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For the first time since 2014, the Florida Mission of Mercy (FLA-MOM) will take place in Polk County. The free, two-day dental clinic hosted by the FDA Foundation is slated for May 31 – June 1, 2024, at the RP Funding Center (701 West Lime St., Lakeland). The FDA Foundation, which started in 1980, is the philanthropic arm of the Florida Dental Association. Over the years, they’ve given back to the community in various ways, from dental scholarships to support for clinics and programs across the state and coordinating volunteer efforts. The FDA Foundation has three primary programs: Donated Dental Services, a partnership with the national organization Dental Lifeline Network in which dentists can volunteer in their office; Project Dentists Care, a statewide safety net listing of clinics and programs which the FDA Foundation provides funding to some annually; and Florida Mission of Mercy, a signature program they coordinate every year. Florida Mission of Mercy (FLA-MOM) is a large-scale professional dental clinic that provides care to any patient at no cost to them, with the goal of serving the under-served and uninsured in Florida – those who would otherwise go without care. Lakeland’s will be the organization’s ninth clinic, with previous FLA-MOM events in Tampa, Jacksonville, Pensacola, Orlando, Ft. Meyers, Tallahassee, and West Palm Beach. The impact they’ve had over eight years can’t be overstated. Since 2014, FLA-MOM has provided $14.67 million in dental care, treated over 13,000 patients, completed over 90,000 procedures, and had over 12,000 volunteers. The May 31 – June 1 RP Funding Center clinic will have 300 dentists on site with an additional 500-600 hygienists and assistants. Beyond that, the clinic boasts pre-dental students, dental hygiene students, and around 2,000 community volunteers. They hope to serve 2,000 patients over the twoday event. “There is a huge unmet need in the state of Florida and across the country for routine access to dental care,” said R. Jai Gillum, director of foundation affairs for the FDA Foundation. The Mission of Mercy patients will receive patient education, medical screenings, a panoramic X-ray, and a dental exam. From there, treatment varies from fillings, cleanings, extractions, limited root canals, pediatric treatment, and prosthodontics (partials, bridges, and dentures). “We have patients who leave our clinic with mouths full of gauze, and they are overwhelmingly grateful for this service – in awe at what we are able to do and have done,” said Gillum. “What’s really important to us is the dignity of our clinic and making sure our patients feel dignity while they’re getting care.” “We get calls every single day in our office from patients across the state that just need help. They’re trying to find a program or place they can go,” said Gillum. “I didn’t have the money to go to the dentist, so I was suffering. […] These are tears of joy. I am so thankful for everything you guys have done for me,” said one grateful FLA-MOM patient. FLA-MOM is coming to Lakeland thanks in part to Representative Sam Killebrew and Senator Colleen Burton, who championed legislation last year that provides funding to the program. This is only the second time FLA-MOM has received state funding, and it remains one of the only states to receive state funding. “This is not a solution. We want to help, especially with acute needs within an area. More than anything, it brings attention to what is needed,” Gillum said. The event is more than free dental treatment; it catalyzes change in statewide funding for dental programs. FLA-MOM provides data on the patients they treat to local and state officials. According to Gillum, the need is far greater than the 2,000 people they’ll be able to help in Lakeland. Gillum called the clinic “life-changing” for volunteers and patients alike. Of the providers, she said, “This gives them a chance to provide care to people, some of whom haven’t had treatment in years.” One dentist volunteering at the West Palm Beach FLA-MOM event last year noted, “It’s more rewarding for me than for all the people I’m helping.” 2024 FLORIDA MISSION OF MERCY DETAILS: The 2024 Florida Mission of Mercy Veterans Dental Event will be held on May 30 at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland. You must register for an appointment. See their website listed at the end of the story. Veterans will register for an appointment time on Thursday, May 30, to complete paperwork, X-rays, and a dental exam. They will return at 7 am on Friday, May 31, to complete dental treatment. The 2024 Florida Mission of Mercy will take place from May 31 to June 1, 2024, at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland. Doors open at 7 am. Patients are seen on a first-come, first-served basis. The goal is to treat 2,000 patients in two days. Information about treatment: • Adults must be willing to wait in line and not have medically compromising conditions to be treated. • Photo identification, social security number, insurance information, or other personal identification/documentation is not required. • Children under the age of 18 can be treated, but a parent or guardian must accompany them. • Interpreters will be available to assist in some languages, but please bring an interpreter if you do not speak English. Florida Mission of Mercy FB: Florida Dental Association IG @fda_dental floridadental.org/foundation/programs/mission-of-mercy Photography provided

Thirteen-year-old River Selser loves the outdoors. The 7th grader is in Girl Scout Troop #74811. She enjoys swimming, horseback riding, camping, playing with her cats, and paddle boarding. “We are very active and love going camping and exploring the outdoors,” River said. “We even took a trip to Savannah, Georgia, last year and we went on a tour around the town. We went to Tybee Island and took a tour of the lighthouse! The whole troop had a great time!” The Girl Scout aspires to work as a librarian and an air traffic controller when she’s older, perhaps with a bit of environmental work on the side. Part of her love for the outdoors has anything to do with butterflies and bees. She’s done many small butterfly gardens in her backyard. “When I thought about my love for them, I wanted to do something to help them thrive!” she said. River, who started Girl Scouts when she was five, is working towards her Silver Award – the highest award a Girl Scout Cadette can earn. The project she started to earn the award is called “Planting for Pollinators” (P4P). She is working to raise funds for signage and a pollinator-friendly garden at Michael V. Lewis Arboretum in Winter Haven. According to River, “Pollinators like butterflies and bees are declining due to habitat loss and food source reduction. Pollinators depend on a wide variety of plants, trees, and shrubs. When people build neighborhoods and install mono-culture (one type of plant like grass-only) yards, they reduce and sometimes destroy the plant diversity needed to support pollinator populations.” The two signs she plans to install are first to educate the public on pollinators and what they do. The other is to inform the public about some Floridafriendly and pollinator-friendly plant choices that people can include in their yards. River’s target audience is visitors of all ages to the nature park near her home. “Park visitors currently enjoy hiking trails at Lewis Arboretum while enjoying the natural area. Providing informational signage and a demonstration planting garden to promote pollinators and pollinator-friendly plant choices will passively educate my target audience on ways that they, too, can make a difference by planting for pollinators.” “The plants selected for the demonstration garden are Florida-friendly, drought tolerant, low maintenance, easy to source or propagate, and have the potential to attract a diverse variety of pollinators. Currently, plants that we are considering include fire bush, dutchman’s pipe vine (maypop), milkweed, and beautyberry to be part of the change,” said River. “The two signs (one: pollinators of Central Florida and the other: pollinator plants of Central Florida) will be installed at the trailhead of Lewis Arboretum, where the demonstration pollinator garden will be planted. These signs will last up to (and possibly more than) 10 years while educating park visitors on the importance of Central Florida pollinators and plants. The demonstration garden itself will demonstrate to park visitors several examples of CentralFlorida Friendly pollinator plants that are available for use in their own residential, commercial, and schoolyards. It is my team’s hope that park visitors may select a plant or two from the demonstration garden to purchase and install in their own yards to support pollinators of Central Florida.” The land on which she is planting and adding signage is owned by Green Horizon Land Trust, which works to preserve and protect environmentally sensitive lands along the Lake Wales Ridge. If you or someone you know would like to support Green Horizon Land Trust and Planting for Pollinators, visit www.greenhorizon.org to donate. “Earning my Silver Award will mean that I helped better the community around me for future generations and that I helped educate the public about the importance of pollinators and planting pollinator-friendly plants,” said River. Photograph provided

