A New Level of Homelessness

The number of homeless in the Tampa Bay area is expected to increase next year after Florida broadened its definition of “homelessness.”
For the first time, local homeless groups will include in their counts people who bounce around from temporary housing to temporary housing, often crashing with family and friends.
Pamela Sims is in this kind of situation. She is now eligible for financial aid is in the process of getting housing with government assistance. She is now staying with three of her children and two grandchildren in her son's one-bedroom apartment. One of her daughters has a nine-day-old baby and is sleeping in the middle of the living room.



One of Sims' daughters, Kayla, 21, spends the day resting and caring for her newborn, Lavayia. She says it was difficult being pregnant while living with four other people in a small apartment. "Even the simplest tasks were hard," said Sims