{"id":25122,"date":"2022-09-17T15:11:08","date_gmt":"2022-09-17T19:11:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=25122"},"modified":"2022-09-17T15:11:15","modified_gmt":"2022-09-17T19:11:15","slug":"salvation-army-in-lakeland-expanding-housing-for-people-experiencing-homelessness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2022\/09\/17\/salvation-army-in-lakeland-expanding-housing-for-people-experiencing-homelessness\/","title":{"rendered":"Salvation Army in Lakeland expanding housing for people experiencing homelessness"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Amid a \u201ctsunami of need,\u201d the Salvation Army of west Polk County is expanding to house more families in need of emergency housing in north Lakeland.<\/p>\n\n\n
\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\u201cI would say over the last probably a month and a half to two months, we have been probably turning away eight to 11 families every day,\u201d said Capt. Jeremy Mockabee from The Salvation Army.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Capt. Mockabee said the factors include inflation, increased housing costs and the end of the pandemic-era eviction moratorium last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOnce that moratorium was lifted, all of a sudden we saw this tsunami of need coming. Not just us, those who were also in the same arena and do what we do, they also saw a huge increase,\u201d said Capt. Mockabee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Salvation Army campus in north Lakeland includes 20 emergency shelter units and other apartment units for longer stays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A woman named Kathryn, who did not want to share her last name, has lived in both categories of units since January. She owned an automotive repair shop in another state when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. When a major company in her rural county closed, it affected the entire local economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe were closed for 12 to 14 months and lived off our savings,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kathryn went through all her savings, then her adult daughter found out she had cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe just really didn\u2019t know where to go and what to do,\u201d said Kathryn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the middle of all that, Kathryn and her family moved to Florida and that\u2019s when she received help at the Salvation Army in north Lakeland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey are really a saving grace for myself and many people who just needed a helping hand,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This week, ground broke on a $19.5 million expansion to double The Salvation Army\u2019s emergency housing shelter from 20 units to 40.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe want this to be the priority because we want to meet that immediate need so we don\u2019t have to turn away 11 families a day,\u201d said Capt. Mockabee. \u201cIs it going to end everything? Is it the silver bullet? No, but man it\u2019s a really nice step in the right direction for us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The project will also add 12 more of the apartment-style units Kathryn lives in now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The goal is to have the emergency shelter expansion completed within the next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n