FORT MYERS, Fla. — Senior homelessness is growing at an alarming rate in Southwest Florida, with one local shelter seeing a dramatic increase in older adults seeking help.
At St. Matthews House (located across SWFL), the number of people over 50 staying at the shelter has skyrocketed in recent years. They report, in 2022, approximately 44 people over 50 years old were housed there on any given night. By 2023, that number had jumped to almost 200 people over 50 and continues to grow.
"It's nothing we want to think about having a senior citizen live in a homeless shelter, but it's a real problem," said Steve Brooder, CEO of St. Matthews House.
According to Florida's 2025 Council on Homelessness Annual Report, people 55 and older account for 28% of Florida's overall homeless population.
"About half of the seniors that are homeless became homeless after the age of 50. So they never expected to end up in a homeless shelter, but here they are because of all those circumstances that may have impacted their life," Brooder said.
The housing market challenges in Southwest Florida have particularly impacted seniors on fixed incomes. Multiple factors contribute to senior homelessness, including inflation, COVID-19 impacts, medical bills, death of a spouse, rising rent, and increasing HOA fees.
For seniors living on Social Security and other fixed incomes, even slight changes in expenses can create catastrophic financial effects. Many of the seniors staying at St. Matthews House never expected to find themselves in this situation.
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