One Hopeful Place Opens Women’s Shelter

Fort Walton Beach, FL – Community Solutions of the Emerald Coast Board of Directors, Bridgeway Center, and The Greater Fort Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce are pleased to announce the opening of the women’s residence at One Hopeful Place.

One Hopeful Place opened in May 2016 as a Men’s 20-bed shelter. Since then, over 200 men who needed just a little assistance in turning their lives around, have been given the opportunity to utilize the amenities.  In late 2020, One Hopeful Place completed Phase II, which increased the occupancy to 50 men.

For the last four years, One Hopeful Place has served as our area’s only cold night shelter, serviced by our local churches and a team of wonderful volunteers.

“Community Solutions and Bridgeway Center have been planning for over 10 years to be able to create a shelter for single women.  We are so pleased that our first female resident arrived on March 22, 2021.” Says Lisa Jo Spencer, Chair of Community Solutions.  “The eleven-bed women’s shelter will now serve that very underserviced demographic of single women down on their luck”. 

ABOUT ONE HOPEFUL PLACE:

One Hopeful Place (OHP) is the primary shelter in Okaloosa County serving unaccompanied individuals and veterans experiencing homelessness.  OHP operates a 50-bed shelter for men and an 11-bed shelter for women who have the desire to make changes in their current life circumstances.  During inclement winter weather, defined as 40 degrees or below, OHP provides the only temporary shelter for all those experiencing homelessness.

MEDIA CONTACT:  Christy Gilliland, Community Outreach Coordinator, [email protected]
850.686.1501