Untold stories: Housing costs affect many helped by Season of Sharing

You've read about survivors of storms and fires, about residents with health emergencies.

Since November, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune has featured numerous stories of resilience, the journeys of families helped through Season of Sharing, which is managed by the Community Foundation of Sarasota County and funded solely through donations.

Season of Sharing provides emergency assistance with rent or mortgage, utility bills, child care, transportation, or other crucial expenses for residents in Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte and DeSoto counties.

However, for case managers involved in the process, there are legions more Season of Sharing stories that go untold.

They are seniors who've worked all their lives, now slipping into poverty at alarming rates.

They are middle-class parents pulling second shifts as Uber drivers, or mothers fleeing abuse.

Maybe they are you.

"They are the largest percentage of people we help," said Chris Russi, a fiscal agent with the Glasser-Schoenbaum Human Services Center. "The community is not going to know about them, but they are definitely there."

Many Season of Sharing recipients have asked for help for the first time and are embarrassed that their friends or children's schoolmates will find out, Russi said. Season of Sharing assistance is not contingent on their sharing their stories, and their wishes for privacy are granted.

Lack of affordable housing affects many

One of the biggest common denominators among recipients of Season of Sharing assistance is still the lack of affordable housing, according to Russi.

Long before this fall's back-to-back hurricanes, area families and individuals were already left vulnerable to serious economic distress due to the dramatic increase in rents, mortgages and property insurance costs over the past five years. That means that storm damage or a single emergency can leave many unable to bounce back.

Many recipients are trying either to make up for lost work hours due to the recent hurricanes or keep up with rent hikes – or both. In some cases, one spouse is working but the other has unexpectedly been laid off.

To stay afloat, these middle- and working-class parents now supplement with other jobs or work gigs like DoorDash, Uber and Instacart, she said.

But a single car breaking down upends the entire household budget – costing precious work days as well as expensive repairs.

"They are never quite sure what their income is going to look like," she said.

Soaring move-in costs

Hundreds of Season of Sharing families face another now-common issue: the impact of soaring move-in costs.

That is particularly true for those who some consider lucky: holders of housing vouchers.

Families whose rents are partially subsidized have challenges finding rentals that will accept the vouchers. And as they search, the clock is ticking.

Tenants on the move – often after landlords significantly raise the rent or decide to sell out from under residents – have 120 days to sign a new lease, though in some cases, extensions are available, said Michelle Stears, director of resident services for the Sarasota Housing Authority.

As those four months run out, desperate residents resort to living in hotels or their cars while hunting for an available rental where their voucher is eligible, she said.

In the process, they spend several hundred dollars on rental application fees, money they will not get back, Stears noted.

By the time voucher holders find something, they've exhausted any ability to tackle new deposits and move-in costs, often totaling three to four times the monthly rent.

For many residents, that's where Season of Sharing has come in – helping with the first month's rent to get them in the door.

During the whole ordeal, families get bounced around and separated – some kids staying with different friends and relatives until they can all unite again under one roof.

"It's hard to watch families with kids," she said. "The kids miss a lot of school."

A recent study showed that families with young children are among the worst hit of thousands of area households that have fallen into economic hardship, largely due to soaring housing and childcare costs.

The picture is also grim for seniors and disabled residents on fixed incomes, according to the case managers and the 2024 ALICE report released by United Way Suncoast and its research partner United For ALICE. ALICE stands for Asset-Limited, Income-Constrained, Employed.

In both Sarasota and Manatee counties, almost half of all households of residents 65 and older fall below the ALICE threshold – a category that includes both ALICE households as well as those living in poverty.

Case managers describe seniors working well past retirement age or returning to the labor force in service jobs at grocery stores well into their eighties.

Women disproportionately affected

According to case managers, another category of Season of Sharing recipients not often heard from is made up of mothers fleeing domestic violence or whose husbands or partners have left, often taking the couple's money with them.

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"That happens every week. And if they have bills that are due, their backs are up against the wall," said Ashley Brown, president and CEO of the Women's Resource Center. "Women are way over-represented in the households that are struggling."

The ALICE report bears her out: In Sarasota and Manatee counties about two-thirds of all households headed by single moms are either ALICE or under the federal poverty line. For single dads, it was a little less than half as much, or 39%.

Women also make considerably less than men, on average, in the two counties.

Season of Sharing assists people across the economic spectrum

For Brown and other case managers, there is another important story that is important to keep telling: that of Season of Sharing itself.

As more and more members of the middle class seek help, case managers are realizing that these families don't know that the assistance exists – nor do they believe it's for them.

When they come in and are told of Season of Sharing, they say, "No, I wouldn't qualify for that," according to Brown.

"You actually do," Brown tells them. "It is exactly what it is designed for – to keep families stable. If you haven't needed resources before, it doesn't occur to you that something is available."

That is one reason why Season of Sharing has not only endured but grown since it began 25 years ago, driven by donations from people in the community who can see the struggles of their neighbors and want to help out, knowing that problems can strike anyone.

How to help

Season of Sharing, a program administered by the Community Foundation of Sarasota County, assists individuals and families in an emergency with rent, mortgage, transportation, utility and childcare expenses in Sarasota, Manatee, DeSoto and Charlotte counties.

You can donate to Season of Sharing by going to cfsarasota.org or calling 941-556-2399. You can also mail a check to Season of Sharing, Community Foundation of Sarasota County, 2635 Fruitville Road, Sarasota, FL 34237.

This story comes from a partnership between the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and the Community Foundation of Sarasota County. Saundra Amrhein covers the Season of Sharing campaign, along with issues surrounding housing, utilities, child care and transportation in the area. She can be reached at samrhein@gannett.com .

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Untold stories: Housing costs affect many helped by Season of Sharing