The Brief

COCOA, Fla. - As concerns grow over a possible federal government shutdown, local nonprofits that support some of Central Florida’s most vulnerable residents are already feeling the strain.

What’s Happening at Matthew’s Hope?

Matthew's Hope, the nonprofit homeless outreach center in Cocoa, is fielding a lot more calls with people concerned about the shutdown and whether they’ll receive their benefits.

More staff have been assigned to man phone calls because of this. At the food pantry, there are several empty shelves because they’re seeing more people in need. In one day, at the Cocoa campus, they helped 160 people.

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At their locations across central Florida, they’re seeing about 1,000 people a week.

The homeless outreach ministry isn’t

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