Kristy Jocelyn, Executive Director of BASICS United Inc., knows first-hand the importance of providing cold weather shelters to those in need.
INVERNESS, Fla. — Cold weather shelters are open across Tampa Bay as temperatures drop this week.
Non-profit BASICS United Inc., a homeless outreach organization, is prepared to host dozens of people overnight at Nature Coast Church in Homosassa.
It’s work that is especially important to the organization’s Executive Director, who knows what it’s like to be without a home. Kristy Jocelyn and her family of seven lost their home and two dogs to a devastating fire the day after Christmas.
“Everybody did a mad scramble. They grabbed what pets they could and ran out of the house. They didn’t have shoes on. They didn’t have anything,” Kristy said. “There’s nothing. There’s nothing left in there.”
While the fire remains under investigation, Kristy believes it was started by a flying …