Panama City residents Jimmy and Joy Strickland opened their for-sale daycare center, Jump 4 Joy Learning Center, on Beck Avenue to 25 people from hurricane-ravaged Louisiana.

Since the building and property are for sale and unused, the couple has opened it for 30 Hurricane Katrina evacuees.

This was a sentiment found throughout the county, where private residences became boarding houses. In Southport, Robert Broccoli welcomed 22 people. In Springfield, Cynthia Williams has 17.

For Williams, who works at the State Attorney’s Office, the week has brought a sense of community. Her co-workers have flooded the refugees with food and clothes, even buying a teenager a new pair of shoes to find work at McDonald’s.

“The way people have responded, especially everyone at the State Attorney’s Office, has been amazing. Everyone has just opened their hearts. It makes you feel good about this community” says Williams.

For Broccoli, there is a dire need for support. There are young children living in his home, where the retired missile factory worker has struggled to support people he barely knows. He asked for help on Thursday — there was barely enough food left to make ends meet.

Broccoli said he would welcome donations, even if passersby wanted to drop food and supplies on his driveway at 9529 Fundum Lane.