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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nFor one Brevard County couple, this is their new reality. At 72 and 83 years old, Petrona and Juan Solis said homelessness is not a situation they ever imagined they\u2019d be in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are here to do some shopping,\u201d said Petrona Solis, as she picked up groceries at the Matthew’s Hope Food Pantry for the first time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She said the Brevard County food pantry is their last option, because also for the very first time, she and her husband are homeless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI can\u2019t afford it any longer, the rent is too high,\u201d said Petrona.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The married couple lived in their own home in Cocoa with a $700-per-month mortgage, but said they were forced to move out after it was damaged during a hurricane and they couldn\u2019t afford to repair it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Petrona said they found a $1,500-per-month apartment, but because they had to rely on Social Security, they couldn\u2019t keep up with the rising costs and were recently evicted. She said they now they live in their car.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHow can I explain it?” she said. “It\u2019s sad.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Matthew’s Hope<\/a> community liaison Sharlene Dewitz said her organization is doing its best to help them. She was helping to get them into a hotel temporarily, but said this is a scenario that is becoming all too common, as she has seen an increase in seniors dealing with the same situation over the last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe challenge is we have to find affordable housing for seniors is the lack of inventory,” Dewitz said. “You will have more for certain groups, such as domestic violence or women and children, but we are finding that seniors are very, very difficult to place.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n She said the situation has put a lot of strain on their resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe more people that we have come in, the more need for partnerships with the community and support from the community for everything from monetary to food, so we can help these people,\u201d said Dewitz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While Petrona said she was grateful for the help they were getting, she was frustrated, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBecause this is the first time I become homeless,” she said. “I feel sorry for the ones before me and after me with the situation that is going on right now.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Petrona was having a hard time understanding how she and her husband ended up without a home, and said it feels like she’s been abandoned by the government at all levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLook at us the seniors, we work hard, we vote for them and this is what we get,\u201d said Petrona.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, she\u2019s worried about what her future will look like if things don\u2019t change fast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI would like to not die on the street,\u201d said Petrona.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now this is not an isolated issue, as seniors and non-profits are feeling the effects of this all across Central Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A recent report from Harvard<\/a> is sounding the alarm, as nearly a third of senior households are considered cost burdened, which means they are spending more than 30% of their income on housing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Charles McKenzie, a computer lab volunteer at the First Step Shelter<\/a> in Daytona Beach, said he knows firsthand how fast a person can become homeless. At 67, he found himself on the streets after facing some medical bills, despite having had a career as a college professor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He spent eight months at the shelter before he was accepted into Section 8 housing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was a slap in the face, really, to understand that I could not afford housing,” he said. “Affordable housing was out of my limits because of several other life variables, and this place was the first step to get back to that reality.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n First Step Shelter executive director Victoria Fahlberg said her organization is currently sheltering more than 70 people a day \u2014 a nearly 15% increase from last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA lot of them are people who have been in housing and then when their lease came due, they weren\u2019t able to continue paying their rent,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fahlberg said the increases have put a strain on resources for many local nonprofits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n