BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — For the past several years, the Brevard Homeless Coalition has been counting the number of homeless people in the county as part of their yearly census.

This allows them to apply for grants and funding to help people who are living on the streets find housing.

“Getting this data is critically important for us to tell our story of homelessness in Brevard County,” said Sarah Slone of the Brevard Homeless Coalition.

Sydonie Roach received help from the coalition, which provided her vouchers to pay rent and utilities for a new apartment six months ago.

For the past ten years, Roach and her six kids have been in and out of shelters. She said she was evicted in 2021 when her landlord passed away and the family sold the property to new owners.

At that point, they had no place to go.

“Not having a roof, I wouldn’t be able to instill things like this in them. They didn’t have the opportunity to sit down and color together because we were living in our car, then a shelter. It’s just not the same,” Roach said.

Roach now works in customer service for Ford, helping car owners update software, resolve technical issues and schedule appointments for service.

She said it’s gratifying to help people because the coalition helped her so much.

“It is really great to assist someone, because I was in those same shoes. And if it wasn’t for other people, we wouldn’t be able to make it where we are right now. So I’m just so grateful,” she said.

Roach credits God for bringing them from hopelessness and homelessness to hope for a bright future.

“It gives me encouragement. You see, a lot of people in the Bible been through a lot, and they weren’t able to write their stories, if not for it. So I always read it and it keeps me going,” she said.

Thanks to the giving spirit of others, they can truly enjoy the holiday season together in a safe place to call their own.

“It means a lot to us because now we’re able to look at this beautiful Christmas tree that we weren’t able to see for like a few years now when we were in the shelter,” she said. “We were able to get a good Christmas, but it didn’t feel the same because we weren’t at home.”

In 2023, the Brevard Homeless Coalition counted 1,052 homeless in the county, many of them women and veterans.

Next year’s count will take place in January, and the group will work to provide housing for as many as possible.