It’s a sight that tugs deep in the heart, and at first glance suggests despair. Fareed Mohammed knows it all too well. “I was hurting, I felt bad mostly for the kids.”
The 47-year-old husband and father never thought he would spend weeks searching daily for meals let alone a roof over his head.
“We were able to maintain, just kept moving forward, we had no choice, I couldn't give up,” says Mohammed.
Sadly his story is like so many others. Only they were fortunate to walk into the hands of the Homeless Coalition of Palm Beach County. A group dedicated to not only getting people talking about homelessness, but doing something about it.
“In 2018, we had over 1,300 homeless people in the streets of Palm Beach County. Keep in mind we don't always capture everyone who is homeless so the numbers could be higher,” says Sophia Eccleston of the Homeless Coalition.
They advocate and collaborate with nonprofits in Palm Beach County to find housing for those on the street. Options include working with landlords on rental units and affordable housing. One pathway that just opened was approval for funding to build a second homeless resource center in the county. However the need is so much greater.
“There's never a day that I still cry every now and then,” says Maria Mohammed.
Dark days not knowing what tomorrow would bring are in the past for this family. A huge debt of gratitude for an apartment and an example of one family at the end of the road now with a clear path of the future.
“I had to go through this loss to really understand what life is or how I should live life,” says Mohammed.
If you would like to donate to the Homeless Coalition of Palm Beach County, click here for more information.
