In a single year, our community saw a more than 30-percent increase in homelessness among women.
That's why at the end of 2024, St. Matthew's House opened its first women and children's shelter in the Gulf Coast.
In December, when Gulf Coast News Today anchor Lisa Spooner visited the shelter after it had just opened its doors, she was introduced to a young mother named Jacoby.
She said, "My goal is to be able to be stable for my children, to be able to be in their own home, just go to their own bed, to go to their own bathroom, you know, that is my goal."
And St. Matthew's House has helped her reach that goal.
Spooner caught up with Jacoby once again after celebrating two major milestones thanks to St. Matthew's House: a new job and a new home.
When we first met Jacoby back in December, she was pregnant and living in the St. Matthew's House Women and Children's Shelter in Fort Myers.
"I always felt like no one wants to help me," she told us back then. "How can I be a mom if I can't keep a stable roof or I can't keep a job?"
Before arriving at the shelter, she and her several young children had been surviving by living in her car.
"I had to pray every night to make sure we were OK. We woke up to see the next day," Jacoby said.
A lot has changed in several months.
"I stayed in for six weeks. And within those six weeks, you know, I prayed, I stayed consistent, I kept my faith," she told Spooner.
She has since given birth to a healthy baby boy, and she credits St. Matthew's House for helping her get back on her feet.
"Basically, they pushed me to, you know, just be, you know, be better," Jacoby said. "Trying to stay on task, stay on path, and, you know, just reminding me of the steps of the things that I need to do to get to where I'm, you know, I am today."
Rachel McKinnon, the director for the St. Matthew's House Women & Children's Shelter said, "Every resident that comes into the shelter is immediately assigned a case manager, and that case manager stays with that resident through the whole time that they're that they're with us. So every week, they're meeting with that resident. Jacoby's case manager met with her once a week, sometimes even more."
Jacoby is now working and providing for her family. St. Matthew's House even helped her secure a home for her and her kids. And the shelter provided more than just a roof over her head during her time of need.
"I was surprised because I didn't know I was loved this much," Jacoby said. "They gave me a chance. They gave me a chance."
A chance to reunite with her children and a chance to raise them in a home and have a job that allows her to put food on the table.
McKinnon said it takes a village surrounding these women to help create these success stories.
"I'm just really grateful. I'm just very thankful to be able to, like we said, to provide a reunification process for Jacoby and her children," McKinnon said. "I'm grateful to my staff and our case managers who work so hard, to come alongside these women and see them from crisis to contributor."
Jacoby said leaning into her faith and relying on the workers at St. Matthew's House for guidance is how she was able to start a new life for her and her kids.
"So I just left everything with God. And once I did that, everything starts to fall in place. I got my daughter back, I got a job, I got a place, I got my car fixed, and we're glad to call our house our home," Jacoby said.
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