Cocoa Village businesses partner with homeless outreach provider in new ‘window sticker’ program

COCOA, Fla. – Businesses in Cocoa Village are working with a homeless outreach provider to help the homeless without hurting their business. 

Next time you’re walking through the neighborhood, keep your eyes peeled for a special sticker. If you see a Matthew’s Hope decal on the window of a small business, it means that a local business is partnering with the homeless outreach provider. 

Matthew’s Hope founder Scott Billue says about 75% of small businesses in the historic shopping center have one of the small decals on display right now. His team has been reaching out and meeting with small merchants to understand the issues they’re seeing in the area. 

The sticker means the local business is a community partner with Matthew’s Hope, which runs a homeless outreach close to the outdoor shopping location. The sticker lets the homeless know they’ll be treated with respect if they come into the store and will also be referred to Matthew’s Hope for help.

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Billue says that when he expanded his operations and launched the Cocoa campus, he saw the number of homeless people growing in the area and knew he needed to find partners.

“It shows they’re sympathetic to what’s going on. At the very least, they’re empathetic, and they want to be part of the change rather than just be part of the norm or part of the problem,” said Billue, who organizes homeless outreach walks in Cocoa Village every week. 

Business owners can call Matthew’s Hope if they’re worried about an issue outside their store. A volunteer will respond and de-escalate the situation without involving the police. 

The sticker also means a business owner can refer anyone loitering to the non-profit campus.

Matthew’s Hope is hoping to expand this outreach with other businesses in the county.