2021 )-- AdventHealth has invested an impactful $200,000 gift to support The Sharing Center’s mission to prevent hunger and homelessness. This funding will help double the number of people...
When you think of Florida, you imagine Disney World, white sand beaches, palm trees, laid back culture and good food. What more could you ask for in the perfect place to live, work and play? Native and newcomer Floridians definitely didn’t ask for Florida to earn the unfavorable title of “The...
Children right now in Seminole County are carrying the weight of wondering where their next meal will come from, if they will sleep in a safe bed, or if they will have a roof over their heads. Instead of focusing on what children should have the opportunity to enjoy- like school,...
Thank you to The Ryan Foundation, Inc. for believing in our mission and supporting families as they navigate out of poverty. Our Families in Crisis Program works to reduce homelessness and provides the tools and support necessary for financially insecure families to achieve and retain stability. Financial assistance, with limited restrictions...
Yesterday, the Christian world welcomed Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week, when Jesus Christ triumphantly entered Jerusalem and events were set in motion which would lead to His suffering and death on the cross, and ultimately, His glorious resurrection. This is the most sacred week on the liturgical calendar. ...
ProjectRISE - Reach, Inspire, Sustain, Empower Every single day, hundreds of people come through The Sharing Center’s campus to receive services. Our plaza has quickly become a one-stop shop for each family and individual’s needs. It is The Sharing Center's mission to help those experiencing poverty receive compassionate care. Our team works...
Faces of Hunger When you think of the face of hunger, do you picture your next-door neighbor? Hunger has no face. It could be the college student who skips a meal once a day to save on money, or the single dad working overtime trying to make means to keep up with...
News Release For more information, Margaux Pagán Director of Marketing & Innovation margaux.pagan@thesharingcenter.org (407) 260-9115 x2115 Ground-Breaking of The Oasis Expansion and $100,000 partnership with Wharton-Smith Foundation LONGWOOD, FL (February 1, 2022)-- With a dramatic increase in those experiencing hunger and homelessness in Seminole County, The Sharing Center, in partnership with The Wharton-Smith Foundation, has started a...
Creating A Home Every other Sunday, Rich and Jean Horbert host a barbeque at the home the couple purchased for those in need of a helping hand. In early 2019, the Horberts met an older, kind, unassuming man named Neal at a local Starbucks they frequented. Each day they ran into Neal,...
A Place Of Respite & Refuge The Oasis is the only drop-in resource center in Seminole County where families and individuals experiencing hunger and homelessness can come to receive a warm shower, laundry service, hair cuts, and on-the-go meals. Those in desperate times can come to The Oasis as a place of...
The Danger of Stigma When asked “What would you say to people who assume every homeless person is dangerous?” In an interview with the Chief of Police for the Longwood Police department, David Dowda, replied, “You have to look at the individual, be cautious about lumping people together under the same...
More Than What Meets The Eye The Sharing Center’s hope is that every person- donor, volunteer, or staff, who encounters anyone on our campus- will meet them with the compassion and dignity they deserve. That together, we would look at people experiencing homelessness, not as the world sees them. Yet as we...
How Mental Illness Affects People Experiencing Homelessness “If you hear their story, you realize they’re not crazy- they’re just walking through a broken story in their life.” Dan Miller, a counselor from our mental health partner agency, Florida Counseling Foundation, describes his day-to-day experience when counseling people who experience homelessness. “Nothing is...
Look Beyond The Cover “People will assume or believe why you’re homeless just by looking at you - because you’re carrying a bag or because of the clothes you’ve got on. They categorize you. They don’t know what you’ve been through without reading the book. They just look at the cover.”...
The Importance of Dismantling Stigmas of Homelessness “Society needs to get out of the mentality of what homelessness is. It’s not the person on the side of the street with a sign. It’s your neighbor, your friend, people you used to go to school with, someone with a degree, with a...
