The Kearney Center

10/19/2026

Moving into permanent housing is an incredible milestone, but an empty space still needs the essentials that make it feel like home. 🏠💚

Move-out kits help our clients begin their next chapter with items such as pillows and bedding, towels and paper towels, cleaning supplies, laundry products, kitchen essentials, and personal care items.

These everyday necessities can ease the financial burden of starting over and help individuals enter their new homes with greater comfort, confidence, and dignity.

Help us turn a new space into a home.

Learn how to donate: kearneycenter.org/ways-to-give/

10/16/2026

We’re celebrating three leaders helping move The Kearney Center’s mission forward. 💚

Please join us in welcoming Te’Rel A. Bowman as Director of Operations, Jackie Fortmann as Support Service Director, and celebrating Teresa Radzinski as Chair of our Board of Directors!

Te’Rel brings more than 30 years of experience in operations, facilities management, community development, and nonprofit leadership. From advancing affordable housing initiatives with Big Bend Habitat for Humanity to decades of leadership across Tallahassee, his career reflects a deep commitment to service and strengthening our community.

A Tallahassee resident since 2011 and FSU alumna, Jackie brings more than a decade of social work, nonprofit, housing, and local government experience, and is returning to the Kearney Center nine years after beginning her career here as a case manager. We’re thrilled to welcome her back as our Support Service Director!

Teresa has served on The Kearney Center’s Board of Directors since 2023 and brings more than 35 years of financial services experience, along with extensive nonprofit board and community leadership. As Board Chair, she will help provide strategic leadership and governance as we continue advancing our mission.

We’re grateful to have Te’Rel, Jackie, and Teresa helping lead The Kearney Center forward as we work to create pathways to stability, permanent housing, and brighter futures for those we serve.

Help us congratulate them on their new roles! 👏💚

10/14/2026

A path forward begins with listening.

At The Kearney Center, case management is not a one-size-fits-all process. Our team takes time to understand each person’s circumstances, identify the barriers standing between them and stability, and create an individualized plan for moving forward.

That plan may include replacing an ID, applying for benefits, finding employment, addressing health needs, or navigating housing applications.

Every person’s path is different, but the goal remains the same: lasting stability, dignity, and a safe place to call home.

Learn more about our services: https://kearneycenter.org/need-help/

10/10/2026

Homelessness is an experience. It is not an identity.

On World Homelessness Day, we recognize the people behind the statistics: parents, veterans, seniors, coworkers, and neighbors navigating circumstances that have disrupted their stability.

At The Kearney Center, our work begins with dignity. We meet immediate needs, build trust, help remove barriers, and support individuals as they work toward permanent housing.

Because every person deserves to be seen for who they are, not defined by what they are experiencing. 💚

Learn more about our mission: kearneycenter.org/

10/08/2026

⚠️ HURRICANE ISAIAS EMERGENCY SHELTER UPDATE ⚠️

As severe weather approaches our community, The Kearney Center is prepared to help ensure our neighbors experiencing homelessness and others vulnerable to the impacts of the storm have a safe place to go.

If you need emergency shelter, please call The Kearney Center directly at (850) 792-9000.
Today through Monday, we will remain fully staffed to help you ride out the storm.

🚐 NEED A RIDE TO THE KEARNEY CENTER?
We strongly encourage anyone 18+ who needs shelter to make a plan before conditions get worse. The Kearney Center will provide shuttles to the shelter now through tomorrow (10/9) at 5 p.m.
If you need a ride after severe weather begins, please call (850) 792-9000. As long as it’s safe, we will work to arrange a ride to the shelter.

🔌 MIGHT LOSE POWER?
We welcome those who are vulnerable to power loss too. If you have medical equipment that needs electricity, please come stay with us. We have backup power to help you stay healthy.

🆘WANT TO PITCH IN?
Our Outreach Team is already working in our communities to reach those vulnerable to storm impact, passing out supplies and connecting folks with safe shelter ahead of the storm.

