Polk County Public Schools help nearly 4,000 homeless students each year
HAINES CITY In February, Haines City High School senior Brielle Barnes’ already tenuous home life spiraled into homelessness after she and her mother got into an argument and Barnes began living in her car.
“I stopped going to school because I was wearing the same clothes and I didn’t have anywhere to wash them,” said Barnes, 19, adding that she slept in her car for about two weeks before a friend invited her to stay with her family. “I ended up doing E-learning. My best friend since kindergarten said I could come move up here with her.”
It took some time to adjust, and even still, I wake up in the middle of the night because I do not remember where I am, Marley said. If I am honest, I am preparing for the worst to happen always. I m so used to being unsettled because everything in my life has been out of my control.
Marley, although a resident of Lakeland, was one of several people to speak at the April 12 Winter Haven City Commission meeting. The Polk Ecumenical Action Council for Empowerment, commonly known as PEACE, gathered speakers to call for more affordable housing in the city and a commitment from commissioners to allocate more funds toward the long-term issue.