There’s a bright yellow school bus on the side of the road on the way to Lake Alfred that’ll teach you a thing or two about good vegan food. Eimi El serves 100 percent plant-based comfort food with soy-free and gluten-free options from her converted school bus food truck. El, from North Carolina, moved to Florida in 2000 and has lived in Davenport since 2018. “I wanted to be vegan 20 years ago when nobody was vegan,” she remembered. The only meat replacement she could find at the time was tofu, and she wasn’t interested in eating that, so she kept eating meat. Years later, when she and her then-boyfriend watched the trending documentary “What the Health,” they decided to go vegan that night. The documentary touched on the health implications of the standard American diet and the way animals in factory farming are treated. The next day, the couple threw out all the non-vegan food and went grocery shopping to restock their pantry. El has been living a plant-based lifestyle ever since. “I’ve always loved to cook—even before I went vegan,” she said. Friends encouraged her to start her own restaurant. They said people needed to taste her cooking. In 2022, she began selling food out of her house. She also created a children’s curriculum she planned to launch over the summer and worked as a lifestyle and wellness coach. After returning from a month-long trip to Mexico, she started penning her second cookbook, “Food is a Love Language” which she self-published. Her previous cookbook was “35 Days, 35 Delicious Recipes for the Vegan Lifestyle.” She also met with a realtor and began searching for restaurant spaces. However, all of them were too expensive and came unfurnished. “I thought, let me get intentional about this year and my life and my goals. So, I started 369 Manifestation.” According to www.mindbodygreen.com, “The 369 method involves writing down what you’d like to manifest three times in the morning, six times during the day, and nine times in the evening.” “The first entry that I wrote on January 17 was ‘InnerG Café food truck,’” she said. Three days later, her realtor emailed her about the school bus location. She didn’t see the email until two weeks later. Serendipitously, when El sent the realtor a text interested in seeing the bus, that’s precisely where the realtor was, showing another client. On February 2, 2023, El left work to view the location. “When I walked in, I felt the same energy as when I bought my house. This is it. This is for me.” PEDAL TO THE METAL Seven days later, she got the keys and had her grand opening in March. The school bus was turnkey, pun intended. It was initially to be a Mexican food truck, but never opened. All the equipment was brand new. “God was like, ‘Okay, girl, you said you wanted it. So, here you go.’” El stuck with a comfort food menu because that’s what she was used to cooking, and that’s what people sought – food like burgers and fries, mac and cheese, and nachos. “It’s been evolving, and I’ve been adding different things to the menu over time,” she said. She finds the most joy in “the people, their reactions, and their enjoyment of the food. People don’t believe it’s vegan because of the items on the menu.” Hungry patrons can find InnerG in her roadside school bus, or at events like the Aquarian Market, Tampa Bay Veg Fest, and Lakeland Veg Fest. She recently attended a career fair in Winter Haven, where she spoke with students about the culinary side of plant-based food. She also talked with administrators about introducing that information into the school system so children who want to further their education in that field can do so. A+ FOR INNERG Behind the bus, beyond a rod iron gate that has seen better days, a paver-lined path led us to an open-sky dining space with bus seat booths and wooden tables. A fountain gurgles in the background, and string lights hang overhead. Our anticipation spilled over with the creek of a school bus door opening. El brought out diner-style red baskets filled with vegan comfort food. All the dishes are El’s recipes and hold their weight. First, we tried a popular dish, the deluxe cheezeburger –a quarter pound walnut and white mushroom patty on a bun piled with mustard, ketchup, mayo, red onion, pickles, lettuce, tomatoes, and cheeze. Though a hamburger and vegan cheezeburger aren’t identical, the essence was there with its own unique tasty flavor. The walnuts and mushrooms give that same fatty ‘beef’ flavor with a hint of earthiness. I won’t name names, but there are restaurants with traditional burgers that I would skip in place of an InnerG burger. The phish sandwich was another A+ dish. Air-fried heart of palm is seasoned with Seefood InnerG blend on a bun with homemade tartar sauce and lettuce. It was delicious and reminiscent of a certain fast food fish sandwich that rhymes with ShmcShmonalds. While we’re at it, that same chain comes to mind with the cheezeburger eggrolls, air-fried eggroll wrappers stuffed with walnut crumbles, diced onion, mozzarella and cheddar cheeze shreds, with a side of InnerG dipping sauce. It tastes just like a Shmig Shmack. El recently started serving breakfast. She presented us with two air-fried breakfast rolls (gluten-free sausage crumble, ackee “egg,” roasted red potatoes with peppers and onion), a homemade waffle, a side of date syrup, and a sauce that tasted just like melted butter. Was it delicious? You butter believe it. Other honor-roll dishes include potato salad and Haitian mac-n-cheeze with elbow noodles, shredded mozzarella and cheddar cheeze, epis, and mixed pepper sauce blended in a homemade cashew cheeze sauce. I kept coming back to the potato salad. The potatoes were prepared perfectly—cooked through but still firm enough not to turn to mush. You could taste onion, bell pepper, and dill in each bite. We washed it down with InnerG tea, made with spring water, pineapple, grated ginger, maple syrup, fresh-squeezed lemon juice, and refreshing blueberry lemonade. “Two of the biggest misconceptions [about vegan food] are that it’s expensive and that it’s not good,” El said. “I want to change that narrative.” The InnerG founder noted that the cost is minimal if one doesn’t shop for processed foods. “It’s not an expensive lifestyle to live. It does take a lot of time, but it’s worth it.” InnerG Cafe 3500 Lake Alfred Rd, Winter Haven (Look for the school bus across from A.O. Construction) (689) 253-7315 FB: InnerG Cafe IG @innergcafe innergcafe.com Photography by Amy Sexson

Get your reading glasses and bookmarks ready – it’s time for the 2024 Lakeland Book Crawl! The annual bookish bash will take place April 22-27. The Lakeland Book Crawl is a six-day tour de force of books, books, and more books! The book crawl aims to bring booksellers, book lovers, and the greater Lakeland community together. Stop at each store throughout the week and meet the owners and staff, purchase books from local booksellers, and join along in the fun and unique experience each bookstore has to offer. The book crawl leads up to National Independent Bookstore on Saturday, April 27, where indie bookstores all across the country celebrate together. 2024 BOOK CRAWL INFORMATION HIGHLIGHTS: • Each day, a different bookstore will be featured with daily discounts and promotions. • They have provided additional book crawling itineraries via their website, including the three-day “Weekday Wanderer” or “Weekend Warrior.” • Check in at each location to be entered into their giveaway. There will be one grand prize winner who will receive a unique bookish prize. Lakeland Book Crawl lakelandbookcrawl.com

Woven into the fabric of Polk County’s heritage, cypress trees have a storied history and cultural significance. Native American cultures in Central Florida, such as the Calusa and the Timucuan, once utilized the durable wood of cypress for creating canoes and dwellings. You can see one of these dugout canoes at Polk’s Nature Discovery Center at Circle B Bar Reserve; it is displayed behind glass in one of the classrooms. If you have trouble finding it, ask the front desk volunteer for directions. At the turn of the 19th century, cypress trees were highly valued as a lumber source and often harvested for their heartwood, which has natural insect resistance. How many of us have ‘cedar chests’ that may actually be made of cypress heartwood? We may never know, but bald cypress heartwood shares many of the same properties as Eastern redcedar. Fun fact – Eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana) belongs to the Juniper genus (Juniperus) of the Cypress family (Cupressaceae). The so-called “true cedars” of the world belong to the Cedar genus (Cedrus) of the Pine family (Pinaceae). A more accurate common name for the species might be “Virginia juniper,” but I’ll stop with the botany lesson for now. Cypress trees feature prominently on historic postcards and merchandise showcasing Florida lakes and rivers. They are in the iconic images of water skiers on Cypress Garden’s merchandise and promotional materials, honoring their namesake trees. UNIQUE BIOLOGY OF CYPRESS TREES Cypress trees are among our few deciduous conifers in Florida. They shed their soft needles every fall or winter, depending on local