How access to basic hygiene can support health, confidence, and opportunity Staying clean should not be a luxury. But for someone struggling to afford housing, food, transportation, or other basic needs, items like soap, shampoo, toothpaste, and clean clothing can quickly become out of reach. That is hygiene poverty, and it can...
Honest answers to common questions about poverty, hunger, and housing instability Hunger and homelessness can be uncomfortable topics to talk about. Sometimes people have questions but hesitate to ask because they fear sounding insensitive or simply don't know where to start. Asking questions is one way to better understand what our neighbors...
Why access to relief, essential resources, and compassionate support matters during the hottest months Summer heat can be uncomfortable for anyone. For neighbors living in cars, camps, or on the streets, it can quickly become dangerous. Without access to air conditioning, shade, water, or a safe place to rest, people experiencing...
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...
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...
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...
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 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...
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...
"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...