They lived on the streets

Now they’re in hotel rooms as the pandemic continues

She went from being a hostess at Gumbo Ya-Ya in New Orleans to living in a tent in downtown Fort Lauderdale in the middle of the pandemic.

But Travon Holmes got her lucky break two weeks ago, when Fort Lauderdale quietly restored a pandemic-era program to provide hotel rooms for the homeless.

Holmes, a 21-year-old transgender woman, is one of 80 homeless people now living at a Fort Lauderdale hotel, with a place to stay over the next six months. And there’s still space for 65 more, city officials say.

The hotel voucher program, which includes money for meals, security and case managers through September, will cost $3.4 million. Fort Lauderdale will get the money back from grants tied to the federal coronavirus relief package.

The program got underway in May 2020 to help curb the spread of COVID-19, but ended two months later when the money ran out.

Fort Lauderdale spent more than $500,000 on hotel rooms for 110 homeless people last summer.

This time, Fort Lauderdale is not disclosing the name of the hotel to keep people from showing up without vouchers and asking for a room.

Mayor Dean Trantalis says he was there when the first vouchers were handed out outside City Hall.

“We’re trying to get people back on their feet,” he said. “One person after the next thanked me.

“They were so grateful to have a roof over the heads. It brought tears to their eyes. We are engaged in finding them permanent placement, getting them new suits, mental health services, whatever they need.”

Holmes says she wound up on the streets after breaking up with her boyfriend.

“I was staying at tent city outside the library,” Holmes said.

That went on for three months until she got the good news about landing a hotel room from her case manager.

“I love it, I love it,” she said. “I do not feel like I’m in danger. This is a safe haven. I can stay here at the hotel for six months, but they are working to get me permanent housing.”

Her case manager is also working on helping her get a job doing regis

trations at the hotel.

“I’m staying right here,” Holmes said. “I’m not going back to New Orleans. I like it here. It’s a new environment.”

Paul Hutter, a 56-yearold Bronx native, also got

lucky.

Hutter moved to Fort Lauderdale 30 years ago, working for years as a waiter at a hotel restaurant. When that place closed he waited tables at an airport restaurant, but says he lost the job due to back and hip pain.

For the past three years, Hutter says he’s been

couch surfing and living in his car while battling drug and alcohol addiction.

“When I found out about this program, I thought, ‘Wow, maybe I’ll be saved,’ ” Hutter said. “I came in on March 31 and they gave me a voucher. If it weren’t for this program, I’d be living in my car. Now I have a roof over my head

and I’m getting three meals a day.”

To find out more about the voucher program, call 954-828-8000 or send an email to neighborsupport@fortlauderdale.gov.

CARLINE JEAN/SOUTH FLORIDA SUN SENTINEL Tiffany Minnield makes her home on the streets of Fort Lauderdale. During the pandemic, Fort Lauderdale started a hotel voucher program to help find hotel rooms for the homeless.