conditions, and this leaf drop also benefits our local water quality. The needles contain high levels of tannins, which turn our blackwater swamps and rivers a tea-like color, helping reduce excess algae growth. While not the only species contributing to this natural process, cypress trees are significant players worth appreciating. Furthermore, cypress trees are capable of living for hundreds of years, outlasting many of our other common tree species. It’s not uncommon to find a cypress tree that predates the incorporation of Winter Haven, Lakeland, or even Polk County and Florida. Where older cypress trees are missing, it’s usually due to removal rather than natural causes. The bald cypress is celebrated not only for its longevity and ability to thrive in flooded conditions but also for its enigmatic biological features. The “knees” of cypress trees, protrusions emerging from the roots, remain a subject of fascination and ongoing research. Contrary to previous beliefs about their role in oxygen exchange, current studies suggest these structures may provide structural support in soft, muddy soils or have evolved for other, yet-to-be-understood reasons. This aspect of cypress biology underscores the tree’s adaptation to its environment and our ongoing discovery about local species and ecosystems. THE ECOLOGICAL BENEFITS OF CYPRESS TREES Cypress trees, particularly the bald cypress, are prevalent in the southeastern United States’ wetlands, providing critical ecosystem services. Their dense root systems stabilize shorelines, reduce erosion, slow waves (natural and boat wake), and filter pollutants and sediments. Current research suggests the oxygenated root zone creates an ideal habitat for microorganisms, which help filter water and improve overall water quality. This microbial hot zone is considered one of the ecosystem’s most crucial parts for nutrient cycling and excess nutrient removal. Vegetated shorelines, supported by cypress trees and other emergent vegetation, are essential for maintaining clean waterways in Florida. In our wetlands, the soft soils and humus (accumulated decaying leaf matter, not to be confused with the food: hummus!) collected around and between cypress knees act as natural sponges. They absorb excess water during floods and release it during dry spells, playing a critical role in water management. Additionally, wetland exchange with our lakes has been shown to be a vital component of a healthy lake ecosystem. Locally, lakes with robust connections to wetlands generally appear clearer and have lower nutrient loading because the wetlands serve as natural water treatment zones. The Lake Conine Wetland Project in Winter Haven is a notable example of wetland restoration, designed to reconnect Lake Conine with its historic wetlands and improve water quality. Urban lakes, including Lake Conine, often suffer from stormwater runoff pollution and excessive nutrients from their watersheds. The project’s completion led Winter Haven Natural Resources to observe significant water quality improvements in Lake Conine, showcasing the positive impact of targeted restoration efforts. Another example is the Se7en Wetlands Park in Lakeland. Though not natural wetlands, these constructed wetlands serve as the final treatment stage for wastewater leaving the city of Lakeland. The treated water is then released into the North Prong of the Alafia River, directly flowing into Tampa Bay. Se7en Wetlands Park is open to the public seven days a week from 7 am, to 7 pm. PRESERVING THE LEGACY OF CYPRESS TREES Cypress trees are integral to the ecological integrity and cultural heritage of Polk County, teaching us lessons in resilience, adaptability, and biodiversity. As stewards of our waterways, it is our collective responsibility to protect these stately treasures. Let’s celebrate and safeguard the cypress trees of Polk County, ensuring they continue to thrive as cornerstones of Florida’s natural and cultural landscapes. Oh, and Happy Earth Month Polk County! For more insights into the conservation and importance of cypress trees in Polk County, readers are encouraged to connect with the UF/IFAS Extension Office in Bartow or email me at scarnevale@ufl.edu. You can also find my Extension program on Instagram at @PolkNR.

I sit at a table beneath an oak tree at the Winter Haven Farmers Market. The music, breeze, and company are nice. I take a bite of Chef Ken’s candied yams, and suddenly, I’m back to swaying my legs on a little wooden bench – comfort food piping hot in mismatched dishes spread across my Nanny’s table. There’s barely enough room to navigate her tiny galley kitchen. Despite this, she manages to whip up generous helpings of tenderness in a modest space lined with red apple wallpaper. The kitchen is suffused with the heady aroma of decades’ worth of pecan chocolate cakes and fried chicken. Her love is buttermilk biscuits with ‘big butter’ and honey, fried okra, and chicken ‘n dumplings – and the baked mac and cheese she makes especially for me. These are the kinds of meals where seconds are a given – the kind that fills you, belly and soul. That’s the business Chef Ken is in – love on a plate. Kenneth’ Chef Ken’ James says his affinity for the culinary arts began at home. “My love of food and cooking started as a chunky kid who loved to watch my mom cook.” He reveled in being the first to taste his mom’s home cooking. A masterclass in multitasking, while sauteing shrimp, stirring grits, and plating orders, Chef Ken continues to tell his story. Moving on from his early kitchen memories, Chef Ken started cooking independently. “I found real joy in the process and even greater joy watching people eat my food, knowing that I was able to bring a moment of happiness,” he said. Chef Ken began working at a nonprofit in New York City called the Boys Club of New York. He was a coach for the competitive culinary class, which won three times back-to-back. The coach said he was proud to turn this team of middle school boys who didn’t know how to make toast into interested foodies who could compose a competition-winning dish. By 2014, he’d found his way into the kitchen full-time, unofficially starting Plates on Deck, making plates of food for coworkers and friends. “After that, it was just love – love, passion, and skill on a plate.” “It’s a celebration of global cuisine. It doesn’t matter where you’re from or what your culture is. If you have passion and you’re looking to evoke an emotion with comfort food from where you’re from – that’s soul food,” Chef Ken said. That’s why they describe their cuisine as ‘eclectic soul food.’ “What better way to bring people together than over a plate?” He and his wife, Ziomara Taveras, turned Plates on Deck into a catering business in October 2019, working out of their small apartment. Amid the pandemic, they offered seafood boils online. The blended family of eight moved from New York to Florida in 2020. Now, the family operates a catering business out of a commissary kitchen in Orlando and at Catapult in Lakeland, offering private chef services and popups at the farmer’s market. Ziomara handles everything behind the scenes, while son David James takes orders and is the business’s ‘unofficial baker. ‘ “He’s my right-hand man,” Chef Ken said of his son. If you’ve ever tasted their pleasantly sweet honey vanilla cornbread, you’ve got David to thank. It’s one of their most popular items — for good reason. “I’m teaching my kids you follow your dreams, and your gifts will make way for you,” he said, noting that Plates on Deck is bigger than just him. “I want to make sure they all know that if you build something for yourself, and you have a dream and a goal, and you work towards it – it will come to life.” The chef called Plates on Deck a legacy and a “beacon of hope and light to the next generation of culinary entrepreneurs.” “Our goal is to get our own brick and mortar, ideally in Lakeland or Winter Haven, but we want to be in Polk County,” Ziomara said. The family hopes to create something they call ‘The Pod’ – a home for their takeout business and catering, a space for pop-up chef’s tables, and to provide culinary training. They are looking to secure funding and hope to launch into a space by the end of the year. Chef Ken ‘brought us together’ over a dazzling plate of food, both in appearance and flavor. Succulent honey bourbon chicken is the star of the colorful dish, with supporting roles from Black Sheep Farms sauteed collard greens, doublebaked candied yams, and my favorite, the five-cheese mac attack. Nanny would be proud (or maybe jealous). Another must-try is the shrimp boil with corn, potatoes, and sausage. The shrimp are perfectly prepared and seasoned. They were also to-die-for atop Chef Ken’s creamy grits. If food is love, Chef Ken and his family have hearts of gold. They have a heart for what they do and who they serve. Love you right back, Plates on Deck. Plates on Deck FB: Plates on Deck myplatesondeck.com Photography by Amy Sexson

