Focus on Manatee: Here’s why walking into your front door is reason enough to give thanks

Many of us forget to celebrate a daily event that has a direct and deeply personal connection to our well-being: coming home.

My husband and I lived in the same modest house since 2004 that we loved and changed through the years with new paint, native plants and an occasional mini remodeling project. Our neighbors were an extended family.

After 14 years, we decided to move and let someone else build memories there.

Last month, we sold our home before our new house was ready and suddenly found ourselves without a place to live. The temporary need was complicated by our two large dogs, full season here in Southwest Florida, and a polar vortex plaguing the north. We were astonished to find that available short-term housing was virtually non-existent.

With time dwindling, we talked about boarding the dogs and staying in a hotel, a luxury that many people would not have. We also had a cadre of friends who offered to take us in.

Our personal but short-lived experience impressed upon us how complicated life can be for people who face housing crises in our community on a regular basis but do not have resources, such as those we are fortunate to have.

In short, it’s a mess for them — from finding a place to stay to getting mail, opening and updating bank accounts, even remaining law-abiding citizens.

Caught between permanent homes, I was surprised to learn that we needed a physical address to open a post office box at the U.S. Postal Service and to change the mailing address on our bank accounts. Florida law requires us to change the address on our driver’s licenses within 30 days of a move, but we needed a physical address for this, too.

For the shocking number of families in our community that do not have permanent housing solutions because of socioeconomic instability, imagine how this stress makes life even more challenging.

If you do not have a permanent address, you are caught in a circular trap of exclusion from the most basic needs.

According to the United Way, 44 percent of the population in Manatee County is either ALICE (asset-limited, income-constrained but employed), at the federal poverty level or below it.

A number of struggling students in our school system live in hardworking families that surf from one home to the next because they do not have sufficient funds for security deposits and first month’s rent.

At many of our district’s Title 1 schools (those in which a majority of students qualify for free or reduced lunch), the percentage of students changing schools because of housing instability would surprise you.

This disruption clearly impacts their lives and complicates the role of educators.

Earlier this year, the local nonprofit Step Up Suncoast partnered with Manatee County Schools for a poverty simulation called “Living On the Edge.” County commissioners, school board members, nonprofit staff, donors, citizens and community leaders were among the participants.

We each walked in and left our identity behind, assuming the role of an individual who was part of an ALICE family struggling with few financial resources.

As the simulation progressed, each family faced realistic challenges associated with anything from a lack of reliable transportation to simple medical issues.

Most of us needed to interface with social service agencies set up around the room, each with lines and requirements of their own. Some of us lost our homes because we could not pay the rent. Everyone worked hard. It was an exhausting, eye-opening experience.

Turning Points is another local charitable organization that supports people who are at risk of homelessness or who are without homes. It provides a place to receive mail, apply for a Florida state identification card, access computers, get laundry service and more.

Comfortable in our daily lives, we often forget how important these elements of home are. They equal security, stability, familiarity — essential to the human experience of being grounded.

In my limited and temporary experience of not having a permanent residence, unlinked to the duress many people face as a daily reality, my husband and I found a centrally located duplex. We scored it through a professional and personal connection in our privileged network.

I am ever thankful for campaigns such as Season of Sharing, which raised $2 million again this year with help from donors in our community and The Patterson Foundation. These dollars will help vulnerable people stay in their homes, a much better financial and emotional alternative to losing a home because of a financial crisis.

If you are one of the hundreds in our community who made a gift, thank you. I can tell you it will make a difference.

For more information about human service organizations that support families in crisis such as Step Up Suncoast and Turning Points, contact Manatee Community Foundation at (941) 747-7765.

We would love to connect you with ways to make impactful charitable gifts that support vulnerable people.

And every time you walk through the front door of your home, give thanks.

Susie Bowie is the executive director of the Manatee Community Foundation, a charitable foundation that strengthens the community through philanthropy, education and service — for now and for the future. Email: SBowie@ManateeCF.org. Phone: 941-747-7765.

This story was originally published March 15, 2019 at 12:27 PM.