Every day, it feels like the cost of living in South Florida rises. Rent keeps climbing alongside grocery and gas prices, and every night, parents lie awake wondering how they’ll keep a roof over their children’s heads.
Homelessness is a life event, not a life story, and it often arrives when families least expect it. One crisis, like a job loss, a medical bill or a rent increase, can turn a stable home into a precarious situation overnight.
This World Homeless Day, we’re shedding light on the work we do every day at HOPE South Florida to support Broward County families navigating the overwhelming world of housing insecurity.
And we invite you to come alongside us.
Homelessness doesn’t always look the way you think
Housing instability is a national issue, and it’s growing fastest among families. According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness’s State of Homelessness: 2025 Edition, which draws on the January 2024 national count:
- Homelessness rose 18% in a single year, to 771,480 people, the highest number since national tracking began in 2007.
- Families with children saw the largest increase of any group.
- The number of children under 18 experiencing homelessness jumped 33%, to 148,238.
- First-time homelessness has risen 23% since 2019.
Many of these families are led by parents who go to work every day.
In our Safe Parking program, 88% of the families we serve are employed, and 88% are single-parent households. These are parents doing everything they can, yet their paychecks can’t keep up with the cost of housing.
Housing insecurity doesn’t just change where a family sleeps at night. According to Community Solutions, it has been linked to:
- Increased mental and physical health issues
- Greater exposure to violence
- Higher mortality rates
The same report notes that housing insecurity can be especially harmful for children, including:
- More adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)
- Emotional distress from repeated exposure to trauma
- Disrupted schooling and fewer educational opportunities
At HOPE South Florida, our programs are designed to keep a housing crisis from derailing a family’s life. Through Safe Overnight Parking, Homes of HOPE transitional housing and our HOPE Family Pathways, we walk alongside parents as they move from immediate crisis to lasting stability and financial independence.
Homelessness in Broward County
Here at home, housing insecurity is a major issue, and much of it is hidden. Many families never show up in a one-night street count because they sleep in their cars, stay in motels or double up with relatives. Nationally, nearly 3.2 million people were doubled up for financial reasons, and Florida is one of 21 states where that number grew from 2022 to 2023. Florida is also one of seven states that together account for 64% of everyone experiencing homelessness in the U.S., according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness.
School data shows the true scale. More than 4,300 Broward County students have been identified as experiencing homelessness, according to H.E.A.R.T. data presented to the Broward Continuum of Care in April 2026. Because schools track students throughout the year, these numbers capture the families living in cars, motels and borrowed rooms that a one-night count misses. Each night, toddlers, children and teenagers get ready for bed without a home to call their own. Some sleep in the back seat of the family car.
The math explains why. Nationally, median rents rose 23% after inflation from 2001 to 2023, while renters’ median incomes grew just 5% (NAEH). In Broward, the gap is even sharper. A two-bedroom unit in Broward County rents for roughly $2,300 to $2,350 a month. The median monthly income of the families in our Safe Parking program is about $2,160. To afford HUD’s 2026 Fair Market Rent of $2,333 at 30% of income, a household would need to earn about $93,000 a year.
A 2024 Florida law also prohibits sleeping in public places, which makes daily life even harder for families who have nowhere else to go.
How you can help
At HOPE South Florida, we’re committed to helping Broward County families experiencing housing insecurity get back on a path to stability, safety and peace.
But we can’t do it without partners like you.
What is the $200K Challenge? This year, a foundation with a long-standing reputation in Broward County invested $200,000 in HOPE South Florida. Their grant came with a challenge to our community: if they believe in these families enough to give $200,000, will our neighbors do the same?
We kicked off the challenge at our second annual Night of HOPE fundraiser on October 8. Grace Wesleyan Church in Fort Lauderdale, the home church of our founder, Dr. Fred Scarbrough, started us off with a $40,000 gift. Generous individuals gave the rest, and together they brought us to $100,000, halfway to our goal.
What does that mean for your gift? The challenge isn’t a dollar-for-dollar match. Every gift goes directly to the families we serve and counts toward our community’s $200,000 goal. When we reach it, the foundation’s grant and our community’s gifts will put $400,000 to work for Broward families.
Every gift, at every level, moves a family closer to home:
- $250 provides gas cards to keep a working parent getting to work
- $1,000 covers utilities assistance to keep a family’s home running
- $5,000 furnishes one Homes of HOPE unit
- $30,000 provides a year of rental assistance
- $75,000 funds a Family Advocate for one year
Give to the $200K Challenge today, or volunteer your time with our team. And this World Homeless Day, share this story so more people see the families hiding in plain sight.
Sources
- National Alliance to End Homelessness, State of Homelessness: 2025 Edition (January 2024 national count): national totals, family and child increases, first-time homelessness, Florida share, rent vs. income
- Broward County Continuum of Care H.E.A.R.T. data, presented at the April 22, 2026 public meeting: 4,300+ children experiencing homelessness
- HOPE South Florida Safe Parking YTD Report, August 2026: employment, single-parent, children and income figures
- Broward County Point-In-Time Count: nightly homelessness figure
- Community Solutions: health and child-impact findings