Talbot House Ministries has been serving the homeless since 1979. The organization offers food, shelter, free medical and dental care, residential recovery programs, employment training and placement, and affordable housing opportunities to those in need. Its aim is to empower the unhoused men and women of our community with purpose and self-sufficiency. Talbot House is the most comprehensive provider of homeless services in Polk County. “I believe we have the best, knowledgeable, professionally trained team in the entire Polk County area,” said Maria Cruz, Executive Director of Talbot House Ministries. Cruz has been working in the homeless field for over 24 years. She previously worked for the Coalition for the Homeless as the director of housing programs for nine years before joining the Talbot House two years ago. Cruz comes from a family that stayed engaged in the community. She grew up giving to others, calling it an ‘innate’ part of herself. “I believe we are here in this life, on this Earth, to serve others,” she said. A PLACE OF PURPOSE Talbot House is most known for its emergency shelter. At 4 pm, some 140 folks come to the House to shower, wash laundry, have a meal, and sleep for the night. After breakfast, they go back into the community. Talbot House proposed a Day Center to the City of Lakeland last year and is waiting to hear back. They also act as a safe haven for vulnerable individuals and victims of domestic violence in which they can stay for the night and are evaluated the following day by a case manager to determine what avenue would best serve them. The organization offers two short-term residential programs. These initiatives provide case management and educational opportunities for adults experiencing homelessness. The programs last six to 24 months and take place within a structured, sober-living environment. In addition to emergency shelter and residential programs, they have outreach initiatives. “We visit the encampments in the community and provide them with water, clothing, shoes, food, hygiene kits, health-related kits,” said Cruz. “We bring a medical licensed counselor to talk to them and case managers to talk to them. We partner with drug and recovery programs, and they come with us to the communities as well.” These outreach programs are expanding. What started with a small grant from the City of Winter Haven became a sizable grant from Direct Relief. “We are going to be hiring an outreach coordinator to impact all encampments in Polk County,” Cruz said. They also plan to buy a new vehicle with a portable shower to bring to the encampments. Over the last year, Talbot House has piloted a diversion program, which is a best practice from Housing First. As people enter their doors, “We assess individuals and let them know if there is anything we can help them with that could prevent them from entering the emergency system.” Talbot House has successfully diverted 129 individuals from homelessness in the first year with the seed of $40K from a private donor. “What we wanted to do with this – with the first pilot data – was to prove to and show the community that these approaches work,” said Cruz. She envisions investing money in these proven approaches to reduce police intervention, emergency service intervention, and hospitalization. “How much will we save if you invest this little amount compared to spending $14K in an emergency intervention?” she said. Talbot House Ministries offers affordable housing as well. The ministry owns and operates 46 units of affordable housing and partners with Plateau Village to provide referrals and wraparound services to an additional 36 households. The organization partners with Homeless Coalition of Polk County and receives federal grants for housing, including rapid rehousing, permanent supportive programs, and housing vouchers. Their employment solution program, with job skills coordinators and employment specialists, connects the unsheltered with employment opportunities and helps train them in skills like building a resume, getting dressed for interviews, communicating professionally, and financial literacy and planning. These programs aren’t only for their residents but the entire homeless community. The on-site Good Samaritan Clinic offers free medical, dental, and mental healthcare to uninsured, low-income individuals in Polk County. The Talbot House food pantry is open to the community every Tuesday and Thursday and serves 525 households monthly. “Talbot House is expanding. We are going to be opening another location in the Polk County area,” said Cruz. Though they haven’t disclosed the location, the vision is a center for women and children. “It will be the first time in history that Talbot House will provide emergency shelter and a residential program for women and children. It’s an important milestone that we are very proud of.” Talbot House is a low-barrier shelter, meaning drug tests aren’t required for those it serves. “We need to be better at showing our God loves by actions,” said Cruz, adding that folks shouldn’t have to fit into a box to receive care. “We have been training our staff towards a more trauma-informed care intervention – crisis de-escalation, harm reduction, trying to see the individuals through the eyes of trauma. If someone is here under stress or pressure, do not expect that they are going to respond to you in a certain way. They don’t trust us. They are here, oppressed by the different stressors of their lives. We are the professionals. We must be prepared to handle that.” Cara The Talbot House is a place of refuge for many, a hand up, a new start. Cara has been coming to Talbot House for nine months and has been a resident for seven. She first became homeless when her husband left her. He said he’d paid two months of the rent, but five days later, law enforcement told her she had 15 minutes to get out of the home. After getting out of the hospital, Talbot House was the only place with availability for Cara. “It’s given me stability. It gives me purpose – helping people. It fills me up and makes me feel better,” she said. EDUCATION AND ADVOCACY There are a multitude of factors causing homelessness nationwide. The most prevalent issues are the lack of affordable housing and living wages. According to Cruz, they used to see people without income, with severe mental health issues, or struggling with addiction come through their doors. That narrative is shifting. “Now we’re having working families that cannot afford to pay their rent, that are sleeping in their cars,” she said. “There’s a lot of ignorance surrounding the topic of homelessness,” Cruz said. “We need to unify forces to be able to do an effective job because it is huge, and we are not able to do it alone.” It all starts with understanding the causes and finding evidence-based solutions. People need to understand that it can happen to anyone. We are all one catastrophic life event away from becoming homeless. “Many people believe they’re untouchable,” she said. Cruz noted the lack of healthcare, mental healthcare, programs for recovery, hunger, and poverty as other causes for people experiencing homelessness. Policymakers must work within these systematic issues and understand the realities of homelessness at the national level. There is a lack of programs locally, too, she said. Though help can be found through organizations like Lighthouse Ministries, the Salvation Army, and Gospel Inc., they each have a set capacity to serve. Each organization has limited resources to help the community. We must educate our politicians and those in positions of influence about the realities of homelessness and push back on the judgment surrounding it. “We are not going to address the homelessness crisis by ignoring it or […] criminalizing them for being homeless and not having enough programs for them,” said Cruz. “There is a belief that we don’t invest a penny in more homelessness programs. But think about it. We are trying to do the best we can with the resources we have to help you with a community issue.” According to Cruz, “Ninety-two percent of the people we are seeing in programs are local.” These are our neighbors, our family, and our friends. “We have a huge project as advocates. We are the experts in the matter. We need to raise our voices and continue speaking out for people who can’t speak for themselves.” Excutive Director Maria Cruz - Photo Credit Glorimar Photography Cruz is planning a town hall to discuss the topic and educate the community. Representatives from Lighthouse Ministries, Salvation Army, Gospel Inc., and Worth and Purpose founder Travis Doodles will join Cruz. “We’ll start having these conversations nobody wants to have,” she said. The town hall is slated for August. Though Talbot House Ministries serves about 500 individuals daily through its many programs and resources, “I feel frustrated sometimes as a leader because I cannot do more,” Cruz said. “I try to focus on the transformation of the life of each individual.” Talbot House Ministries 814 N Kentucky Ave, Lakeland (863) 687-8475 FB: Talbot House Ministries of Lakeland IG @talbothouseministries talbothouse.org Photography by Amy Sexson

