03/14/2026
The public has confused our organizations work and our family's lives.
While we did become homeless at one point we certainly did not begin this way. What started as a small God inspired idea to help seniors, grew. None of us can remember where the "Camp" in Camp Hummingbird Shelters and Retreats Inc came from or when, but it definitely became bedded in our lives. In the very beginning of the organization, we had a house of our own until Hurricane Irma changed that, which was the inspiration 🙌 of our mission. Later we had a rental home. When the renting prices skyrocketed we were out of housing and began our first summer of camping. We went on vacation to North Carolina. We came back before school began to catch a staph infection on the skin from fire ant bites and dirty rain water, as well as heat exhaustion and heat stroke. A couple of us were left with some permanent health issues. From this point we lived in and out of friends homes and 2 local campgrounds. We would spend some Thanksgiving and Christmases at Stone mountain Georgia over the years, becoming close with the local police, government officials, restaurants and park staff. We had a camper on a friend's property and rhen in a RV park. I spent a lot of efforts trying to find affordable housing in our home area to keep the children in their schools. Eventually I had had enough of the schools and housing issues and decided to travel throughout Florida while homeschooling. Over the years the children and I met a lot of great people who became friends or even family. We voiced our stance on homelessness, veterans rights, environmental topics, s*x trafficking, and so much more in places such as the White house, Tallahassee, the capitol of Florida, every city in Indian River and St Lucie County. We worked along side many great organizations and churches as well as other volunteers. The children sat and ate with the homeless, handed out donations we gathered and organized. They helped feed them while we traveled. I met with many politicians and police. We supported small businesses, local artists, farms,churches and more. We became Florida pirates while studying Florida history then National history while participating in state and national park programs learning their history. We traveled to veterans organizations all over the east coast of America. I studied and still are all aspects of poverty,homelessness, campground management and ownership. In Florida camp life is a normal full time lifestyle as it is all over the west coast of America. There are tons of benefits to the lifestyle. Many parks are in top notch beautiful areas or have amenities like pools and comminty activities. The lifestyle tends to be cheaper in general. I found a majority of people began the lifestyle after loosing housing in storms. We documented those who lost housing, why and how they adapted. We also documented the aid in each area and if people were actually able to receive the help the agencies claimed to offer. It was eye opening how difficult life can be for so many facing difficult times. I prided myself as I attempted my best to imitate difficult situations others may go through such as lacking in plumbing, utilities, surving in harsh weather(my children typically did not experience those difficulties) I felt I could manage the mission better if I could mentally relate to others sufferings. We camped via tent, car, camper, outside and stayed in hotels at times for a few days at max. It gave us perspective into each style of tiny living and we learned more with the different types of places we stayed such as resorts verses state or national parks. We became a part of close knit camping communities where we run into different families repeatedly. We are celebrating 5 official years! I have recently dissolved the organization as I re-group. We never took any money to do the work we did and part of the dissolved purpose was to save me money on legalities that have never even been needed. So for now Camp Hummingbird is a mission that is always seeking serious people who care about the topic. I will continue to grow my expertise and do my work as needed in the mean time.
