Arriving into Orlando, the weather was quite dreary. It had been raining on and off and the rain that would come was torrential. I thought it would be a hard time to provide outreach to someone in these conditions. While driving we 1st spotted Missy who was changing her clothes in what looked like a bus loop or rest area. I asked Missy was she homeless as I observed her few bags of belongings and she said yes so I introduced myself and asked if she would accept this small gesture to make her day brighter. As she was pleased she started to talk about why she was homeless. Missy had initially been staying with a friend and meant a man who was homeless that she fell for and now the both of them are homeless. I asked her where does she get cleaned up and she mentioned a rescue near by that you can go to and get washed. One of the challenges Missy mentioned is that there were no shelters or none that she could find that take in single women, she said that most shelters are for woman and children. I asked her if she wanted help finding somewhere and she said no she has family if she wants help. She said she has a great family actually and could get help but she had her boyfriend and she was fine. She wished he was there at that moment so we could meet him she said and also she wished someone would create housing for any individual that became homeless and didn’t have children. We thanked Missy for her suggestions and wished her safety and wellness.
While driving down the road not even a mile away we saw Mister holding a sign in traffic so we immediately pulled over to assist. Mister was very happy to see us and explained he was from Rhode Island and had been homeless for 9 yrs. Mister finds creative ways to stay safe and can pay to stay at a friends house when he has money other than that he will stay in an area safe enough to sleep outside. We thanked Mister for sharing his story and told him we hope our lunch and dinner for the day was helpful. As we were leaving more homeless people started to approach, unfortunately we were unable to help them that day but we will revisit that area since there is a greater need for outreach.