Pathways to Home launched in 2009 as a Seminole County collaborative between social service agencies, churches and the Seminole County school system. With 18 signed MOU’s and 40 partnership agreements, the service community worked together to respond to the crisis of family homelessness resulting from the 2008 housing market collapse and ensuing financial crisis. With a federal grant, Pathways to Home began direct services for rapid-rehousing to assist families with children on their journey out of homelessness and towards financial and housing stability. In 2013, Pathways to Home became a program of Community Initiatives, Inc.
The Central Florida region’s low wages and high rents today continue to put vulnerable families at risk for homelessness. Too many of the full-time workers in the low-wage service and tourism sector can’t make ends meet. Children are living with their families in motels, doubled-up in cramped apartments, in shelters, in cars, and even sleeping on the street. The program is designed to help these struggling families address their complex needs, with a focus on the child, in order to achieve their goal of permanent housing and self-sufficiency.
Pathways to Home expanded in 2017 beyond Seminole County to serve families in Orange and Osceola counties to address their unmet needs. Originally formed as a grassroots collaborative, we remain committed to strategic partnerships in the communities we serve. Pathways to Home operates with six full-time and five part-time staff, contracted case management services, the support of community volunteers, through a combination of public and private funding.
Community Initiatives, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and is affiliated with Community Based Care of Central Florida, the state-contracted lead nonprofit agency managing the local child welfare system of care for Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties. www.protectandinspire.org