Twenty-nine-year-old Russell was born in Fort Lauderdale. He was an only child for nine years before his little brother came along. The siblings didn’t exactly get along, but that’s changing now. “It was good at first, then it got bad, and it’s slowly working itself to where we’re starting to get along again,” he said. As a kid, he was into Hot Wheels, sports cards, and the WWE. As he got older, things got harder. Life no longer revolved around toy cars and favorite wrestlers. “I’ve went through a lot,” he said. In his early twenties, Russell, his mother, and his brother were homeless, staying in someone else’s house. After a disagreement at the home, Russell was dropped off at Lighthouse Ministries. He’s been homeless on and off since April 2017. “It really hurt knowing that I had nobody there for me at that time,” he said. “But the City of Lakeland is so great. I’ve had a small community around me.” Russell had a few jobs that didn’t pay well, but “I was trying to find my way,” he said. Eventually, he moved to the Talbot House. “There were nights that I couldn’t sleep, or when I’d try to go check in, they were full,” he said. “It was hard on me, being autistic and having nowhere to lay my head down at night sometimes.” “It was rough,” he said of his experience. When he stopped working, he could finally get a bed and a shower each day at Talbot House. From there, he found his way to New Life, an outreach ministry that helped him get off the streets. He was there for 18 months. “Once I started living with them, I started getting better. I felt like I was climbing the ladder to get out of homelessness.” Russell was eventually kicked out of the program after an incident he didn’t want to discuss. He leaned on his good friend, Travis Doodles, YouTuber and founder of Worth and Purpose ministries. His friend put him up at the Paramount for six months until Russell expressed an interest in a home of his own. Travis helped Russell get into Gospel Village. “I literally found out two months ago that I was moving in,” Russell said. He’d only been there for six weeks when we spoke. He described the feeling of having his own space. “Good. I’m like, ‘Finally, I can just be myself and not have to worry about what’s going on with other people. I can just focus on myself.’” “I can lay in my bed all day without having to get up,” he said. “I’ve got a pretty nice bed in there.” Russell helps out around Gospel Village whenever he can and attends classes at the Peace River Center. According to Russell, they discuss topics like emotions, stress, and disability. “I can learn from them as much as possible,” he said. Now, at a steady place in life, Russell regularly talks to his mom and brother, who are no longer homeless. The Gospel Village resident dreams of becoming a YouTuber. He often appears in Travis Doodles’ videos and says he’s trying to build his fan base. Russell pulled out his phone to show us the latest video he’d made with Travis Doodles. “We entered into the Slim Jim competition to go to WrestleMania,” he said excitedly. He said his videos would focus on autism awareness. “Seeing people on the spectrum, like myself, I’m a lot smarter than people give me credit for,” he said in a YouTube interview with Travis Doodles. “Don’t let your disability get the best of you. If you have a dream – chase it!” Mainly, Russell wishes people would be more upfront with him as a person with autism. “Yes, we may be autistic, but we’re people too,” he said. “Autistic people don’t get treated the greatest. [...] We may be different in a lot of ways, but if there’s a way that we can share what we like with other people in the world, maybe they’ll understand you need to treat these people better.” Along with dreams of YouTube stardom, home ownership may be in Russell’s future. “I’ve got to save up money to buy my own place,” he said. The young man had advice for other people experiencing homelessness. “Be in God, keep praying. Don’t give up because if I would have given up, I wouldn’t be where I’m at today,” he said. “I’ve been one of His for 15 years. […] Because of Him, I got to do probably some of the coolest stuff that other people don’t get to do.” Some of that ‘cool stuff’ includes attending a Miami Heat game the season they won the NBA championship. He’s been to Orlando Magic games, Monster Jam, and the WWE Royal Rumble. “If you don’t experience it in person, you won’t know what it’s like,” he said. “We’re humans, and we do make mistakes, but don’t judge us for the mistakes we made,” Russell said of being unsheltered. “Don’t treat us like we’re nothing. They have a life, too. It’s just that life for them is different from everybody else’s.” Following the interview, Russell invited us to see his place. A smile spread across his face as he retrieved the Championship Belt that Logan Paul sent him. He even had a wrestling-themed bedspread. The Serenity Prayer is posted on the door of his home. God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. It’s a celebration of his recovery journey. “It means so much,” he said. Photograph by Amy Sexson

Did you know that you can plant your vegetables and herbs alongside your ornamental perennials, shrubs, and trees? Most people think vegetable gardens, raised beds, and containers are the only places to grow edible plants. But vegetables and herbs can make great additions to the landscape without the expense or effort of a special place of their own. Adding edible plants to your ornamental landscape can enhance the yard in so many ways—visually with ornamental quality, fragrance from aromatic leaves and flowers, and seasonal food production. WHAT DO YOU NEED TO KNOW TO START? Remember, as you select vegetables, fruits, and herbs for ornamental quality, stick to your overall design theme, follow the recommended Florida-Friendly Landscaping principles, and think about how you can eat from your landscape year-round. Many edible plants have a short growing span, so it is important to learn how to rotate edible plants for seasonality as well as design quality. Design is important in any landscape and edible plants can enhance design in many ways. Here are a few tips to getting started. 1. Select varieties that grow well in central Florida. Use the Florida Vegetable Gardening Guide and other local resources to find varieties that will grow locally. Know your hardiness zone and planting dates. Edible plants can be annuals, lasting only one growing season, perennials that span multiple seasons, or even long-lived shrubs and trees. 2. Group plants by their water needs. This is important in all landscapes to ensure that plants are getting what they need to be healthy and pest-free. Plants of all types should be grouped according to their water needs, light requirements, and maintenance needs. Select edible plants that match the site conditions where they will be planted to ensure success. For example: Rosemary is an herb that thrives in dry, well-drained soils. If you have a spot in the landscape that matches those conditions, rosemary will thrive! 3. Use support structures, containers, and hardscapes to add visual appeal. Many edible plants have an informal quality and at times could look a bit unruly. Consider using structures such as arbors, pergolas, containers, and even statuary to both support and contain your edible plants. This may also be necessary if you are growing vining plants. Small groupings of containers can add visual interest and may make it easier to grow and maintain some edible plants. Great examples of how to incorporate these items into your landscape can be found at our local botanical gardens. 4. Plant trees. Trees are such an integral part of the landscape. They provide structure and shade, and if you select a fruit-bearing plant, can also provide you with food! Small trees such as a bay tree, small citrus (such as Sugar Belle), peach, or dwarf mulberry can be grown in small urban and suburban landscapes. NEW TO GROWING EDIBLE PLANTS? Herbs are a great place to start. They can be planted directly in the ground or in containers. The fragrance from the herbs can also be an asset to the landscape. Brushing against a mint plant while walking in the yard can add to an already pleasant experience. Shrubs such as bananas lend a tropical look to the garden and are a way to enjoy some of the many lesser-known varieties of the fruit. With care, a generous harvest can be had! Blueberries produce a harvest in the spring, but their foliage provides interest in the landscape year-round. The fall foliage on blueberries is orange to red and is beautiful when combined with native saw palmetto and coontie cycads. Plant cool-season annuals such as lettuces and greens (collards, mustard, Swiss chard, kale, cabbage) for the texture and color in the landscape. They can be used to fill a garden space and can be continually harvested throughout the growing season. If you are ready to start adding edible plants to your landscape, use the Florida Vegetable Gardening Guide (edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/VH021) to determine what plants to grow now. Additionally, our monthly newsletter gives tips on what edibles to plant, general maintenance, and where to find helpful workshops in the area. Read and subscribe to our newsletter at substack.com/@yourcentralfloridayard. For more information, contact UF/IFAS Extension Polk County at (863) 519-1041 or visit us online at http://sfyl.ifas.ufl.edu/polk or on social media @PolkGardening. The Plant Clinic is open Monday-Friday, 9:00 am-4:00 pm to answer your gardening and landscaping questions. Give us a call or email us at polkmg@ifas.ufl.edu. Tune in to our podcast Your Central Florida Yard, to listen to tips that will help you live your best gardening life in central Florida.