You can help us prepare.

We are currently accepting donations of:
🔦 Flashlights
🔋 Batteries
💧 Bottled water
🛏️ Blankets
☔ Tarps

Donations can be dropped off directly at The Kearney Center and will help our team support members of our community before, during, and after the storm.

Please help us spread the word. Share this post so anyone who may need shelter, a ride, or help.

📞 Emergency Shelter & Transportation: (850) 792-9000

Our doors are open. Our team is here. Please get somewhere safe before the storm arrives.

10/06/2026

A stronger community is built when local organizations choose to invest in their neighbors.

Community Partners help The Kearney Center provide far more than emergency shelter. Their support strengthens outreach, case management, housing assistance, and the resources individuals need to overcome barriers and build lasting stability.

When your business partners with The Kearney Center, you become part of the long-term solution to homelessness in our community.

Ready to make a meaningful impact? Become a Kearney Center Community Partner: kearneycenter.org/community-partnerships/

10/02/2026

A change in season can bring new challenges for neighbors experiencing homelessness. 🍂

As temperatures begin to shift, donations of new socks, blankets, jackets, hygiene products, and other seasonal essentials help The Kearney Center meet immediate needs with care and dignity.

These items provide comfort today while our team continues the larger work of connecting individuals with case management, housing resources, and a path toward long-term stability.

Help us prepare for the season ahead by shopping our Amazon Wishlist: kearneycenter.org/wish-list/

10/01/2026

Thank you to the Community Foundation of North Florida for taking the time to visit The Kearney Center and learn more about our mission in action. 💚

We were grateful for the opportunity to share how our team works each day to meet immediate needs while helping individuals overcome barriers, find stability, and move toward permanent housing.

Strong community partnerships make this work possible, and we’re thankful for CFNF’s continued support and investment in our community.

We’re proud to have Connecting Everyone with Second Chances, dba The Kearney Center, as a CFNF agency endowment fundholder.

Our Director of Grants & Agency Relations, Sheryl Crumpler, recently had the opportunity to tour The Kearney Center and see firsthand the meaningful work happening to support individuals experiencing homelessness. The visit offered valuable insight into how the center provides not only essential resources, but also dignity, compassion, and hope to those in need.

Thank you to Executive Director Sonya Wilson and Director of Support Services Jackie Fortmann for sharing their time and the impact of their work with us.

09/28/2026

A blanket can provide warmth for one night. Your support can help provide so much more.

Every physical donation to The Kearney Center helps us meet an immediate need, from clean clothing and hygiene essentials to the everyday supplies our clients rely on. Every monetary gift helps sustain the larger mission behind those needs: case management, outreach, housing assistance, and the resources that help individuals work toward lasting stability.

Because the goal isn’t simply to make homelessness more manageable. It’s to help people move beyond it.

Give what you can today and become part of someone’s path forward.

Donate or learn about our current needs at kearneycenter.org/ways-to-give/.

09/22/2026

A shelter bed was never where he planned to stay. It was one step on his path forward.

For our first Pathways to Permanent Housing story, we’re sharing the journey of a senior client who came to The Kearney Center after incarceration and experiencing the loss of his wife.

From the beginning, he was determined to build a different future. He worked closely with his case manager, remained open to housing opportunities, and secured SSI as a steady source of income. Through our partnership with Seasoned Care, he was connected with senior transitional housing and, within just one month, was able to move out of the shelter and into his next chapter.

He left The Kearney Center with a bed to help make his new space feel like home and, most importantly, with an outlook his case manager described simply: “There’s so much more to life.”

There is no single pathway out of homelessness. For every person who comes through our doors, our case management team starts by listening, building trust, and understanding their individual circumstances. From income and financial independence to housing applications and overcoming barriers like prior evictions, the path looks different for everyone.

The destination, however, remains the same: lasting stability, dignity, and a place to call home.

This is what the work is all about.