WELCOME HOME
Our Impact
We work to provide stable, long-term housing to people experiencing homelessness. Our primary focus is on veterans, youth, people with disabilities, victims of domestic violence and human trafficking, and families with minor children.Over the past year (10/1/23 to 9/30/24), we have helped to house 4,700 homeless men, women and children in Central Florida. That’s the good news. But there are still another 3,610 individuals in Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties who have applied for help. They are sleeping in emergency shelters, in their cars, in the woods, or literally on the streets. Roughly a quarter of them are under age 18. We need more resources and more affordable housing units to address the crisis. With your help, we can do more.
2024 Point-In-Time Count
The data from our annual homeless “census” — the point-in-time count measuring the population of people experiencing homelessness on a single night in January — was sobering, but, sadly, not unexpected. Our region’s extreme lack of affordable housing, rated as one of the worst in the nation, has led to an 86% increase in unsheltered homelessness in the past year. The number of shelter beds has actually decreased over the past five years — even as our overall population continues to climb. And at one point last year, rents in the greater Orlando area were rising faster than in anywhere else in the country. From 2019 to 2024, fair market rent for a two-bedroom apartment climbed nearly $700 a month.
See more data from the point-in-time count here.
Youth homelessness
Brighter Days Central Florida, our community initiative to prevent and end homelessness among older teens and young adults, means connecting people ages 16-24 both to housing and the opportunities they need to change the trajectory of their lives. Help can include rental assistance, host homes, diversion support, navigation guides, case workers, and connection to health care, job training and educational programs. To learn more or get involved, click here.
Supreme Court ruling compounds tragedy of homelessness
On June 28, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that cities can ban people from sleeping and otherwise surviving in public spaces, even when there is no alternative. This ruling opens the door to arresting people experiencing homelessness because they have nowhere else to go.
Worse, it comes as Florida implements the “Unauthorized Public Camping and Public Sleeping” passed by the Legislature, which subjects counties to lawsuits if they “allow” public sleeping rather than establishing state-sanctioned camps where everyone who is unsheltered must live. This is both dangerous and ineffective.
For the full statement on the impact of this ruling and this law, click here.
Our Vision
The Homeless Services Network of Central Florida is committed to the belief that everyone needs a safe place to call home.
Our mission is to lead Central Florida’s community-wide effort to help make any experience of homelessness rare and brief. We work with dedicated frontline partners — including nonprofit outreach staff, the Department of Veterans Affairs, local shelters, case managers, housing advocates, health-care providers, domestic violence agencies and human trafficking recovery programs. We help raise critical funds for housing, we recruit private landlords and property owners, we pay the rents, we advocate for housing justice, and we staff the locations where people can apply for help and meet with a caring staff member to address their needs.
Make an impact!
There’s no greater gift than helping someone have a safe place to call home.
THANK YOU!
More than 450 amazing volunteers turned out earlier this year to help with our annual Point-in-Time Count (the federally required census of people experiencing homelessness). They generously devoted their time and energy to help us distribute food, hygiene kits, clothing and information — all while conducting interviews and recording data. This information helps us and local leaders see year-over-year trends and shapes our response.
If you’re interested in helping with the 2025 Point-In-Time Count, please send an email with “PIT volunteer” in the subject line to info@hsncfl.org. We’ll make sure you get details on the official sign-up process, training, and locations and hours available when the time nears. The PIT Count takes place each year in late January. Thanks in advance!
Housing First
We embrace Housing First — a homeless-assistance approach that prioritizes providing stable housing to people experiencing homelessness without requiring that they first adhere to a particular faith or go through job training. We believe in providing a safe and restful place where people can recover, address their challenges, and improve their mental and physical health.
Homelessness Facts
Between July 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024, nearly 14,600 people sought help from our network, either because they were worried about becoming homeless, or because they were already experiencing homelessness.
Of those:
3,438 were children
1,217 were survivors of domestic violence
1,972 were veterans
1,806 were people with disabilities who had already spent more than a year unhoused.
1,140 were age 62 or older
4,370 had no health insurance
Support for Landlords & Advocates
We need landlords and property managers to work with us in order to fulfill our mission. You are an essential part of the process -- and you can do good while still earning a return on your investment.
Thank you for an amazing celebration of our 30th anniversary!
We raised much-needed funds for housing, shared some poignant stories, heard from one of the nation’s thought-leaders on homelessness, and named the inaugural recipient of our Thomas C. Chatmon Jr. Community Champion Award…
Click below to find out who won and to see all the photos — plus a special thank-you to our host and our sponsors. We couldn’t have done it without you!
