ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — While groups across the Tampa Bay area are working to combat homelessness, some are making sure that a specific group doesn’t get overlooked: homeless children.
“Change the stigma of homelessness,” said Aaron Swift, the vice-chair of the Homeless Leadership Alliance of Pinellas County. “It’s not just the person you see outside asking you for money.”
Most often, we see those who are chronically homeless. But, in reality, Swift says it’s “the working mother with two kids who’s on a fixed income, but all of a sudden her landlord raises the rent by 50 percent.”
People are feeling the impact of inflated costs of everyday goods and housing, and it’s putting them, and their families, in jeopardy.
Vicki Sokolik started her non-profit to help teens that the government refers to as ”unaccompanied homeless youth.” Sokolik calls them "family."
“These are kids who actually value their education, they’re trying to go to school, they’re trying to make good decisions, but without support and a stable place to live, there’s no way to make that happen,” she said.
Sokolik says her organization, called “Starting Right, Now,” helps teens who fall into a “gray area” that makes it hard for them to get help.
They are homeless, and they are minors, but they don’t qualify for foster care because of how they became homeless.
“They left home instead of being taken from their home,” she said adding that the reasons could vary. “There’s lots of drugs and alcohol in the house, there’s incarceration where the kids have nowhere to go, there’s abuse, there’s neglect, and sadly almost 100% of our girls have been raped in their home by several family members.”
Sokolik says her organization does it all, giving these teens a safe home, mentorship, academic support, and guidance through their post-graduation goals.
“100 percent of our kids graduate from high school, 1 percent go to the military, about 11 percent go to vocational training, and the rest go to higher education,” she said.
Since the pandemic, Soklolik says the members of this family have been getting younger and younger.
“Florida is fifth for the number of unaccompanied homeless youth,” she said. “I can tell you that’s an undercounted number…families have really sadly fallen apart, and a lot of it is probably because of the pandemic, but a lot of it is really because of the way Tampa-St. Pete has grown. They just can’t afford housing and so they just disband.”
Attorney Aaron Swift is the vice-chair of the Homeless Leadership Alliance. He’s served as a board member at a women’s shelter called ALPHA House, and he also has first-hand experience with homelessness.
“My guess is, people looking at me now, I’m the owner and partner of a law firm, you wouldn’t think that I’d ever been homeless,” Swift said. “But the success of homelessness services are why I’m here today.”
Swift was homeless as a child when his mother packed up him and his sister to get away from an abusive relationship.
“What I remember most is the instability. The not knowing where you were going to sleep, not knowing where your next meal was going to come from, not knowing if you were going to be warm,” he said.
As difficult as it was to leave, Swift says his mother knew that staying in a relationship that put her and her children in constant danger was even riskier than homelessness. So, she turned to local resources to get on her feet.
“It’s hard enough to raise a child, imagine raising a child or children while homeless, trying to do best for them and they’re trying to do best themselves,” he said. “It impacts every part of your life, school friends, your ability to connect with people.”
Sokolik says things are only going to get worse if more resources don’t open up to help children and families who are facing these issues.
While those giving back continue to highlight the need for even more resources, they say it’s important that those who are struggling know, there are places that can help them get back on their feet.
“Reach out for help,” Swift said. “Friends and family of course, but the government, we have lots of resources.”
While thousands of kids in the Tampa Bay area face uncertainty about what’s next, local advocates are working to make sure they don’t fall through the cracks.
“We form a family,” she said, speaking about her organization. “We’re with these kids forever.”