Advocates try to find homes for homeless
With community aid, leaders aim to house 129 by end of March
Squeezed by a lack of affordable rental housing, Central Florida’s homeless advocates are appealing to the community to find homes for 129 people by the end of March 2018 — and to crowdfund the $2,500 apiece to cover move-in costs and furnishings.
The “Welcome Home Project” — to be announced today by the Central Florida Commission on Homelessness and community leaders — targets homeless people with physical and mental disabilities, some of whom have been living on the streets for years.
“The 129 are chronically homeless individuals who have been assessed and assigned to case managers and are ready to be housed, but we can’t find the housing for them,” said Shelley Lauten, the homeless commission’s CEO. “We’ve done a priority ranking, and these are the people most in jeopardy of dying on the streets if we don’t get them into a home.”
As part of the effort, the city of Orlando is offering a $500
“When you [have a home], you start to feel more confident in your abilities, and all those fears and worries you had when you were homeless go away.” Fernando Echegaray, one of 750 chronically homeless already housed
incentive check to landlords who rent to any of the 94 people on the list who are from Orange County, and another $500 if the person is still housed there six months later.
Lori Pampilo Harris, senior adviser on homelessness to Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, said the incentive program will address the “alarming” number of people who lack housing even after months of searching.
“This is a unique group in that we have the resources to pay for rent [at fair market value] and for the support services they need, yet they’re still homeless,” Harris said. “Chronically homeless individuals tend to have [criminal] records, multiple evictions, health challenges or low credit scores — so they have difficulty obtaining an apartment unit on their own. This program is basically saying, ‘Look, we know you think you’re taking a risk, so we want to offer you this incentive.’ ”
The city and the Homeless Services Network of Central Florida also have established a risk fund to cover any damage the person may cause to the unit.
Already, more than 750 chronically homeless individuals in Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties have been housed through various programs coordinated by the network, and only a handful of them have resulted in a damage claim, Harris said.
Fernando Echegaray, 48, one of 750 already housed, said he now has a chance to be a contributing member of the community.
“When you [have a home], you start to feel more confident in your abilities, and all those fears and worries you had when you were homeless go away,” he said. “I have peace of mind, and I can focus on what I need to do.”
After 10 years of homelessness and struggling with mental illness, Echegaray is now on medication and living in an apartment with his girlfriend and her son. He hopes to get a job working with computers.
Advocates point to such individuals to underscore the importance of the project. They say it’s both a matter of compassion and economics — with fewer emergency room visits and lower law-enforcement costs when chronically homeless people are housed.
Central Florida’s affordable housing options have long been limited, but officials say things have gotten significantly worse in recent months.
“With Hurricane Irma, we lost some units, and with Hurricane Maria, we’re having more people looking to rent units,” said Martha Are, executive director of the Homeless Services Network. “We now need to cast the net wider.”
And while there is money to cover the cost of rent, there isn’t funding for basic necessities of furniture and linens, pest control or utility deposits.
That’s why the effort also includes the crowdfunding drive.
“We’re off to a really good start in what began a few years ago, but it’s time for the community to come together,” said Michael Griffin, vice president of public policy and advocacy for Adventist Health System, parent company of Florida Hospital. The organization has given $6 million to help the homeless during the past three years. “We can’t do this by ourselves. We need the community involvement.”
Lauten said she is optimistic the community will respond.
“There are something like 66,000 apartments in Central Florida, and those are just the ones that are advertised,” she said. “I have to believe we can find 129.”