78-Year-Old Florida Woman On Social Security Has Been Living In Her Car For Months Because She Can't Afford Rent: 'I Eat One Meal A Day For $2.02'

A 78-year-old South Florida woman named Carolyn is now the face of a crisis quietly growing in one of the country's most expensive regions: senior homelessness.

In a powerful segment aired last week by South Florida's WSVN-TV, the longtime resident shared how she's been living in her car for nearly two months because her Social Security check doesn't stretch far enough to cover rent.

Her car, a 22-year-old sedan she calls "my baby," is packed with essentials. Her clothes hang neatly in the back seat. In the trunk, she stores her silks — dry-clean-only garments she hasn't been able to afford to care for in a long time. "I'm a neat freak," she said. "This is my dry cleaning — my silks — which I can't afford right now."

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Carolyn sleeps in the driver's seat, upright, with her legs crunched for hours. "My ankles and legs are swollen from having to sit all the time," she said. She gets by on just one meal a day — "I eat one meal a day for $2.02," she said — and stretches it further with a free senior drink. "I buy a jug of water. It's cheaper," she added.

With no housing, her gym membership through Medicare has become her lifeline. "I do go shower and do my makeup, my hair," she said, still holding on to dignity despite the circumstances.

Her only income is Social Security. Over the years, she's sold off many of her belongings, but the rising cost of living left her without options. "I look at it as a journey," she said, trying to stay hopeful. "I've had many journeys in my life."

Carolyn's story struck a nerve with Cassandra Ratliff, the housing and social services manager for the City of Pompano Beach. "It could be my aunt. It could be my mother," Ratliff said. "It just breaks my heart just how humble Carolyn is."

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Ratliff is now helping Carolyn find permanent housing. For now, the city has temporarily placed her in a hotel after her car started leaking during a recent downpour.

According to Ron Book, chairman of the Miami-Dade Homeless Trust, elderly people living on the streets are especially at risk. "We know if you put vulnerable elderly on the street, they're going to die earlier," he said.

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And the numbers are climbing. In 2019, seniors aged 65 and older made up 8% of Miami-Dade County's homeless population. By 2024, it had jumped to 14%. If trends continue, that number could hit 22% by 2030.

While average rent in Florida has dipped slightly — down $151 from last year, according to Zillow — it still sits at $2,349, far outpacing what many seniors can afford. The average monthly Social Security retirement benefit in April was $1,999, leaving a gap too wide for many to bridge.

"The face of homelessness has changed," Book warned. "I want people in our community to think about their mothers and their grandmothers and their grandfathers being homeless for the first time."

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Carolyn echoed the same sobering thought: "It can happen to anyone. Don't think it can't — because I never thought about it."

Despite everything, she's trying to use her voice to help others. "Other people may need somebody to be their spokesperson," she said. "This is the only thing I ever felt ashamed of in my life. And I truly felt ashamed. But this is the right thing to do."

Even while sleeping in her car and surviving on a budget that barely covers food, Carolyn hasn't lost her humor or resilience. "She's falling apart — like me," she joked about her old car.

Now, with a temporary roof over her head and a caseworker fighting for her, Carolyn is hoping this new chapter leads to something better — not just for herself, but for others silently suffering the same way.

And there are likely many more. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, about 22% of Florida's nearly 23 million residents are 64 or older, giving it the third-highest senior population in the country. As that number grows, so does the urgency — because Carolyn's story isn't rare. It's a warning.

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