Reach, Inspire, Sustain, Empower Limited resources for affordable housing, the stigmas of homelessness, and the growing economic barriers our neighbors experience are the exact reasons why The Sharing Center is working to produce a new program. ProjectRISE-- Reach, Inspire, Sustain, Empower is estimated to launch in early 2022. ProjectRISE will work...
News Release For more information, Margaux Pagán Director of Marketing & Innovation margaux.pagan@thesharingcenter.org (407) 691-3119 How Orlando Health is Making a Powerful Impact LONGWOOD, FL (Sept. 14, 2021)-- Orlando Health makes a powerful impact to support The Sharing Center’s (TSC) mission to prevent hunger and homelessness. At TSC’s first Share The LIGHT Gala, Orlando Health announced their...
Together, we can create an impact that will build a more resilient community and change lives for generations. Universal Orlando Foundation sees the importance of our mission to end homelessness. The Sharing Center is the recipient of $40,000 in grant funding to support our families experiencing housing instability and participating in...
No child should have to worry about homelessness. Unfortunately, that is a reality for many. Bank of America Charitable Foundation sees the importance of our mission to end homelessness. The Sharing Center is the recipient of $35,000 in grant funding to support our families experiencing housing instability and participating in our...
DaMario, case manager of The Sharing Center's Oasis, shares why he serves our homeless neighbors. On this episode of Your Story presented by TV45, host Tracy Leek sits down with DaMario of The Sharing Center to learn his story, how God has been working in his life, and how he...
Now more than ever, the internet is essential. The Internet brings greater access to homework, job opportunities, healthcare and benefits, education resources and more. When you're connected, you're ready for anything. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has begun a new benefit, The Emergency Broadband Benefit, to help families and households struggling...
In a little over a month, parents and students will experience the annual excitement of heading back to school. For so many, however, this time can cause stress for those worried about how they can possibly afford a new backpack or a new pair of shoes for their child. To help...
Written by: Lynn Pham March is National Social Workers Month and we want to recognize our team's efforts to bring relief back into the lives of our struggling neighbors. Suzanne Conty has been The Sharing Center's lead client service coordinator for over 10 years. When asked about her experience, she says, “It...
Heart of Florida United Way Invests More Than $1 Million to Support Basic Needs for ALICE Families During COVID-19 11 Agencies Awarded Total of $1,045,000 to Provide Needed Support to ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) Families in Central Florida ORLANDO, Fla. (December 21, 2020) – Today, Heart of Florida United...
Written by: Mirna Chamorro, Public Information Officer at Florida Department of Health, Seminole County Since the beginning of 2015, the Florida Department of Health in Seminole County (DOH-Seminole) has partnered with The Sharing Center to serve the community’s uninsured, underinsured, homeless and at-risk populations. Through this relationship, an environment of accessibility...
November is the kick started to the giving season. This is also the time of year that we hear heart-warming stories from the community like the one below. The extension of giving goes far beyond any season and this is one example of how, when we give, we transfer kindness...
"I first came to Florida in 2011. I was uninsured and stayed with my sister in Sanford. I was becoming really ill and because I did not have health insurance, the trips to the emergency room were relentless. After almost a year of declining health issues, I still couldn’t afford...
What do you get when you combine a passion for the environment, and a desire to meet the needs of our homeless community? The answer is a beautiful Labor of Love. Asbury United Methodist Church in Maitland Florida, is behind this labor of love. Shirley Brietz along with, Jack & Mel...
With every new year, there is an air of excitement and hopefulness. We create new goals and seek ways to grow throughout the days and months before us with little caution to the “what ifs”. Well, we can all agree, this year has brought the unexpected into our lives, collectively....
COVID-19 has disrupted many lives across our community. Hardworking people lost their jobs either to furlough or lay offs. Families began struggling, some for the first time in a very long time, to afford their rent, utilities, and car payments. This is exactly why The Sharing Center stepped forward and...