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Homeless shelters under the spotlight
By THOMAS MICHALSKI
Article published on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2007 |
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![[Image]](/content_images/013107_fpg-01.jpg) |
| Photo by THOMAS MICHALSKI |
| A couple sits in front of their tent under the I-275 overpass in St. Petersburg. |
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PINELLAS COUNTY – County officials are looking at two locations where they hope to open a pair of homeless shelters by this summer that will provide lodging, medical assistance and other services for street people.
The first of its kind operation will replace some faith-based soup kitchens that have sprouted up in the county. Those facilities, however, will play a role in the operation of the new shelters.
The exact location of the proposed shelters has not been disclosed, but they are believed to be located in Largo and St. Petersburg.
The leased buildings will contain barracks-style housing for individuals and entire homeless families. The facilities will provide living space from overnight stays to multiple weeks.
One contender to run the shelters is the Rev. Lionel Cabral, executive director of the Suncoast Haven of Rest Rescue Mission at 5625 Park Blvd., in Pinellas Park who just last week came to an agreement with city officials over food services and other issues.
Cabral agreed to stop serving meals at the mission, but is providing box lunches at day labor businesses and other locations where the homeless congregate.
Cabral’s mission offers a wide variety of other services besides portable meals that include religious services and a branch of Alcohol Anonymous.
Rick Butler, a Pinellas Park councilman and member of the Homeless Planning and Policy Group of Pinellas County, said government officials at all levels are working diligently to help street people, especially those who have established a tent city under the I-275 overpass in St. Petersburg.
Local municipalities, under the guidance of the Pinellas Coalition for the Homeless, this week launched a volunteer campaign to get an accurate count of homeless people in all sections of the county. Last year’s count put the county homeless population at just under 5,000.
In Pinellas Park, police Chief Dorene Thomas said volunteers will be on horseback to seek out homeless people who live in woods and other public lands along U.S. 19 and in other encampments within the city.
“We are not out there to harass the homeless,” Thomas said. “We are there to help them and to provide information on ways to obtain assistance.”
Thomas said Pinellas Park police will be the only ones using horses for the survey. She offered her volunteer mounted horse unit under the command of Capt. Sanford “Sandy” Forseyth to any municipality that needs them.
Thomas said a new program that matches a police officer and a social worker will be launched within the month to seek out homeless people and guide them to a place where social, medical and other assistance is available.
The annual census comes at a time when homelessness has been thrust into the spotlight by the street people themselves who established a tent city about a month ago. St. Petersburg police razed the original camp by slashing the tents with knives and box cutters, but it grew again and has become the subject of widespread media attention.
Butler, meanwhile, said despite charges that officials are doing little or nothing to seek solutions to the ever-growing homeless population, he said a lot has been accomplished behind the scenes.
“We have been looking at locations for two shelters and we are down to a short list,” Butler said. “The locations are in mid-county areas where they would be easily available.”
Butler said plans to use the old PSTA facility located next to the Pinellas County Jail Complex fell through when that facility was used to meet the needs of the growing inmate population.
“The public must understand that there are no easy solutions to the homeless problem,” Butler said. “They also must understand that public officials are doing everything possible, despite what some people are saying.”
The new shelters will be modeled after those in Key West and Miami. Once everything is in place homeless people need only show up at the facilities to get food and a place to stay. The services to be offered will include help for alcohol and drug abuse.
“What will be offered is a lot better than living in a tent or dumpster diving for food,” Butler said. “The shelters will be real and services will be real, too.”
Butler said the shelters will accept inebriated and drug-high individuals unlike some shelters such as the Salvation Army who rejects them.
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Article published on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2007
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