Homelessness is a hardship no one should have to endure, especially not children, whose focus should be school and play. When Eddie Struttmann, Indialantic Ace Hardware Owner, discovered many Brevard County school students in the Space Coast of Florida are homeless, he resolved to help in any way he could.

Sally Shinn, former Brevard Public Schools Homeless Liaison, said Eddie approached her about the issue 13 years ago. Eddie was looking for a way to keep homeless families with school children together, as shelters in the area only take in women and children, leaving the fathers separated from their families.

"I thought, ‘Well, that’s nice. He’ll probably want to give Christmas presents or something like that,’" said Sally. "Little did I know, this man was going to focus on finding solutions for homelessness, not just Band-Aids."

"When [Sally] told us, there’s a homeless kid in every school…it’s just hard to fathom," said Eddie. "Your heart falls when you have students living in their cars and living in tents…living in hotels. How do you do your homework when you’re more worried about where you’re going to sleep? So that became our mission."

With the support of the community, Eddie founded the nonprofit Saint Stephen’s Way. The organization, named after Eddie’s brother who passed away at the age of 18, provides affordable housing and supportive services to homeless families with school children.

Saint Stephen’s Way is building an affordable housing community in Melbourne, Florida, which includes a community center and eight houses containing 40 three-bedroom units.

Families will be able to live in this community for up to two years. During that time, Saint Stephen’s Way will provide supportive services, like budget help, job search help and resume help, that will allow these families to find long-term stability.

"If we can break the cycle, we can stop homelessness at least for that family, and that’s what we’re trying to do," said Deacon Rick Broderick.

The plan is to have these homes move-in ready in 2024. Eddie has donated things like toilets, paint, electrical supplies and more to this community from his Ace store in Indialantic, Florida.

"I look forward to walking the property and seeing children playing, and just families being families," said Eddie. "And that was the whole idea…was to build some dignified housing…something that didn’t look like a housing project, but homes for kids to get off the school bus and be proud to come to. And I think that’s what we did."