A woman and four kids walk by you in the grocery store trying to blend in.

You’re wondering, “Why can’t she get those kids under control!” What kind of parent is she?

What you don’t know is that she and her children live in their car and use the facilities at a local store or restaurant that is open 24 hours.

The children attend school with our children. One of the kids is crying uncontrollably because he is hungry.

At school, another is sent to the principal’s office because she sometimes is disruptive. One is teased because he smells. The other child has suicidal thoughts.

This is the new face of the homeless.

How scary this must be for children who do not know where their next meal will come from or where they will sleep.

People who once had decent-paying jobs, a house and hope are now hard on their luck due to the economic hardships in Seminole County and beyond.

Daily I see so many people who have lost hope. Homelessness is not just the man on the street asking for money in downtown Sanford. Many of us are a paycheck or two from being homeless ourselves.

I am so grateful that we have organizations in Sanford such as Rescue Outreach Mission, SACSON (Seminole Action Coalition Serving Our Needy) and Pathways to Home. Together, these organizations are making a difference to help the needy in our community.

Rescue Outreach Mission, founded by Mother Blanche Bell Weaver, has been in our community for 23 years helping the hopeless and homeless. The mission is a faith-based organization that provides food, clothing and comprehensive case management that guides people back to self-sufficiency within six months to a year.

SACSON also is a faith-supported community organization that educates the public and provides programs and services to those that are in need in north Seminole County. SACSON helps the homeless get identification documents – such as birth certificates, Social Security cards and Florida ID cards – through a program called IDignity. They are also working with the Seminole County Emergency Management Team to help activate a cold-night shelter plan to give the homeless and needy a warm place to sleep during the winter months.

Pathways to Home is a collaborative team of partner agencies that guides and nurtures homeless families with children back to stable self-sufficiency. Many families can now call somewhere home because of the leadership of the Pathways Collaborative.

Today there are 400 homeless children who have been identified living in Seminole County. That number grows daily as the school year progresses. With only one shelter with 84 beds, where do all of the homeless children sleep?

Homelessness is growing fast in our country. We are told that Seminole County is one of the most affluent counties in Florida.

What is happening to our future, the children?

It costs about $2 to feed one person. So many people are hungry but few people really step up to do something about it.

I invite everyone in the community to get involved with SACSON to learn more about Pathways to Home and to visit the Rescue Outreach Mission.

It will be a life-changing experience.

To learn more about homelessness and how it affects our community, please come to Rescue Outreach Mission’s 12th annual Servants of the People luncheon at the Orlando Lake Mary Marriott on Oct. 27. For details, visit www.rescueoutreachmission.org.

The face of homelessness is changing. Together we can make a difference in our community.

Ernest Hamilton is executive director for Rescue Outreach Mission of Sanford. Comments can be sent to him at ehamilton@rescueoutreachmission.org or Herald publisher Gene Kruckemyer at GKruckemyer@MySanfordHerald.com. Topics for The Sanford Herald’s Centennial Forum opinion series are chosen by the community writers.