Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Homeless set up camp at county library
Many had been displaced from Stranahan Park
County officials are struggling to deal with a sprawling homeless encampment outside the north entrance of Broward County’s main library that includes men and women who so far have resisted efforts to get them into shelters or treatment programs.
“We have been working with the city to come up with a humane solution,” said County Mayor Barbara Sharief. “As far as getting them off the streets, there really has been no good answer.”
Based on recent homeless census figures, Sharief estimated there are about 300 homeless in the area who have consistently refused services.
Of that number, about 35 people have moved onto the plaza at the library — some with suitcases, tarps, umbrellas and other possessions — since the city of Fort Lauderdale pushed many homeless out of Stranahan Park and then barred access to a concrete wall where many people once congregated.
Michael Wright, the county’s Homeless Initiative Partnership administrator, said in an email that “there has been an increase in customers informally complaining about the increased presence of people experiencing homelessness near the Main Library.
“The concerns are not limited to people at the entrance of the Library, but in the surrounding area as well,” he said.
Lorraine Wilby, CEO of the TaskForce Fore Ending Homelessness, said most at the library are chronic homeless “who tend not to want to go into shelter for 30 or 60 days.
What they want is housing first, their own apartment.”
Under a contract with the county, TaskForce outreach workers have spent the past six weeks at the library trying to match homeless with programs or get them qualified for permanent supportive housing.
In the meantime, the presence of the encampment has raised concerns with some library patrons and volunteer advocacy group. Alison Rials, president of the Friends of the Fort Lauderdale Libraries, said, “People tell me they don’t like coming in that entrance because they feel unsafe with people there. It is disconcerting.”
The encampment in the plaza on the north side of the library took shape in the wake of a May 19 raid when the city of Fort Lauderdale brought in frontend loaders and a dump truck to haul away piled-up belongings just south of Stranahan Park. Access to a concrete wall where many people congregated was then denied so the area could be cleaned, the city said.
The city also has announced plans to install distinctive landscaping to mark the dividing line between the city and county. Among plantings being considered is a hedge.
“We have the park, the county has the library, and this delineates between them,” said city Mayor Jack Seiler.
The increase in the homeless population at the library comes at a time when the library is “trying to become more of a community center,” said Friends of the Libraries treasurer Barbara Correll, a past president of the group.
Among recent additions to main library offerings is a literacy center for preschool children, Correll said.
Earlier this year, the Friends of the Libraries sent a letter to city and county officials which said “patrons are reporting that they will not come to the Main Library because they fear for their personal safety.”
The concentration of homeless people “in one small area” is a sign that “things appear to be going in a potentially dangerous direction,” the letter said. “This area has a very limited space, and that almost certainly will increase tension—and the probability of violence.”
The letter also cited “major sanitation concerns” caused in part by church groups and individuals who regularly distribute food along Southeast First Avenue, adjacent to the park and the library.
The letter, dated Jan. 17 and signed by Rials, was sent to Seiler, Sharief and county commissioner Tim Ryan. The Friends received no response, according to Correll.
Despite those concerns, the flagship of Broward’s 39-library system still draws many visitors. An estimated 50 parents, all accompanied by at least one young child, showed up Thursday morning for 11 a.m. story time in the Childrens’ Active Learning Center.
Of several parents interviewed, all parked on the second floor of the covered garage across the street from the library in order to skirt the homeless encampment by using the elevated walkway to the second floor.
“I think people in general want to help the homeless,” said Amanda Chalfant, 39, of Fort Lauderdale, who had her 21-month-old son Conrad in tow. “I feel for people. But they are creating a hazard and a nuisance at a public facility.”
Like Chalfant, Alycia Wolski grew up in Fort Lauderdale. She said she came to the library as a child. “I remember weekend festivals out in the plaza,” said Wolski, 32. That would be impossible now, she said as she walked back to the second-floor garage with her son Julian, 18 months old.
“Obviously, people need someplace to go,” Wolski said. “I don’t feel in danger, but I would rather avoid” walking through the homeless in the plaza.
Among the most frequent visitors to the public library are the homeless themselves, who use the computers, conduct research and attend programs, including one designed especially for those living on the street. “Coffee and Conversation with a Librarian,” started by librarian Nick Sakhnovsky, is designed to bring the homeless and other library users together for a discussion of mutual concerns.
Anthony Stone, who has lived on the street near the library for about five months, praised the library staff. “They have been letting us do the things we need to do,” said Stone, 55, one of 16 plaintiffs in a civil rights lawsuit alleging the city’s raid violated the constitutional rights of the homeless. “They have been supportive, letting us stay here.
“And we are trying to keep library [grounds] clean and safe for people,” he said.
But Stone, like many living around the library, does not want to go into a shelter. He has been passing out a written statement calling for donations of money or land outside of the city center to set up a community the homeless.would run.
“We appreciate the library putting up with us,” said the New Jersey native. “But we have no place else to go. We’re not going anywhere until we get the help we need.”