For years, Chris Rhodes, a special educator in Chicago, felt stunted and overworked.
With teaching prospects in Florida, Chris and his wife jumped at the chance to move.
Soon, the couple and their children left the prairie plains of the Midwest, betting on paradise — yet to see another side of the land of sunshine.
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New Horizons
Chris has always been great with children.
Growing up in suburban Chicago, playing with cousins, nieces and nephews, he often heard his mother, a teacher, say he would make it big himself.
After graduating from college, unsure of his next steps, Chris took a job at a therapeutic day school. There he worked as a teacher’s aide with children with developmental disabilities and special needs.
The work was demanding and exhausting – some days requiring a child to be restrained.
But Chris found a way to bond, bond, and teach nonverbal kids to signal their emotions. When parents marveled at their child’s confidence in him, Chris was filled with a sense of purpose.
“Maybe I have something here,” he thought, imagining a career.
Chris studied for a Masters in Special Education, graduating in 2011. By then he had married Kate, a psychologist and counsellor.
Soon Chris moved to a therapeutic high school, teaching English. But over time, he worked more with teenagers with discipline problems than with young people with developmental disabilities or learning disabilities.
“I was less of a specialist teacher and more of a drug addiction teacher, which was frustrating for me because it wasn’t my job,” he said.
Chris and Kate had talked about moving somewhere with their two young children, possibly to Florida, where his sister lived.
They packed up the kids and decided to move to Florida for July 2021. Chris was ready to replace teaching. Then, when he received a job offer at Sarasota County Schools, it only solidified their plans for a fresh start.
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“It’s Gonna Be a Monster”
At first, Chris felt like he’d hit the lottery.
The Sarasota School District was great for their 8 year old daughter and 5 year old son.
Kate’s counseling work – now via telehealth, due to the pandemic – has been handed over smoothly, without missing a beat.
And Chris loved his job teaching English and literature at Riverview High School, to children with special needs as well as students in the International Baccalaureate, or IB, program.
Finally, Chris could spread his wings, reach children with learning difficulties, get creative with IB lesson plans. He quickly became a popular teacher at school.
“It was awesome. I finally got what I wanted to do,” he said.
Plus, life in Florida was an adventure. The family settled into a two-bedroom rental house less than 2 miles from the coast in southern Venice, an area they loved for its quiet charm.
Each weekend they explored the area – beaches, botanical gardens, museums and aquariums. After years locked up because of the pandemic or the snow, they took advantage of the sun and the heat.
“It felt like we were on an extended vacation,” he said.
After their first year, the rent increased by several hundred dollars a month, to nearly $2,000.
Chris and Kate absorbed the increase, continuing to save. They would buy something when the price spike subsided, they thought. Also, there were few other rental options they could afford.
At the end of September, Chris’ ears perked up at the news of a storm.
Before he even had a name, before many people paid attention, Chris sat glued to the reports.
A forecaster predicted its path over Cuba. From there, the meteorologist said, it would regain strength, bubbling in the warm gulf waters. What Chris heard next sent him calling Kate:
“It’s going to be a monster.”
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Chased away by a storm
About a week later, Chris was still glued to the Weather Channel — this time, in a hotel room in Boca Raton, where he’d evacuated from Hurricane Ian with Kate, the kids, their bearded dragon, and Josie, their Collie. -mix.
A few days later, they returned to Venice, checking their phones for news along the way. They found photos of part of the Venetian theater torn to shreds. They went through destruction in North Port, with miles of homes missing their roofs.
After an agonizing wait – expecting their home to be ripped out – Chris pulled up to their street.
Everything looked perfectly intact, including the veranda.
“I don’t believe it,” he said. “It’s nothing.”
And then they entered the house.
Panic
Carpets crushed under their feet. Muddy lines smeared the sofas. Clothes in dressers were damp or soaked.
About a foot of rainwater had filled the house.
The following weeks turned into a blur.
There were days of wrangling with the hire company to bring the workers home. And treacherous trips to Kate’s sister’s house near Tampa.
Jim Camelo, a Sarasota Schools social worker, heard of their plight. He got them a housing voucher from a relief fund for school employees and families.
With her, Chris and his family stayed in an Airbnb. But by the end of October, with the voucher sold out, the workers were still not done with the house.
They spent two weeks in November in a hotel, most of which were covered by Chris and Kate. They also had to pay the November rent.
Meanwhile, their tenant’s insurance denied a claim. FEMA provided little assistance. Amid the moves and chaos, the two missed days of work.
Chris scoured alternative rentals, but while the market was tight before, now it was impossible to find anything available, with so many people displaced by the storm.
He thought about giving up their Florida dream.
“Okay,” he wondered, “do I need to call my parents and say we’re moving back to Illinois?”
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Staying in place
Finally, Thanksgiving week, the house was ready for their return. But it was almost empty.
Chris and Kate have spent thousands more replacing destroyed furniture and clothing, setting them back further.
Camelo stepped in again — this time with Season of Sharing — to cover December’s rent.
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Long before Ian, through the pandemic and the housing crisis, Camelo helped teachers and school staff with Season of Sharing. For many, the storm was just one crisis among many.
“Some are borderline,” Camelo said.
Chris can’t thank Camelo enough.
“Without his help, I don’t know what we would have done,” Chris said. “We were lost.”
For Chris and Kate, life returned to normal on Christmas week – when workers finally arrived to haul the mountain of rubbish and furniture from the storm down their driveway.
After three months, the house finally feels like home again.
Chris, now 40, isn’t sure how long this will last – he’s wary of what to expect when their lease renews this spring.
They would like to stay in Florida.
“There’s still so much to explore and do here,” he said.
The hurricane did not drive them away. but the ordeal that followed – coupled with the housing crisis – could.
This depleted their savings and stalled their home buying plans.
“I don’t know if we’ll be able to afford to stay,” Chris said. “But we would like. We’re not going anywhere unless we have to.
how to help
season of sharing was created 21 years ago in partnership between the Herald-Tribune and the Sarasota County Community Foundation to secure emergency funds for individuals and families on the brink of homelessness in Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte and DeSoto counties. There are no administrative fees or paperwork – every dollar donated goes to families in need to help with housing assistance, utility bills, child care and other expenses.
Donations to Season of Sharing can be made online at cfsarasota.org/donors/support-season-of-sharing, or by sending a check (made out to Community Foundation of Sarasota County) to Attn. Season of Sharing, 2635 Fruitville Road, Sarasota, FL 34237. Contact the foundation at 941-955-3000 for more information or to request a credit card form. All donations are tax deductible.
This story comes from a partnership between the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and the Community Foundation of Sarasota County. Saundra Amrhein covers the Season of Sharing campaign, as well as housing, utilities, childcare and transportation issues in the region. She can be contacted at [email protected]
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