Family Housing Resource Center

10/04/2026

Rumors that a homeless shelter is coming to Elva Street are not true.

Family Housing is working to create the Elva Street Community Center (ESCC)—a place designed to bring people together through activities, education, volunteering, practical skills, and community connections.

Plans include financial and technology literacy classes, job-skills activities, recovery and fellowship groups, a community garden, volunteer opportunities, a bicycle clinic providing refurbished bicycles and repairs, and other programs that can grow as community members become involved.

Yes, Family Housing will continue helping people who are experiencing homelessness. That is part of what we have done in Santa Rosa County for more than two decades. But ESCC is being developed as something broader: a community center where people participate, contribute, learn, volunteer, and share their strengths with one another.

A limited cold-weather emergency shelter is also being proposed for the handful of nights each year when temperatures become dangerous. It is a separate, occasional function of the property—not what ESCC is or what it will operate as day to day.

We look forward to sharing more about the programs, volunteers, partnerships, and opportunities that will make the Elva Street Community Center a place for the community—not simply a place that provides services.

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09/30/2026

Right here in Florida, our neighbors in Vero Beach and Fernandina Beach figured something out. And it really isn’t rocket science.

In Vero Beach, a place called The Source provides practical help to people experiencing homelessnss - like meals, showers, laundry and supportive services. All with a goal of helping people work toward greater stability.

In Fernandina Beach, The Coalition for the Homeless of Nassau County operates a center where people can access showers, laundry, meals, mail, benefits assistance and connections to other resources. When temperatures become dangerously cold, the community also provides a cold-weather shelter.

Different communities. Different organizations. But a remarkably similar idea: Help people where they are.

Provide the basics that allow someone to function with dignity. Help with the paperwork and obstacles that keep people stuck. Connect people with resources. Create opportunities for stability. And when the weather becomes dangerous, make sure people have somewhere safe and warm to sleep. Hmmm. That sounds an awful lot like what we are proposing at the Elva Street Community Center.

These Florida communities demonstrate that our proposed community center and limited cold-weather shelter are not some radical experiment. Communities are already doing it.

We can do it too.

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09/29/2026

A Revolutionary Five-point Plan to Address Homelessness:

1. Stop playing Homeless Hot Potato. Moving a person across a county line does not make them less homeless. It just changes which county gets to count them.

2. Ask people what they actually need. Wild concept, I know. Before designing an expensive program "for" people, try talking "to" people. Transportation, identification, employment, benefits, medical care, addiction treatment, laundry, a shower, or simply a safe place to sleep may be the barrier standing between someone and stability.

3. Deal with small problems before they become big (read expensive) problems. A replacement ID costs less than repeated emergency-room visits. Preventing an eviction costs less than sheltering a family afterward. Helping someone obtain benefits or employment costs less than leaving that person in crisis for another year. Prevention isn't glamorous, but neither is the bill for ignoring it.

4. Give people a place to start. You cannot solve every problem in one afternoon. You can provide a shower, clean clothes, an address for mail, help with paperwork, a bicycle to get to work, a warm place on a freezing night, and someone who knows what the next step should be. Stability is usually built one boring little step at a time.

5. Remember that homeless people are still our neighbors. They don't cease to be members of our community because they don't have an address. The goal shouldn't be to make homelessness less visible. The goal should be to make homelessness less common.

Bonus Point #6: If your homelessness plan requires a bus ticket and another county, please return to Point #1.

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09/29/2026

Apparently we have developed a regional strategy for homelessness. It is brilliant in its simplicity: complain that the county next door sent their homeless people to us, then load up our own folks who are experiencing homelesness and bus them to the county next door.

Everybody gets a bus ride. Nobody solves homelessness. 😏

09/27/2026

There is a striking contrast between sending people experiencing homelessness out of our community and the attitude of those who receive them. Waterfront Mission in Pensacola has continued to welcome people in need, including people from outside Escambia County, even when its own resources are strained. That spirit reflects a deeply Christian principle: when a person in need comes to your door, the first question is not where that person came from, but how you can help.

That generosity should cause us to examine our own responsibility. If another community is willing to make room for our neighbors when its shelters are already under pressure, should our response be to send even more people there—or should we ask what we can do here?

The Christian lesson of the Good Samaritan is particularly relevant. The Samaritan did not ask which community was responsible for the injured man. He saw someone in need and responded with compassion. In the same way, county lines do not determine who qualifies as our neighbor.

There is nothing inherently wrong with providing transportation to Pensacola when an individual wants to go there or when Pensacola offers a service that is not available locally. In that circumstance, transportation can itself be an act of compassion. But transportation should expand a person's choices, not become a substitute for a community accepting responsibility for people who are already part of that community.

Waterfront Mission's willingness to receive people from outside its immediate community demonstrates hospitality. We should be grateful for that generosity. But perhaps the best way to honor that generosity is not to rely upon it unnecessarily. If we have people here willing to provide a safe place during dangerous cold weather, local churches willing to volunteer, and organizations capable of connecting guests with longer-term assistance, then we also have an opportunity to practice that same hospitality.

The question, from a Christian perspective, is therefore not simply, “Can Pensacola take them?” It is also, “What is our responsibility to the neighbors who are already here?”

One community should not have to carry the burden of compassion because another community has chosen to export it. Christian hospitality calls us to something better: communities helping one another while each remains willing to care for the vulnerable people in its own midst.

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09/23/2026

As we all know by now, the Ferris Hill Baptist Church’s cold-weather has been pressured into closing its doors. For the first time in 18 years, Milton will not have a cold-weather shelter. Out of Escambia, Santa Rosa, Walton, and Okaloosa Counties, we will be the only county without one.