A sandy path of broken glass lined on either side by discarded children’s toys, shopping carts, tires, and other refuse leads to a hovel hamlet. To get there, you must cross a bridge overlooking a canal that jet skiers and boaters take every day, unaware that yards away is a homeless camp with dozens of people who can’t secure affordable housing, earn a living wage, are without family, struggling through mental illness, or in active addiction. Though ramshackle, this tent city displays an amount of resourcefulness born out of desperation – desperation for identity, for something of one’s own. Old signs and headboards are turned into make-shift gates to separate one residence from the next. Multiple tents or tarps are strung together to create individual living spaces for families. Though best efforts are made to create a ‘home,’ these dwellings are a portrait of depression. This is one of Polk County’s five to six known homeless encampments. According to Talbot House Ministries Executive Director Maria Cruz, the amount of people experiencing homelessness has increased by almost 65% in the last three years. However, identifying the number of unsheltered individuals is a difficult task. Cruz notes that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Pointin-Time Count is a baseline but is not entirely reliable. The HUD 2023 Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance Programs Homeless Populations and Subpopulations counted 776 homeless persons in Polk County. This number doesn’t reflect those who choose not to disclose their housing status or those in unknown encampments, among other discrepancies. “Single individuals are falling through the cracks because they have not been counted correctly,” Cruz said. All federal funding assigned to counties follows HUD’s Point-inTime Count. “We are not receiving the amount of funding that we should be receiving. Who is advocating in Congress for that to change nationwide? Not too many people,” said Cruz, who noted little to no County or City support. “The majority of our programs and services exist due to the community’s support.” McKinney-Vento is another metric to consider when estimating the unhoused population. According to the National Center for Homeless Education, “Each year, the states submit information regarding the education of students who experienced homelessness to the U.S. Department of Education (ED) as a part of the EDFacts Initiative. Using the most recently available data, this brief examines the number of students who experienced homelessness, the type of housing they used when first identified by school districts, and subgroups of students who experienced homelessness.” During the 2020-21 school year, approximately 62,971 students experienced homelessness in the state of Florida, making up 2.3 percent of all students in the state. Andrea Anderson is the Director of Community Outreach for Polk for Recovery, an organization “led by and for those in recovery from substance use, mental health, or other obstacles to wellness.” Each week, she and her team walk the dusty, rubbish-lined trails to check on folks in the camp – and extend help. They hand out clothes, food, water, hygiene kits, and offer treatment or safe housing. “I encourage everybody to visit the encampments [accompanied by Talbot House Ministries] so you can see in real-time the things that many people don’t want to be presented,” said Cruz. “Higher levels in the community don’t want that to be out there because, of course, they want to look good. Of course, they want the CRA to clean all this and present the best face. We want them to see the reality and not to forget that they are human beings.” While walking through the encampment with Anderson, we came across a young man who was shirtless and unkempt. Twenty-seven-year-old Nicholas has been homeless for a year and a half. After a family disagreement, he was kicked out of his house. His daily life consists of cleaning up around camp, cutting firewood for meals, and collecting water jugs to cook, bathe, and give to his dogs. Nicholas lives in a tent with his significant other, his mother, and her boyfriend. “There’s no real plan to it. You just kind of make the best of every day,” he said. He’s been at his current homestead for six months. Asked about his ideal life, Nicholas said, “I honestly couldn’t tell you. I haven’t thought that far ahead yet.” Anderson, as is her job and purpose in life, offered him hope in the form of her business card. From Heroin to Heroine Andrea Anderson is the kind of person who effuses genuineness. She cares about everyone in the camps and knows many of them by name, including pets. As we made our way through a vein of footpaths that trickled off to this tent or that one, she’d call out to folks, asking how they were and if they needed anything. She, herself, is a woman renewed. This life is all too familiar to Anderson. As Lorree from Gospel Village would say, it’s one of her taproots. But, you’ll read about her later. Andrea Anderson “I started using from a young age. My addiction progressed throughout the years,” Anderson said. Heroin and crack were her drugs of choice. By the time she ended up homeless, she’d been in and out of prison. “Getting out of prison, I had nothing left. I had to do things that I’m not proud of to support a habit that I had to use every day to stay well.” She hustled to make money to afford a motel room each night. “It was terrible. It was degrading,” she said. “I couldn’t look at cars that passed me on the street—I felt less than. Stores wouldn’t let me in to use the restroom.” Anderson said that her addiction kept her in bondage. She was ready to break free. “I went to jail the last time and was headed to prison for the second time. I was sick and tired of being sick and tired,” she said. “I gave my heart to Christ and asked for help. Immediately, I was changed. I knew that I never had to do that again.” When Anderson was released from prison, she entered a sober living facility in Polk County. She went through a treatment program, learned life skills to stay sober, and worked at a restaurant for seven years. She went on to work for Tri-County and eventually, along with her colleagues, helped to start Polk for Recovery with Executive Director Craig Pickos. Anderson is still involved in a 12-step program, keeps multiple service commitments, and gives back through her job in community outreach. “It helps keep me sober.” Having suffered through addiction, hustling to make money to have somewhere to rest her head at night must have been spiritually burdensome. To see it now through sober eyes can’t be easy. But Anderson has a different outlook on it. “I never personalize it. This is all God’s business. We’re out here planting seeds,” she said. “We’re meeting them where they are and offering them help. When they’re ready, they know us and might call us.” A Not-So-Simple Life Darlene is a special woman. Tough and sincere. Beaten down by circumstance, she was guarded but honest as she talked about life on the streets. While holding a newborn puppy she called Sweetie, she told us about the plants she tends. Darlene has a small garden of rosemary (for mosquitoes, she said), cacti, an Easter lily, and a plant she called ‘earache medicine.’ Darlene She does her best to keep her space and herself clean, which is a daily task. Darlene has been homeless for the better part of 20 years and has been in her current space for over 10. “My mother died. My father kicked me out after four years of taking care of her. I miss her,” she said. Darlene cared for her ailing mother 24/7, “But I’m okay with that. She was my mom.” Her mother had terminal throat cancer. “I fed her every four hours and made her gain weight. I took her to her treatments. I took care of the house, took care of the bills for Daddy.” Then, she was kicked out. Her father died six years later. With no brothers or sisters, “I don’t have anyone in my life,” she said. “We don’t know where we would go if we lost this,” she said of the property on which she lives. Her entire life is this cobbled-together homestead. She doesn’t want to enter a facility like Talbot House or Gospel Village because she’s worried she’d have to give up her animals. “I don’t think I could give my babies up,” she said of her five dogs. “They’re the only thing I’ve got to talk to.” “There’s a lot of depression. There are a couple of girls that want out of here,” Darlene said of the encampment. “The guys out here give us a hard time. We have a lot of stealing going on. I’ve lost my hatchet. I’ve lost my machete.” Being a single woman on the streets is demanding. It’s a lot of “taking up for yourself. The guys try to run over us a lot, and I won’t let them. You’re not telling me what I can and can’t do.” Meth and alcohol are the specific blights on Darlene’s community. “Everybody around here, they’re either on drugs or they trick.” “Every time we leave here, the cops pull us over and search us constantly,” she said, calling drugs an occasional temptation. “But I can’t afford it, so I don’t mess with it. I’d rather spend money on my dogs.” “I isolate myself from people,” said Darlene. Other than her puppies, Ms. Smith is her only friend and confidant. “She’s 85 years old and got more brains than I do,” Darlene said. “She sees me every day. She tells me when I need to go home and take a shower, when I need a haircut.” Deterioration of the backbone, skin cancer, and essential tremors slow Darlene – but they don’t stop her. Each morning, she wakes up to the mess outside her abode and does her best to clean it up. “The garbage around here wouldn’t be that bad if they would just set up a dumpster because all of us would put our trash in it.” Instead, she’s forced to burn and bury her garbage. “I cook me some breakfast, and then I get to work,” she said. Darlene collects water, washes dishes, scrubs laundry, rakes the yard, and cuts the grass with scissors under the merciless Florida sun. “It takes me all day to do what I need to do out here.” “Mentally, I’m burnt out,” Darlene admitted. “Talking to a psychiatrist don’t work and the medicine they give you don’t work. […] I don’t know what to say. I’ll be 58 years old in July. My body’s wearing out early.” “People just look at you like you’re nothing, and we do feel it. It’s like the rich men get it, and the poor people get nothing,” said Darlene as she shielded her eyes from the beating midday beams. “Let’s trade for 24 hours. Do what I do.” Asked how people could help her situation, her eyes brimmed with tears, “I don’t know,” she said, dejected. “I’ve had the Census Bureau out here several times. They keep saying they’re going to do something, but they don’t. It don’t get better. Grady Judd comes out here – it don’t help. They just throw us away.” In response, Sheriff Grady Judd called himself and the Polk County Sheriff’s Office advocates for the unhoused. “We spend an inordinate amount of time and resources in our homeless communities county-wide. We do that because we want to make sure they have the basic necessities – food, clothing, and shelter,” he said. Sheriff Judd noted he personally visits the homeless communities, inquiring about their needs. “We can’t control if someone lives in a homeless environment, but we certainly look out for them in that homeless environment. We can’t live their life for them, but we do our best to take care of them.” Talbot House Ministries Executive Director Maria Cruz called the Lakeland Police Department a great support to their efforts. “I do believe that the police department, either county or local, are not equipped to handle the homelessness crisis. I don’t believe the police were designed to be the first responders in homelessness intervention because they don’t have the resources; they don’t have the contacts. They are trying to do the best they can.” Cruz suggests coming together as a county to develop a task force of clinical and homelessness service providers