Costs force shelters to reduce overnight programs
Fewer homeless people have a place to get a bed for the night after two shelters in Broward County stopped their overnight programs because of mounting costs.
The Broward Outreach Centers in Hollywood and Pompano Beach have provided 60 beds nightly to people living on the streets. Those who were fortunate enough to get a spot also received hot meals and a place to shower.
But the operators of the centers, which have been tied up in negotiations with the county for a new contract, say they’re financially strapped without a commitment from the county to help pay for the beds.
“We’re not holding a knife to people’s throats. It’s just economics,” said Ron Brummitt, president of Miami Rescue Mission, which runs the shelters. “We’re putting out $100,000 cash a week. That’s for both centers … without a contract.”
The overnight beds were actually mats, Brummitt said.
But that was better than the cardboard 71-year-old Anne Backus has been using to sleep on, on the sidewalk outside the Pompano Beach center since the overnight beds were suspended. Backus said she’d been able to take advantage of the overnight beds at the center for about six months. She said she suffers from asthma, arthritis and vertigo, and she hopes it doesn’t rain.
“I’ve got all these health problems. I shouldn’t be out here again,” Backus said. “I feel another trip to the hospital coming on if I stay out here too long.”
Backus said she knows it’s not safe to be on the streets from previous experience.
“I got robbed five times, assaulted twice and the second guy raped me,” she said. “The
only consolation I have now is he’s in prison.”
Robin Conte, a 57-year-old who said he was an Army National Guard veteran, also was spending the night on the sidewalk by the Pompano center. He said he could already feel the weather taking a turn for the cold, which might make for a tough night and didn’t bode well for him getting to his job at a scrap yard in the morning.
“I don’t think I’ll be there tomorrow,” Conte said.
The 60 lost beds make up almost half of those that were available in the county. The Salvation Army in Fort Lauderdale has 54 overnight beds and St. Laurence Chapel in Pompano Beach has 30 beds. Lilly Gallardo, of the Salvation Army, said there are more people seeking a space at its shelter this week.
The TaskForce Fore Ending Homelessness parceled out many of the beds on a daily basis, finding people in the worst situations or the greatest need and getting them into the temporary beds until they could be placed into programs geared toward getting them permanent housing. In the meantime, the people were protected from the dangers of living on the streets.
“Overnight beds in general are not the solution to homelessness, but they are the solution to safety,” said Lorraine Wilby, CEO of the task force. “They get the people off the street at night.”
The outreach centers stopped providing the beds Oct. 15. Brummitt expects the suspension of the overnight programs to be temporary. Further meetings with the county are planned for this week, he said. The centers considered eliminating the overnight beds in 2016, because of significant declines in donations, but ended up keeping them available.
Ray Cox, a homeless man who has benefited from the overnight beds in the past, knows the difference they can make.
“There are people whose lives depended on it,” Cox said.
County officials said they were unaware the overnight program had been suspended.
“We are still in negotiations for all the sleeping spaces at both centers,” said Rebecca McGuire, the county’s acting human services administrator.
The two centers continue to offer beds to people who are in their programs for substance abuse counseling, health care and job training and placement. There are 128 beds in Hollywood and 208 in Pompano Beach.
The centers started providing the overnight beds about five years ago at the request of the county for a transition period, Brummitt said. However, the county has never fully funded the costs of the beds and past commitments for additional support have not been realized, he said.