From Homelessness to Home: Kilea’s Journey of Gratitude

As Thanksgiving approaches, many families in Charlotte County are facing the season with an empty table and a heavy heart, and some are even experiencing the trauma of homelessness.

After unexpectedly becoming homeless, Kilea found herself living in her car with her four children.

It’s hard to imagine being a parent of four children living in a car, especially during the hot Florida summer months, and trying to figure out how to manage, how to eat, how to clean up, how to get the kids to school, how to find work, and how to believe in a better life.

Your gift during this season of gratitude changes lives, like Kilea’s and her children’s. Kilea and her family were blessed to be welcomed into the Charlotte CARE Center’s (formerly the Charlotte County Homeless Coalition) family shelter. There they were safe and cared for by a loving staff. This was a place where they could focus on healing and rebuilding their lives.

The Charlotte CARE Center provides healthy meals for so many Charlotte County neighbors, and for those in the shelter like Kilea and her children help finding a home, a hand-up, and the path to a better life.

Kilea expressed her gratitude for the food program at the Charlotte CARE Center.

If we didn’t have the food program, we would be eating sandwiches and cold food. Instead, my kids have hot meals every night and their bellies are always full. We especially love the fresh fruits and vegetables and the kid-friendly options. Having food available while living in the shelter gives me the security I need. I don’t have to worry about when my children will have their next dinner or snack. We are so grateful.”

Having their basic needs met, Kilea was able to work with the Charlotte CARE Center case manager and staff to locate housing where she and her family could rebuild their lives. She found a beautiful home that she was able to furnish with donations and support from Fabulous Finds (the Charlotte CARE Center’s thrift store). She made sure her children stayed in school and found a job to help support her family. At the recent SVdP CARES Move In Celebration in Charlotte County, Kilea and her children were thrilled when she won the raffle to be able to purchase a drill so that she could put up home decor.

Her case manager says that Kilea is very proactive and that she and her family are grateful especially at this time of year to be able to enjoy Thanksgiving around their own dining room table, in their own home.

Since becoming the Charlotte CARE Center in August 2024, the food center has served over 47,000 meals and distributed over 22,000 pantry boxes. The shelter has provided housing focused care for over 367 households, and 89% of families served have found permanent secure housing where they are building lives of joy and gratitude.

Your gift to the Charlotte CARE Center this Thanksgiving assures that with hard work, determination, and a loving community of support moms like Kilea and her children can believe that there are blessed todays and bright tomorrows.

The need is great, and there are more families waiting to be helped. Your gift changes the trajectories of lives and reassures families that there is a way out of trauma and fear, by helping them find a new home, supporting their paths to long-term success, and making sure that basic needs like healthy food are provided along the way.

With deep gratitude,

P.S. Because of your generous giving, Kilea and her children will celebrate Thanksgiving this year in their own home, safe, hopeful, and grateful; and many in the community who are hungry will have food on their tables.