The Children’s Services Council of Leon County (CSC Leon) recently approved a $163,125 grant to the Family Promise of the Big Bend’s HOPE Emergency Shelter to expand services for families with young children experiencing homelessness.
The funding will support the creation of a dedicated Transition Coordinator position and provide on-site, trauma-informed mental health services to foster lasting support as families move from crisis to stability.
The press release noted, this “investment reflects CSC Leon’s commitment to ensuring that children enter kindergarten ready to learn, families are strengthened, and community-based services are responsive and comprehensive.”
“We are incredibly thankful to the CSC of Leon County for approving this critical investment in the families we serve,” said Dr. Shamarial Roberson, Chair of the HOPE Shelter Advisory Council. “This partnership fills a long-standing gap in care by providing trauma-informed mental health services and sustained support during a family’s most vulnerable transition,” she said. “With this approval, we can help ensure that children experiencing homelessness aren’t left behind—but are instead equipped to heal, grow, and enter kindergarten ready to thrive. It’s a powerful step toward breaking the cycle of poverty and building stronger, more resilient families across our community.”
The Services
As families near their end of stay, the Transition Coordinator will begin working with them at the HOPE Emergency Shelter. This role is designed to wrap around existing stabilization services and focus specifically on the critical post-exit period, thereby helping to ensure families remain housed, supported, and connected for at least 12 months after leaving shelter. Families also will gain access to trauma-informed mental health services, including therapeutic support and developmental screenings for children, and parent coaching. Together, these services help strengthen family bonds, promote healing, and equip parents with tools to support their child’s emotional well-being. Research shows that this transition period is one of the most vulnerable times for families with young children; targeted support—which this funding provides—can significantly reduce the risk of returning to homelessness.
“We know that housing insecurity disrupts every part of a family’s cohesion and a child’s development, especially for young children,” said Cecka Rose Green, Executive Director of CSC Leon. “Our Council’s approval to supporting this evidence-informed model helps build and strengthen the foundation young children need to succeed, specifically emotional wellness, family stability, and school readiness.”
The press release stated that the initiative is grounded in the Critical Time Intervention (CTI) model and builds on best practices for trauma-informed care. It directly addresses key findings in CSC Leon’s Community Needs Assessment, which identified family homelessness as a pressing issue affecting early childhood development and long-term success.
CSC Announces Funding to Assist Homeless Children added by Staff on
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While the funding and services announced by CSC Leon are commendable, we must remember: structural support is not a substitute for spiritual restoration. Efforts rooted in systems and strategies, however well-meaning, often become fig leaves over deeper wounds. Homelessness is not merely economic—it is the fruit of broken covenants, of households without fathers, of a nation drifting from righteousness. As it is written: “He shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse” (Malachi 4:6). If we truly seek healing, let us return to the LORD- then the desolate places shall be rebuilt.
Say what you will, this CSC is boondoggle. Non-elected bureaucrats raising our taxes for projects that are duplicated by other services…