By Therese Murphy

Just 50 miles from Disney World, the Happiest Place on Earth for many young people, Eustis, Florida is an idyllic semi-rural community with a historic downtown. Besides sunshine and much natural beauty, what Eustis shares with Orlando and the rest of the metropolitan area, is a growing homelessness crisis, particularly among those 24 and under. While some of these young people are unhoused along with their families, many are unaccompanied minors. Enter the Forward Paths Foundation, a nonprofit that provides help to teens who are either homeless or at risk for becoming so. The great majority of their clients have spent some time in the foster care system.

Those aging out of foster care in Florida were historically given a push out the door on their 18th birthday, taking them instantly from a troubled childhood to a struggling adulthood. Recognizing that these young people need a support system and guidance, as well as practical assistance, Forward Paths emphasizes three things- housing, job skills, and education. Now, they’re investing in a community of homes that will house, over the years, countless young people who could otherwise become homeless. Thanks to the work of Builder Captains Taylor Morrison, and Ashton Woods, Forward Paths and HomeAid Orlando are building a village of ten micro homes. Each home will house two residents while they work with staff from Forward Paths to achieve the skills, they need to support themselves.

Called Cottages on the Grove, this village, scheduled to be completed in early 2024, is less than two miles from Lake Technical College, where some residents will be attending school. This micro community will include an adult who’ll function as a Resident Advisor to ensure that everyone is safe and will provide these young adults with peers who are experiencing the same things they are. They’ll also have the support of the Foundation’s staff and volunteers as they take those first steps toward independence.

Florida currently ranks third in the nation for having the most people experiencing homelessness, and Central Florida ranks third among Florida’s metropolitan areas. As an area dependent on low wage tourism and service jobs, some of which were lost forever during the Covid pandemic, we also have unusually high housing costs with a median rent of $2,100. Someone working for minimum wage would have to spend every cent on rent to afford that. A teen leaving foster care would have no money for food, etc., and certainly no ability to raise the money for deposits, rent or utilities.

Without Forward Paths, and other service agencies, those aging out of foster care could easily become homeless and hungry- or even worse. Because our economy is dependent not only on tourism, but also agriculture, Central Florida has become a haven for human traffickers who enslave people for sex or farm work. The age group most vulnerable to being trafficked is teenagers; those teens in financial need and without adequate support systems are particularly at risk.

As one of HomeAid’s newest affiliates, HomeAid Orlando was founded in late 2019. Since then, we’ve overseen $1.5 million worth of renovation projects - from turning an old farmhouse into an office building, to rebuilding bathrooms for a residence that houses 30 men at a time, to expanding a pantry so families can pick up food. Current projects include renovating a home that serves as a safe house for formerly trafficked adult women and converting a hospital into an adult living facility for homeless seniors. We couldn’t be happier that our first project building from the ground up is this village that will serve as a haven of security and belonging for young people as Forward Paths helps them move toward independent and full lives.