HEP – Homeless Emergency Project

I will be Forever Grateful to HEP and all who work there.

Not that I should have to but let me preface this by saying I ended up homeless with my child due to no fault of my own (not that it should matter) in July of 2022. In August of 2024 it got to where I could no longer maintain my motel room so I was advised by my clinician to call 2-1-1 which I reluctantly did and I say reluctantly because I had tried 2-1-1 numerous times since 2022 and couldn t get help because I was maintaining a motel room. This time I ended up getting contacted back almost immediately by a beautiful human named LaToya who basically did a screening over the phone and told me that somebody would be contacting me soon. A few weeks later on Sept 10 I was contacted by Ms. Troi from HEP who asked me to come in for an intake appointment the following morning. The intake is literally like hundreds of questions and a whirlwind of information all being thrown at you it seems. Every staff member I came across that day was welcoming and you could tell they were genuine in their concern and truly want to help. Several times that day from different people I was told the program is 120 days but as long as you do what you are supposed to and follow rules we won t just put you out on the street with your son, our main goal is to get you out of homelessness. My first goal was to gain employment which was a little bit harder than I was expecting but a couple months later I finally got a job (I was turning in weekly proof of my job searches). From Sept to January I was housed with my son in a motel then mid January my case manager sent out a text that we (myself as well as other families) were being moved to a temporary apartment owned by HEP off campus. The apartment was cute, safe and quiet. During this time I was told I was referred to a rapid rehousing program and also to their housing coordinator it took weeks to be contacted by HEPs housing coordinator and basically I was handed a list of properties to contact that I didn t qualify for and they KNEW this due to all the questions they ask on intake. I still hadn t heard from this rapid rehousing program. Mid February I was informed my discharge date was 3/3 even though there was no housing prospects for me. I expressed my concerns and my case manager (D Andra) said I promise I m not going to let you be on the street, I m a mother too . Well on 3/4 I get to my case management meeting (after being stuck INSIDE my apartment because the door wouldn t open, a Clearwater police officer had to threaten to call the FD for maintenance to come before 8am mind you) and I m told that movers (aka HEP employees) would be at my place by noon on 3/7 to move my stuff. I informed D Andra I had no place to go and the response I got was hopefully you get approved for something ASAP . All this being said I still feel that some staff truly want to help but in this case her supervisor who doesn t know me from a hole in the wall wouldn t allow it. They literally put me and my son on the street with no place to go. How does a place dedicated to ending homelessness allow this to happen after saying they wouldn t??? I truly don t understand it and I m not the only one either, my neighbor was also put out with her child today too. It s not right and it s not fair but I recently found out more intakes = more funding. They apparently don t base funding on successful discharges. I wonder how many of their amazing donors know how many families they put back on the street?? They offer help with move in costs but guess what?? I can find a place tomorrow and I get no help because I m discharged! I think there needs to be more checks and balances with the higher up staff. They shouldn t be allowed to play God.

They helped us 10 years ago and I am still self sufficient.