“Sending our 18-year-olds out of Monroe County and off on their own when they were on the right track, it’s just something that didn’t sit well with any of us,” said Brad Copeland, chair of the executive board for the Florida Keys Children’s Shelter. We’re very proud to now have a program starting in Key West.”
The Florida Keys Children’s Shelter has served Monroe County for 35 years. Based in Tavernier, the nonprofit changes the lives of more than 500 youth annually with its free programs, including an emergency shelter, transitional living homes, community-based counseling and drop-in center for homeless and runaway youth.
Recently, the children’s shelter was awarded a $600,000 federal grant for three years to start their first Transitional Living Program (TLP) in Monroe County. (If you know anything about the grant submission process, this is a huge reason to celebrate.)
On the day the Keys Weekly spoke with the Florida Keys Children’s Shelter (FKCS) team, they were additionally excited as the furniture was just delivered to the new 10-room TLP in Key West. Marie Jacobs, FKCS executive board member, donated the funds, and FKCS worked with Royal Furniture.
“It was ‘pie in the sky’ in the beginning,” Copeland said. “Ben Kemmer and Alvin Bentley have done an outstanding job of making the shelter very financially stable while also meeting all of the head standards of the audit programs that they have to go through between the county, state, federal government and our accounting auditors.”
Alvin Bentley, COO, worked on the grant submission and Baldwin Davis. Bentley said it’s a super competitive national grant.
“Each region has so many dollars and grants that can be awarded. There is a vast need in our region, hence the competition,” he said. “There are many 100 pages in total, and you have to hit every single point from counseling, the property, sustainability plan for the program and more. It’s not set up for a new organization; you need to have a lot of structure in place already.”
Ben Kemmer has been with FKCS for almost 22 years. “Even 20 years ago, we would get kids or even families who spent a long period of time in-and-out of the shelter and then they turned 18, and there was no place in Monroe County for them to go. Even the kids that did have somewhere to go, often, were going right back into the abusive home or atmosphere that they were removed from. That’s just a terrible scenario for them. Through a lot of hard work and support from the community, we rallied around the idea and made it happen.”
Bentley added, “In the last three years, we’ve had at least 10 kids that could have used this program.”
The TLP has a coordinator already in place, Jai Somers. Somers is the head of the street outreach program in Key West, Project Lighthouse, and has been with FKCS for almost 15 years. She has been instrumental in putting together a database, referral and waitlist for outreach.
The nearest federally funded TLP is in Miami, but they visited one in Jacksonville that is not federally funded. It can be common for a TLP to have a 50-person wait list and take at least a month for the screening too. This essential funding for the TLP means that it’s 100% free to young adults.
The assistance needed varies with each young adult due to different paths or positions. However, the primary focus is independent living skills, i.e., getting them stabilized, having a job and some education. It’s also important to acquire transportation to get to their job. Once they are in the TLP, how long they stay can vary, but they’re expected to be able to re-enter at least by the age of 22.
Within the TLP case and outreach, managers help them get jobs, complete applications and get to the job initially. Food, however, is an independent responsibility from the start versus being supplied by the TLP; however, there is assistance and resources.
If someone struggles with anxiety or is overwhelmed by work, education or life, there are live-in counselors and other licensed therapists available who can assist so they are not alone. In general, there are many in-house services based in Tavernier to assist throughout the county.
Lynda Weinstein, development director, said, “We started to work on some other partnerships too, such as The College of the Florida Keys and Monroe County Schools. We are working on developing some type of work situation. It’s the early phases, but we have had positive response and support.”
Kemmer added, “We’ve also been working really hard on trying to replicate the program in the Upper Keys. And the goal is to get FKCS TLP self-sufficient and privately funded.”
For more information, please visit www.FKCS.org or call 305-852-4246.