So who actually used that shelter? People experiencing homelessness, yes, but also people living in homes without heat. One solution being offered by the City of Milton and Opening Doors is to bus people to the Waterfront Mission in Pensacola on dangerously cold nights. While at first glance this may seem like a practical answer, it is not.

The Waterfront Mission is already overcrowded and does not have space to accommodate another county’s homeless, especially on cold nights when demand increases substantially. Overflow shelters in Pensacola are equally overcrowded.

Pensacola is suffering from a homelessness crisis of its own – has anyone asked people there how they feel about having additional homeless people bussed in? Do they even know about this plan?

Then there is the issue of cost - someone will be paying for the proposed bussing plan. Which begs the question of why either city would take on the expense of bussing people out of town as opposed to finding a permanent local solution.

The people we have spoken with have not expressed a willingness to be transported to Pensacola. As one person put it, “We are not cattle.” People do not want to leave their belongings or pets. Many do not have phones and would have no way to receive updates on bus schedules and locations.

Transportation should connect a willing person to a real opportunity—not serve as a substitute for meeting our own community’s responsibilities. A bus can take someone to another city. It does nothing to address the issue of homelessness.

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09/22/2026

We understand the City’s concern about how homelessness may affect economic development. We share the goal of a clean, safe, active, and economically healthy Milton, and the Elva Street Community Center can directly support that goal.

ESCC will return a property that has been vacant for 22 years to attractive, productive use. We will offer classes, recovery support, a community garden, a bicycle clinic, volunteer projects, and other structured activities that help people build skills, assume responsibility, and move toward greater stability.

People will not come to ESCC simply to receive services. They will be engaged in activities designed to help them move forward. They may learn budgeting or technology skills, repair bicycles, work in the garden, attend recovery meetings, volunteer, or help lead a project.

As people become more stable, they are better able to work, maintain housing, support local businesses, and participate in community life. By working with the City, businesses, churches, civic organizations, and volunteers, ESCC can help create a more vibrant neighborhood, a stronger workforce, and a more resilient community.

Economic development is not only about improving property. It is also about helping people become able to contribute to the community around them. The Elva Street Community Center will do both.

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09/18/2026

Well, it looks like I’ll be suffering from nervous-cat syndrome a little longer! Our pre-application meeting with the City of Milton is being rescheduled until after October 5.

We originally expected the meeting to be a fairly informal opportunity to discuss our proposal and learn what would be required during the application process. We then learned that the city planner, assistant city planner, city manager, police chief, fire chief, and director of economic development would all be attending.

Although that was a little overwhelming at first, we believe their participation reflects how important this project is to the community. Each official brings valuable knowledge and experience, and each has an important perspective to contribute. Having everyone at the table will help us address questions, anticipate concerns, and develop the strongest possible plan through meaningful discussion and cooperation.

With questions about zoning, fire safety, public safety, building requirements, and operations likely to arise, we decided it would be wise to bring someone who speaks fluent legalese. Our attorney will therefore attend the meeting, but he is out of town until after October 5. Coordinating that many calendars may take some time, but we are hopeful the meeting will help us identify concerns and work together toward practical solutions.

Our proposal has two parts. First, we hope to relocate the Family Housing Resource Center to a larger, more appropriately zoned property where we can expand services, training, and activities that help vulnerable and low-income people remain stable and avoid homelessness.

Second, we are requesting permission to operate a cold-weather shelter there on approximately 35 dangerously cold nights each year. It would provide a warm, dry, safe place to sleep for people experiencing homelessness and others living without adequate heat.

We have a good proposal, an experienced committee, a 22-year record of responsible operation, and a community filled with people who care. We may be nervous, but we are also prepared, persistent, and hopeful.

Please keep us - and all those calendars - in your prayers. With patience, cooperation, and perhaps a very large pot of coffee, we believe we can move this worthwhile project forward.

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09/15/2026

I’m about as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs while we wait to learn whether our community center and cold-weather shelter will be approved. But life—and our work—goes on!

We received a shipment of tents this week to distribute to people living without shelter. These small pop-up tents do a surprisingly good job of keeping someone dry and protected from the wind. Just as importantly, they provide a small measure of privacy and personal space—something every person deserves. Small pop-ups are also easy to take down when a person needs to move—or when an abandoned tent must be removed and disposed of. We probably hand out 4 or 5 tents a month. This doesn't sound like much, but it is to the folks who get them.

Until colder weather sets in, we will be handing out cotton top sheets in addition to our usual summer-weight sleeping bags. I’m not sure why I never thought of this before! A lightweight sheet helps keep the mosquitoes off without making someone miserably hot, and the sleeping bag can be used to make the hard ground just a wee bit softer.

Live and learn—and help where you can. 🙂

09/14/2026

Jim Waters, Associational Mission Strategist for the Santa Rosa Baptist Association; Tom Turman, former coordinator of the Ferris Hill Baptist Church cold-weather shelter; and I will meet with the City of Milton’s Planning Department this week for a pre-application meeting. We are seeking approval to relocate from our current location on Alice Street to a much larger property with zoning better suited to our work.

This move is important. It would allow us to grow from a resource center into a true community center with expanded programs and services. It would also provide a local, safe place for people experiencing homelessness—or living without adequate heat—to find protection during dangerously cold nights.

Santa Rosa County needs a local cold-weather shelter. Bussing people to Pensacola is not a practical solution. Not one person we have spoken with has said they would be willing to go, and Pensacola shelters are already strained beyond capacity during cold-weather events.

Please wish us well and keep us in your prayers. Most of all, please pray for the people we serve and for a compassionate path forward for our community.