With demand for its services spiking, the Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida will receive a $150,000 grant from Orlando to expand its temporary shelter program.
The money will allow the coalition to expand a program that keeps its doors open overnight so law enforcement has a place to take people in crisis when most other shelters are closed.
“We provide them with a place to sleep as well as a hygiene kit, a towel and a hot meal,” said Trinette Nation, director of development for the Coalition. Orlando’s city council approved the grant Monday.
The number of people needing overnight shelter has surged this year. Last year, local law enforcement brought 161 people needing emergency shelter to the Coalition. In the first quarter of this year, they dropped off 111 people.
City officials say the increase is due to a new state law that took effect in January banning camping in public places.
“The partnership has been there long before the state law but it’s even more critical now,” said Lisa Portelli, senior advisor to Mayor Buddy Dyer for homelessness. “So we’re expanding it somewhat to make sure law enforcement has a place that they can drop off someone instead of having to arrest them if we need to enforce our overnight camping ordinance.”
The Coalition has about 500 beds at its shelter near downtown. But like all of Orlando’s shelters, the agency has been operating at capacity. And the camping ban often forces police to take homeless people to jail if there is nowhere else for them.
City officials have struggled to find a location for a new shelter. Each time they zero in on a possibility, they’ve been met with strong opposition from residents worried that a shelter would bring crime to their neighborhoods. That happened on sites along West Washington Street near Camping World Stadium, and in Orlando’s SoDo district.
Under a long-standing partnership with the Orlando Police Department, the Coalition sets up cots in its kitchen and other common areas of its shelter complex on North Terry Street near downtown. If law enforcement picks up someone in violation of the camping ban, a background check is done to make sure they haven’t committed a violent or sex crime, and then they are taken to the Coalition to sleep overnight.
The coalition has one building for women and families and another for single men.
After a night’s sleep and a hot meal, those seeking shelter go to the Coalition’s intake center. Caseworkers then try to connect them with other services and find them more permanent housing.
“It’s really trying to pair them with resources that they have, with resources that we have, and possibly providing them with a safe stable alternative to entering into shelter,” Nation said.
The $150,000 from the city will help pay for staff, security and food costs associated with meeting the increased demand.
“It’s a critical piece of making sure that we don’t send people to jail,” Portelli said.
