HUDSON, Fla. — After back-to-back hurricanes heading into the holiday season, officials with Metropolitan Ministries say there are about 20% more families needing help this year with finances, food and toys for their children.

And considering how many families were effected, they say donations are currently down about 23%. Both figures are compared to one year ago.

What You Need To Know

  • While Metropolitan Ministries is stepping up donation drives for others, it also has some of its own families struggling too.

  •  It reports that need is up since the hurricanes, and that donations are down

  • Susan Neff oversees the “Neighbor Hope Project,” working with people who are on the verge of homelessness; she says these last couple of months have been especially challenging

  • Would you like to help? Click here

While Metropolitan Ministries is stepping up donation drives for others, it also has some of its own families struggling too.

Susan Neff oversees the “Neighbor Hope Project,” working with people who are on the verge of homelessness. She says these last couple of months have been especially challenging.

“What we see in Hudson and Shady Hills is a lot of people who temporarily lost employment because of the storms, or had minimal damage, but it was enough to really make it challenging for them going into the holidays," Neff said. "So it’s kind of a difficult holiday."

It’s an especially difficult Christmas season for Neff, as well.

“I too lost everything that we owned due to hurricane Helene, and then was impacted by Milton only emotionally, and mentally, which was very challenging," she said. "We didn’t lose anything more — well there wasn’t anything more to lose.”

Neff said when she returned home after evacuating for Hurricane Helene, she had more than 4 feet of water in her home.  She still doesn’t have walls, or electricity or water, and she’s living in a trailer in front of her house.

“Seeing what homelessness really feels like and what it really means, and I’m only on the edge of that, it’s very eye opening," she said. "And the thing of it is, for most people in that situation, they haven’t necessarily done anything to put themselves there. It’s just circumstances."

Neff said many of the people Metropolitan Ministries served before the hurricanes hit are now further displaced, but she has faith in the community, and if everyone comes together, there can still be Christmas miracles. 

Metropolitan Ministries is collecting donations in person, and online. Neff said the number of volunteers also declined after the hurricanes, because many needed to tend to their own homes.