Savannah Andress moved to Florida to live with her aunt as a teen, where she quickly fell into the drug scene and hanging out with the wrong people. Eventually Savannah ended up pregnant and homeless, living on the streets. Savannah stated, “I was between sleeping in the car, sleeping on the beach or in parks, It was really, really rough.”
Savannah lived on the streets for roughly three months before deciding something needed to change. She stated, “I didn’t want to be in that type of situation any more; I didn’t want to have anything to do with drugs any more, I wanted to get clean and make sure that that she (her unborn daughter) had a stable home.”
Savannah was five months pregnant when she reached out to Homelessness and Housing Alliance, that helped her get into housing. The Salvation Army was able to help her furnish her trailer an help her with her power and water bills. She had her first daughter, Karisma who is now seven years old, and later another daughter, Alayasia, 5. Savannah has raised them on her own and is working various part time jobs in order to support the family.
In October, her daughter Karisma was diagnosed with diabetes. Savannah said, “When they tested her urine, she was already at 451 and then it started spiking up to 500s, They (doctors) said, ‘if you hadn’t brought her in when you did, you would have woken up to your daughter in a coma.’” The medical problems have led to Savannah having to take time off work in order to take care of her daughter causing financial troubles.
The Salvation Army has given the family gifts this year via the Empty Stocking Fund, a resource provided by residents of Okaloosa and Walton counties for residents of those counties. The holiday fundraising campaign is facilitated through the Northwest Florida Daily News and The Salvation Army serves as a steward for the Empty Stocking Fund.
Donations to the Empty Stocking Fund can be made via give.salvationarmyflorida.org or sent by mail to the Salvation Army, P.O. Box 1117, Fort Walton Beach, FL 32549.
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