Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Conference focuses on challenges of battle against homelessness
Leaders: More money and housing needed
FORT LAUDERDALE – Fledgling programs to move Broward’s homeless people off the streets are succeeding, but a lot more money and housing will be needed, community leaders said Tuesday.
Fort Lauderdale commissioners took stock Tuesday of efforts to solve homelessness. After years of bungled efforts that led to international notoriety, the city switched gears and is cooperating with nonprofits, the business community, the county and the courts on a housing-first approach.
The programs began in earnest when Broward County in November shut down a persistent homeless encampment in the center of downtown, moving dozens of people from the camp to local hotels. As of Feb. 7, all but seven of them were under roofs: 70 were in permanent housing, three were still in hotels, three were reunited with families and seven dropped out of the program, according to a city memo.
Like other communities with large populations of homeless people, Broward has struggled to find the right approach. The difficulties were evident Tuesday, when official success stories were interrupted by an actual homeless man’s testimony.
“I’m still homeless,” Scott Palm told the crowd at the Fort Lauderdale conference meeting. Palm said he left the encampment to seek sobriety help, and when he returned sober, “I begged for help and I didn’t get any help. What I’m asking for is if I can get what they gave everyone else.”
Mayor Dean Trantalis congratulated Palm, and connected him with the county’s top official on homelessness, who was
present at the meeting.
To house and help one homeless person costs $18,000 a year, United Way CEO Kathleen Cannon said Tuesday.
And there are about 2,300 more homeless people countywide who need help. The idea, she said, is to help the person become self-sustaining during that year. There’s some money available now, but it will run out, she said.
“Philanthropy is what’s going to get us to the next step,” Cannon said, “so that we’re not returning to this in five or 10 years.”
Housing and detox services also are insufficient, she and others said.
A few weeks ago, the first homeless community court in Florida launched in Fort Lauderdale City Hall, led by Chief Broward Circuit Judge Jack Tuter.
Tuter said four people have been placed in housing and jobs, three got off alcohol, and several have applied for birth certificates.
“I am encouraged,” Tuter said in an email, “and it is baby steps each week.”
But some can’t get treatment or housing and are placed on a waiting list, a city memo says.
“This has proven to be very challenging for the community court as it is designed to address the underlying issues of the participants’ behavior to improve their quality of life and obtain self-sufficiency,” the memo says.
Jeri Pryor, the city’s point person on homelessness, said the purpose of the court was to address the underlying reason for a person’s homelessness. But every single day, she said, the county’s addiction recovery center is at capacity.
“At this point there is no alternative, because those beds are full,” Pryor said.
Tuter said the dearth of housing was expected. One obstacle homeless people face is that even if they’re eligible for public assistance, such as disability payments, many of them don’t have Social Security cards, birth certificates or driver licenses and can’t apply. The court is helping them do it.
The court is held every Wednesday, and takes walkins if a homeless person wants to seek help from social service providers.
This week, the family of one homeless client is coming to the court to say thank you. Jahra McLawrence, the city’s public defender, had a 60-year-old client named Ray Deoki, who was arrested for trespassing. A former member of the British military, Deoki had physical and mental issues, and ended up in the hospital.
McLawrence went to visit, and said he was “distraught” by what he saw.
“Mr. Deoki looked like he was on death's door and I just didn't want to see this man die without a familiar face for him to view,” McLawrence said in an email.
McLawrence posted a selfie with Deoki on his Facebook page, encouraging people to share it, and pleading: “He has family but doesn't know where they are, or, how to get in touch with them.”
The connection was made.
Pryor said the city also has hired a coordinator for a food repatriation program that helps get restaurant food that otherwise would be wasted to groups that feed the homeless.
“Instead of throwing away their prepared food for the night they can give us a call,” she said.
Two day centers for the homeless are up and running, she said, one operated by Salvation Army and another, for families, by Hope South Florida.
“The community is committed to way behind the encampment,” Cannon said.
The various programs are paid for by nonprofits, the Broward Business Council, the city, the county and federal grants.
People who see a homeless encampment and want the county to help can email homelessinitiativepartnership@broward.org. Homeless people who need shelter can call 954-563-4357.