that can work with law enforcement to address the crisis. “As providers, we are working scattered, trying to do the best we can. But we don’t have an integrated approach towards tackling the issue.” “I’m not a bad person. I don’t steal things, I don’t do drugs, I’m just stuck in a bad place,” Darlene said through misty eyelashes. “I’m not with all the drama and stuff that goes on. I don’t fit in out here.” “You need to know their stories. You need to know what caused their situation. Most of the time, it’s not drugs or mental health – it’s life happening,” said Cruz. Darlene hopes to escape the poverty that holds her underwater. Her life is a struggle for air. Weighed down by trauma, loss of family, and circumstance, all she craves is a deep breath – a gasp from her tired spirit. There’s no such thing as perfect, she said, but the closest thing to it would be “a little quiet small house. That’s all. And a little piece of property – just me.” Solutions to a Complex Issue Anderson, who checks on the encampments weekly, has an idea to mitigate homelessness – a housing-first initiative. This approach has proven successful in cities across the nation. Community First! Village is a master-planned neighborhood in Austin, Texas, that provides affordable, permanent housing and a supportive community for men and women who are coming out of chronic homelessness. Today, it occupies 51 acres and is a respite for more than 370 formerly homeless folks. In 2021, the Reseda Tiny Home Village opened in LA County. The Village consists of 52 units and 101 beds, helping unhoused Angelenos get off the streets, into a space of their own, and on a path to finding permanent housing. Housing-first initiatives can be seen locally in places like Talbot House Ministries and Gospel Village in Lakeland. On February 3, 2021, property on E. Lemon Street, formerly Royal Oak Estates, was purchased, and renovations began for what was to become Gospel Village. Today, Gospel Village has 34 units and 43 residents. Anderson imagines repurposing abandoned hotels. “Put the homeless in there, have them work for the hotel. Have them work for their daily wages and food and start feeling like productive members of society,” she said. Giving this dignified income – this purpose – could be an incentive to stay clean. “Right now, they don’t have a purpose, and they’re stuck in this addiction. [...] Small changes over a period of time make a difference,” Anderson said. Winter Haven City Manager T. Michael Stavres called homelessness and contributing issues “complex.” According to the City Manager, addressing it within any community requires a multifaceted approach utilizing multiple agencies. In Winter Haven, this includes entities such as the City, Polk County, Heart For Winter Haven, The Mission, Central Florida Health Care, Polk County Public Schools, and countless faith-based organizations. “The easy answer to how best to support the unhoused population is to provide housing, but that is no easy task, nor is it necessarily a cure-all solution. While having access to a greater inventory of affordable housing helps, it will not be sustainable without the wrap-around services that seek to address financial literacy, workforce skill development, mental and physical health support, and transportation,” said Stavres. The City of Winter Haven has established an Affordable Housing Trust Fund to help financially support new developments specifically aligned with affordable housing. According to Stavres, the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) has also established incentive programs to help offset the development costs for projects within the CRA geographic areas. Additionally, the City’s Affordable Housing Advisory Committee (AHAC) annually evaluates strategies to enhance and increase affordable housing availability as part of the State Housing Initiative Partnership Program (SHIP). We reached out to Lakeland Mayor Bill Mutz for a comment about how best to serve the unhoused population and any plans the City has for the issue, but we did not receive a response. According to their website, the City of Lakeland’s Housing Office works to preserve and develop affordable housing within city limits. “Homelessness can be reduced if we implement and work with tangible, evidencebased solutions,” said Maria Cruz. “Housing-focused programs work to reduce and resolve homelessness, so let us invest in those evidence-based practices.” According to the Talbot House Ministries executive director, Polk County takes a reactive approach to homelessness. “We need to work and invest more in preventing homelessness in the first place,” she said. Allocated crisis assistance dollars could prevent someone at risk of experiencing homelessness from losing their job or housing and help them get back on their feet. Regardless of the many possible solutions to the issue of homelessness, one plight remains – how we treat our unsheltered brothers and sisters. Often, those experiencing homelessness are said to be ‘on the fringes’ of society. But it’s more insidious than that. We exclude them from society altogether. We avert our eyes when we pass them on the street. We lock our car doors when they stand with a sign at the intersection. We deny them personhood as if lack of housing is a moral failure. Housing is growing more unaffordable by the day. Loss of family is devastating. Mental health struggles are debilitating. Addiction isn’t a choice. Darlene could be your mother, Nicholas your son. It could be you. If you have nothing else to give, be unsparing with your kindness. Photography by Amy Sexson

Mosquitoes are a familiar nuisance in Florida, heralding the warmer months with their unwelcome presence. Beyond their itchy bites, these insects play complex roles in our ecosystem and public health. This article delves into the life cycle of mosquitoes, their ecological impact, and practical tips for coexisting with them while minimizing their bothersome and sometimes dangerous impacts. THE ECOLOGICAL ROLE OF MOSQUITOES Despite their notoriety, mosquitoes serve vital functions in ecosystems. They act as pollinators and are a key food source for various animals, including fish, birds, and some bats. If you like to fish in Polk County’s many lakes, then you appreciate the important protein source provided to young sport fish by mosquito larvae. The male mosquitoes, which do not bite, primarily feed on plant nectar and can serve as important pollinator species. However, the female mosquitoes of certain species seek blood meals to support egg production. UNDERSTANDING MOSQUITOES: A PRIMER Mosquitoes, members of the insect family Culicidae, are true flies with a distinct life cycle that includes egg, larva, pupa, and adult stages. Of the roughly 90 mosquito species in Florida, they can be categorized into floodwater, standing water, and container mosquitoes based on their breeding habitats. Floodwater mosquitoes, for example, lay eggs in moist soil that must dry out completely, then they will hatch and emerge after the rainy season returns. This phenomenon can lead to massive emergences in March, April, or May – depending on the year. Standing water and container mosquitoes, on the other hand, lay eggs directly on water surfaces, with container mosquitoes adapting to breed in minuscule volumes of water, such as those found in bottle caps or tree cavities. Understanding where mosquitoes breed is critical to effective mosquito management and which actions you can take to reduce their numbers near your home! MOSQUITO CONTROL AND DISEASE PREVENTION When it comes to mosquito-borne disease, Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus are the mosquito species we are most concerned about. These containerbreeding species are found almost statewide and can spread diseases such as dengue, yellow-fever, zika, and chikungunya. Effective mosquito management is crucial for minimizing their impact on public health and your quality of life. Local mosquito control districts employ integrated mosquito management techniques, including setting traps to monitor populations and deploying environmentally-friendly larvicides. Once adult mosquitoes emerge from the water, they are a lot more challenging to manage due to their ability to fly. Container mosquitoes, like A. aegypti and A. albopictus, are thought to stay close to the area where they hatch – often travelling less than a quarter mile during their lifetime. This means that if you and your neighbors commit to dumping any containers that can catch water, weekly, throughout the mosquito season, you can drastically reduce the number of mosquitoes in the neighborhood. For areas where draining water isn’t feasible, like in a landscaping bed of bromeliads, consider using a granule product containing Bti (Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies israelensis) and sprinkling those granules into the pockets of water every 30 days. There are several brand names that use this natural mosquito larvicide. MYTH-BUSTING MOSQUITO MANAGEMENT Bug zappers, while satisfying to hear, do little to curb mosquito populations and they tend to kill more beneficial insects than mosquitoes. Similarly, plants marketed as mosquito repellents, such as those containing citronella, have limited effectiveness. These plants only release mosquito-repelling compounds when their leaves are crushed, and even then, the area of protection is minimal and fleeting. Eating garlic or taking vitamin B supplements has also been touted as a way to repel mosquitoes from the inside out, yet scientific evidence supporting these claims is scant. Sadly, bat houses do little to reduce mosquito populations as most bats prefer larger prey. Bats will eat some mosquitoes, but the majority of their diet is made up of moths, beetles, and flies. PERSONAL DEFENSE When it comes to personal protection, not all mosquito repellents are created equal. Mosquito repellents function by making humans less attractive to mosquitoes, essentially camouflaging us from their keen senses. It’s important to note that repellents do not harm mosquitoes; they deter them. The efficacy of a repellent is often measured by its Complete Protection Time (CPT), which indicates how long you can expect to be protected from bites after a single application. Research by the University of Florida has evaluated various repellents, finding that products containing DEET, picaridin, IR3535, and oil of lemon eucalyptus all offer effective protection. These ingredients vary in protection duration and concentration, allowing for choices tailored to individual needs and activity levels. To learn which product is best suited for the duration of your outdoor activities, based on University of Florida trials and research, consult this IFAS document: go.ufl.edu/mosquito-repellent or by scanning the QR Code. A UNIQUELY FLORIDA PROBLEM: SUNSCREEN FIRST? OR BUGSPRAY? When using mosquito repellent in conjunction with sunscreen, the order of application is crucial for effectiveness. The CDC advises applying sunscreen first, allowing it to absorb into the skin, followed by mosquito repellent. This sequence ensures optimal efficacy of both products. Importantly, products combining sunscreen and repellent are not recommended, as sunscreen requires more frequent application than repellent. Over-applying a combination product could lead to unnecessary exposure to repellent chemicals. MOSQUITO SEASON IS HERE As we navigate life in Florida alongside mosquitoes, understanding their behavior, ecological role, and how to mitigate their impacts is essential. Through community efforts and informed personal practices, we can coexist with these persistent insects while safeguarding our health and enjoying the beauty of our state. For more insights and resources on mosquito management, connect with Polk County Mosquito Control at their website, www.polk-county.net/services/mosquito-control/ or contact your local UF/IFAS Extension Office in Bartow.

