Oil Spill and Recession Causing surge in services - Okaloosa Walton Homeless Continuum of Care

	Oil Spill, Recession Causing Surge in Service Requests
	For hundreds of families struggling since the onset of the recession in December, 2007, this has been the summer when despair has been winning out. Heads of households depending on seasonal jobs in tourism and fishing just to be able to pay rent have lost their homes and their hearts as jobs evaporated. The staff at Opportunity, Inc. tracked the number of persons calling and walking-in looking for service for a single day, August 30, and found demand outpacing supply from anywhere from a 2:1 ratio to 7:1. That was not an aberration. By the end of the week, an average of 28 persons per day were turned away from Opportunity Place because there simply was no room at the inn.


Okaloosa Walton Homeless Continuum Care / Opportunity, Inc.
Opportunity, Inc. (Admin Office) 203 Cloverdale Boulevard, Suite B Fort Walton Beach, FL 32547 Phone: (850) 409-3070 Fax: (850) 409-3071 info@okaloosawaltonhomeless.org	Opportunity Place 305 Lovejoy Road Fort Walton Beach, FL 32548 Phone: (850) 659-3190 Fax: (850) 659-3191