What we do:

Nature Coast Community Services Foundation provides essentials to help stabilize individuals (food, clothing, shoes, bedding, personal care items) and then it provides transportation to job interviews, to school and doctors, to Social Security or DMV to replace lost ID cards. And much more! We provide individual guidance, informal counselling, an enthusiastic cheering section, a friend to talk to in times of doubt, and someone who can give a sincere hug if a hug would help, or a gentle scolding if it is needed. We provide a way up and out. We provide hope.

All it takes is time, a dedicated group of volunteers, and money.

So how is Nature Coast Community Services Foundation doing?

To date, we are getting one person a month on average out of the woods, into a paying job, and into permanent housing. But for every person whom we help escape homelessness, another one or two find us.

The NCCSF's mission is to identify and help fund social needs existing in Florida's Nature Coast region that are not adequately addressed by existing governmental or private organizations.

We work to get people with severe mental or physical problems on disability. We work with the VA to find homeless veterans permanent housing.

But no matter whom we serve, our goal is to return them to being productive members of society again. top->

NCCSF will be sponsoring a Fundraiser this upcoming fall: Learn more...!

Our current activities include, but are not limited to:

Providing personal care items

(toiletries, toothbrushes and toothpaste, tampons, razors, shampoo, soap, antibiotic cream, anti-itch creams, anti-diarrheal products, bandages, insect repellants, hairbrushes and combs, hair ties, toilet paper, etc), clothing, tents, bedding, and medical treatment for the many homeless men, women, and children living in our area including the 16% of our public school students living in cars, sheds, or abandoned huts in the woods as well as hundreds of adults (including PTSD disabled veterans approved for VA-assisted housing) living in abject poverty in the woods for lack of low-income housing.

Providing food

With our partners, People Helping People and Challenger Irrigation, we provide two hot meals a week plus bags of groceries. As many of the people we serve do not have access to food stamps, this food is critical to their physical and mental well-being.

Providing water

Water is a life-or-death need for everyone, but many of the local sources of water previously available to the homeless have been shut off to discourage their presence. Hence, the water we provide is critical to their well-being and can be lifesaving. (Thank you, Unitarian Universalist Church in the Pines of Weeki Wachee)

Caring for the homeless person's beloved pet

Often the only "family" they have left. We believe when we care for their pet, we are caring for the human being as well. Hence, with our partners' help, we provide dog and cat food on a weekly basis, (thank you, Pet Supermarket for donating the food), flea and tick prevention treatment on a monthly basis, and spaying/neutering services (thanks to Compassion Spay and Neuter of Pasco County and PetLuv of Brooksville) as well. After all, these pets often provide the homeless person's only source of love, companionship and protection.

Helping these forgotten individuals get state photo identification

So they can qualify for a social security card which is required before getting a job. We also offer counselling; financial literacy training; transportation to and from doctors' appointments, job interviews, as well as food stamp/child support/and social security offices; and job training (thank you, CareerSource) enabling them to rejoin society.

Helping people stranded in our area to go home

We have, in the first six months of 2019, gotten eight individuals (one less than a month old, one with severe mental illnesses, and one travelling with a beloved dog) who were stranded in our area, back to their home towns and preexisting family support. We thank our partner, the St. Vincent DePaul Society, for their generous assistance in this effort.

Supporting their reintegration into society

By providing each homeless person with an adult mentor who provides coaching, advice, encouragement, and practical assistance in navigating the difficult path back to self-sufficiency.

Providing limited medical care

Each week we bring the apothecary which is filled with over-the-counter medicines and supplies to make their lives easier. We also drive the homeless to medical appointments and to hospitals in case of medical emergencies, as well as coordinate vaccinations to combat hepatitis with the local Hernando County Health Department. We coordinate with the High Point Lions Club to get prescription glasses for each homeless individual needing vision correction, with Pasco Hernando State College for basic preventive dental work (x-rays and cleaning), and with the Crescent Clinic for basic medical care, psychiatric treatment, and dental extractions.

Providing bicycles

So homeless people can get themselves to their own appointments without relying on our volunteer drivers, and to increase their independence. To this end, we distribute public service announcements asking our service area to donate unwanted bicycles which we then turn over to our partner, the Grace Presbyterian Bicycle Ministry, to rehab. Once the donated bicycles are road-worthy, we distribute them as needed to the homeless population. top->