The Light in a Dark Place Lorree’s faith is a gleam of sunlight hitting the water and reflecting in a million directions. Bright enough to catch and hold your attention. Brilliant enough with its aqua echoes to make you want to go for a swim. There’s just something compelling about this woman. She threads wisdom and tenderness throughout each sentence, sewing together the narrative of her life – a tapestry of good times and hard ones. Her’s is the story of a life lived in quiet reverberation – resonance of grace and grace and grace. “I am a little nervous, but the humbleness that I have in my spirit for all that He’s done for me in 59 years. I have no one to praise and give the honor to but Him,” she said. A prayer and a song – that’s how Gospel Village resident Lorree began. Her eyes glinted like polished pearls as tears welled, and she sang softly, “He’s been my fourth man in the fire, time after time.” “I just wanted to put that in the atmosphere because that’s where I am right now,” she said of the hymn. She’d been up cooking the night before for a weekly feeding at church. If she was tired, it didn’t show. “The joy of doing that and seeing their expressions of thankfulness is just beyond words,” she said. Lorree grew up in North Carolina during the 1960s. Her first memories are of being on the swings, making up songs, and singing to God. “Good memories,” she said. Another good memory was at her father’s and uncle’s convenience store. She’d ask her Uncle Stanley for a Coca-Cola. She remembers the Coke-themed bottle opener on the wall. The top would pop off, “To hear the ‘chhhh’ and my daddy is standing on the corner with a cigar, half smoked.” The only girl of three children, Lorree was spoiled by her father, and she watched her mother with curious eyes. Her father was born in 1919, and her mother in 1929, “They were products of the Great Depression, so they both were very frugal,” she said. Lorree learned how to make jellies and jams and to can vegetables. Her neighbor across the street taught the little girl how to crochet, which she still does today. “That’s my glass of wine, once or twice a week,” she said. Her love of sewing stems from her mother, who made most of her clothes until high school. “The last thing she did make for me was my debutant gown.” It was made of white taffeta with a netted underskirt. It had lace and sparkles around the top with mid-length sleeves. Escorted by a cousin, Lorree was the belle of the ball, no doubt. During a Home Ec class in high school, Lorree remembers, with a smile, making a halter top that turned out too long on one side. “I heard many stories of my grandmother sewing by candlelight, her doing a lot of hand stitching,” Lorree said. Her grandmother made an apron out of old tobacco bags and twine, which she’d wear over one of her only two dresses working in the fields during the week. In 2018, Lorree was called to Florida with a group of people. “They were instruments for me to get out of that state.” She lived with several families, totaling five folks, in one mobile home. On Christmas Eve of the same year, they kicked Lorree out. With nowhere else to turn, she lived out of her SUV from December through April. “My grandmother was the only child out of three in the late 1800s that went to finishing school, and that was unheard of then. That was post-slavery. The values that she instilled in us were to be very independent. It was very difficult for me to let my family know that I lived in my vehicle.” “Fear was the first emotion I felt,” she said. “At that time, I lived in my vehicle, I felt that was pivotal because it showed me how to really trust God. I remember so many mornings I woke up singing the song “Hallelujah” because I knew he kept me safe. [...] I might hear something in my sleep, and I might open my eyes, and I would hear the peace of God saying, ‘It’s okay, I’ve got you.’” When her car broke down at the Lakeland Public Library, she caught the bus to the Talbot House. Her first night there she met two women who told her about Gospel Inc. and their women’s program, Repurpose Art Studio. Gospel Inc. is a Lakeland nonprofit that provides resources, fosters community, and helps find purposeful employment for homeless folks across the city. “The first morning I went there, Miss Connie said, ‘Lorree, you’re really serious about doing better.’ I said, ‘Yes, ma’am.’” Within that week, she was accepted into the Gospel Inc. sewing internship. It was a 16-week beginner’s course, at the end of which students received their own sewing machine. On Sundays, she would go home with one of the church moms and fix desserts to bring to the sewing program every Monday During the program, Lorree was hit by an SUV while crossing the street. After getting out of the hospital, she stayed with a church sister. Though she couldn’t finish the program because of the accident, Gospel Inc. still awarded her a KitchenAid mixer. “God worked it out,” she said. Post-accident, Lorree earned a dignified income working ten hours for Gospel Inc. each week. She worked mainly in the outreach center on Plum Street, writing ‘thank you’ cards, helping with payroll, miscellaneous office tasks, and daily devotionals. Eventually, Lorree got a spot at Gospel Village, a sustainable and affordable long-term housing community for the chronically homeless. On her first night in her own space, Lorree felt slightly nervous but excited. “Homelessness is like an oak tree. It has many, many branches and many, many roots. The branches we can see,” she said. Those could be mental, emotional, or physical issues. “As far out as the branches go, there are taproots that go out just as far under the ground.” That could be a trauma from childhood, loss of family, or a series of unforeseen events. Someone may not look clean and be carrying four or five bags, but “if you could see the heart of that person, it would really make this world different,” she said. Lorree says kindness to those who are currently without a place to live can look like asking if you can take them out for a meal or buying them a new pair of shoes. “I’ve had times in the last month that I see people on the bus, and I hear the Holy Spirit say, ‘Give them what you bought for yourself because you can make something when you get home.’” The Gospel Village resident has plenty of plans for the future. She’d like to get her driver’s license, get involved with the children’s ministry at church, and perfect her trade of sewing – venturing out into more clothing. But what does Lorree’s ideal life look like? “What it is now.” “I feel like that God puts us all on this Earth for a specific thing,” she said. “He means for us to use those [talents] to help one another but having Him at the center of everything. […] I am a part of light that’s in a dark place.” Speaking to the unhoused community, Lorree said, “Keep pushing forward. Change the people that you’re around. Make sure that they’re positive and that they want to do better for themselves. [...] I’m promising that it will not be easy — rest assured. But it is so worth it.” Photography by Amy Sexson