At the time, she was a sophomore at Tampa Catholic High School, arriving on a bus with fellow student volunteers participating in the Good Samaritan Project (GSP), a weeklong service retreat that introduces teens to hands-on service at sites across the Diocese of Saint Petersburg.

“My initial thought was, don’t cry,” MacKenzie recalled. “I am a huge softie. If I see someone crying or someone hurting, I’m such an empath, and I want to cry with them.”

The group was assigned practical tasks — organizing clothes in the shelter’s boutique and helping construct wooden platforms for tents. “We built the platforms,” she said simply. “We helped build all of them.”

What MacKenzie could not have known then was that years later, she would return to Pinellas Hope not as a volunteer, but as someone in need of one of those very platforms.

A Teenager with Comfort and Big Dreams

As a teenager, MacKenzie assumed financial stability was a given. “I was spoiled,” she admitted candidly. “I mean, I went to Tampa Catholic, had pretty much everything I could ask for. I had a car in high school, all the things,” she said. “I was, like, ‘Oh, this is never going away.’”

After graduation, MacKenzie left to study at a private university on a rowing scholarship. At just 18 years old, her life seemed to be on a picture-perfect path.

Then, without warning, everything shifted.

A serious back injury ended her collegiate rowing career, and with it, her scholarship. “They said: You’ll have to pay for school yourself,” she recalls.

Unable to afford the high cost of tuition, MacKenzie moved back to Tampa with plans to enroll in community college — an option that created tension at home.

Wanting to stand on her own two feet, away from the tension, she moved out, believing she could build an independent life.

From Apartment Living to Sleeping in a Car

Back in Tampa, MacKenzie worked long hours at a pizza restaurant, but the pay wasn’t enough to support her lifestyle, and she slowly fell behind on rent. “I refused to reach out to my family for help,” she said.

Eventually, she was evicted.

With nowhere to go, she began sleeping in her small Toyota Corolla, surviving on gym showers and leftovers from her work’s buffet line. “Stupidly, I was proud because I got my car organized to where I could lay down and sleep,” she says of those nights.

But survival came at a cost. Beyond nights without air conditioning, windows cracked open in unsafe lots, and the constant fear of footsteps, the situation was also impacting her faith. “I wasn't in my faith as much as I could have been, or pretty much at all. It was work, sleep, find somewhere safe to park or drive around, because that's the only option,” she said.

Parked in unsafe parking lots, MacKenzie lived with the constant fear of hearing footsteps outside her car. Then one night, in a dark parking lot, everything reached a breaking point.

“I was sleeping in my car, and someone came over angrily — a tall, super built man, and I’m a little 18 year old — and he ended up smashing my front windshield with the baseball bat, trying to get money from me,” she said.

That was the moment, “I had to come to the realization that I cannot do this alone,” she said.

A Leap of Faith Across the Bridge

As MacKenzie drove around aimlessly, considering her options, a memory surfaced: volunteering at Pinellas Hope.

“I remember them saying how people come here from all backgrounds, all histories, they don't ask super hard questions,” she said. “And I was, like, maybe that would just be a safe place to rest my head.”

She drove across the Howard Frankland Bridge late at night — something she had never done on her own before. “I drove over that bridge, not even knowing if I was supposed to reach out beforehand or if I was just going to be turned away,” she said. “Just hoping that if I showed up, one, I wouldn’t be turned away, but two, that it was still there.”

When MacKenzie arrived, she was relieved to see Pinellas Hope was still there.

She walked in and told the staff, “I’ve been here before — not as a client, but as a volunteer, and I need help.”

She was not turned away. “They set me  up with a tent,” she said.

Finding Safety, Stability and a Way Forward

Inside her small tent, MacKenzie felt something she hadn’t felt in months: safety.

“Safe haven, is all I remember feeling,” she said. “I didn’t have to fear waking up the next day.”

With stability came clarity. Free from the nightly fear of sleeping in her car, MacKenzie said she could finally focus on saving money and getting back on her feet, reprioritizing what she thought was important.

With the support of Pinellas Hope, she learned budgeting skills, saved for an apartment, and returned to college. She completed a degree from the University of South Florida and began working in accounting.

But her journey didn’t end there.

Returning to Tampa

Catholic to Guide the Next Generation

When an opportunity opened at her high school alma mater, Tampa Catholic, MacKenzie returned — this time as a staff member and head coach of the crew team, and with a strong sense of mission.

“I want my legacy to end here,” she said.

The same sport that once carried her to college — and then disappeared from her life — ultimately set her on the path back to Tampa Catholic, where her journey began. “God put me through all this, but it was for a purpose,” she said. “Everything happens for a reason.”

As she coaches her students in the sport she loves, she hopes they learn that setbacks are not the end of the story. God can bring something good out of struggle. Even when you don’t see it in the moment.

By sharing her story publicly for the first time, MacKenzie hopes others will understand that needing help is not a failure. In high school, she thought she “was the person everyone wanted to be” — yearbook team member, Future Business Leaders of America president, crew captain — yet not long after, she became homeless and realized, “I needed help.”

“You can get help,” she says. “And you don’t have to be afraid to ask for help, no matter where you came from.”

Shelters of Hope: A Path Forward

Through the Catholic Charities Diocese of Saint Petersburg Shelters of Hope, individuals and families experiencing homelessness find safe shelter, meals, case management, and compassionate support. Beyond meeting immediate needs, Shelters of Hope emphasize accompaniment. Staff and volunteers walk alongside residents as they rebuild stability through employment assistance, life-skills coaching, and connections to health and social services — a powerful witness to the Gospel call to serve the most vulnerable.

How You Can Help:

• Pray for individuals and families seeking stability and healing
• Volunteer your time at shelters and outreach programs
• Donate essential items or financial support
• Advocate for policies and efforts that uphold human dignity

Every act of generosity becomes a step toward hope and a new beginning. www.ccdosp.org/shelters-of-hope/