Opening Doors Northwest Florida visits Milton Rotary

MILTON — The Milton Rotary club recently heard from Serene Keiek and Amanda Nolan who are with Opening Doors Northwest Florida, formerly the EscaRosa Coalition on the Homeless.

The organization has been in existence over 30 years and the new name better reflects their mission — to not only combat homelessness but also provide a path out. This is done through a new process called the Coordinated Entry System which allows the agency to measure four domains and assess those most in need and get them the help they need. Those four domains are wellness, risks, socialization and daily function and housing. 

Opening Doors will also begin a project called SOAR in September which is an SSI outreach program to help find adults that should have access to SSI benefits.  They also have a Santa Rosa County-only project from a grant the agency found, Tenant Based Rental assistance, that helps 25 families per year for three years.

One of the biggest obstacles Opening Doors faces in helping their clients, which are approximately 25-30 per day, is finding affordable housing. Visit www.openingdoorsnwfl.org for more information.

This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Opening Doors Northwest Florida visits Milton Rotary