Officials with Pinellas County’s largest homeless shelter, Grace House, say the facility will stop taking new occupants this month, as it transitions to affordable housing in the fall.

Experts say the loss is expected to impact other area shelters.

Ciara Summers, a client at Homeless Empowerment Program, said she knows what it's like to need a place to live.

"This is a pretty awesome bedroom size, you know what I’m saying? Especially when you’re coming from not really knowing where you’re going to lay," she said, as she described an apartment on campus where she is helping another client get settled.

Summers said she has lived on campus with her four children since 2020.

"Domestic violence, homelessness, lack of support services, a lot of trauma," she said.

HEP currently sleeps almost 300 people, and with Grace House closing its doors to new clients, officials say there's cause for concern among other shelters.

HEP executive vice president Zak White says there are already significant issues in terms of access to housing and resources for homeless providers.

"While I can’t speak to other housing providers, we certainly don’t have enough housing for a family shelter to begin with, so I would offer that we really strengthen our advocacy in coordination amongst the Homeless Leadership Alliance through the county and city and see what we can do collectively," he said.

Summers said she agrees that more needs to be done to create additional access to help get families off the street.

"My concern is for the family as a whole, because when you’re in a situation that’s so traumatizing, it causes different effects and sometimes those effects are not for the best," she said.

Meantime, Summers concentrates on doing her best to help get someone in a similar situation off to a new start.

Officials at the organization say HEP’s goal is to help break the cycle of homelessness and offer shelter care and a variety of supportive services for people who are homeless — whether they are a family or a U.S. veteran.

HEP also offers programs for people with mental illness and physical disabilities.