When multiple unfortunate circumstances collided in her life in 2022, Jasmine Jackson and her three children suddenly had no place to live but the family car. They were homeless.

She had never been in such a situation before. She had had a career in finance and been the family breadwinner. Yet, here she was. She was angry, afraid.

Like Jackson, about 71% of the Jacksonville-area people surveyed in an annual homeless count in January were experiencing homelessness for the first time. The causes behind their crises were many, ranging from rent increases or lost jobs to, in her case, a marital breakup and unemployment.

Read the rest of this story at the Florida Times-Union, a Jacksonville Today news partner.