In 2024 the Collier and Lee County Homeless Coalitions identified more than 1500 adults and more than 1700 children who were experiencing homelessness. More than half of those people are in Collier County.
Factors including high housing costs, recent natural disasters that displaced many, and struggles with untreated mental health and addiction often lie behind the story of how someone comes to experience homelessness.
A project called Faces Beyond Homelessness is one of their recent initiatives to bring the complex story of homelessness to the community and help people understand the complex dynamics of homelessness and the people experiencing it. It features 10 chalk drawings by artist Wendy Wagner and is on display now at her gallery in Naples. The portraits capture emotional moments as 10 St. Matthew’s House residents shared the stories of their journey from homelessness to hope for the future.
