Unpermitted homeless housing complex is shut
Orange Co. fire marshal alleges ‘severe life safety issues’ at Hope City Refuge
“We have 22 children here. What’re they going to do with them? Put ’em in the street? In a hotel for two weeks? We got to be real about this. We can’t sugarcoat the housing crisis happening in Orange County.”
— Marcos Diaz, Kaleo Ministries pastor, about Hope City Refuge
An east Orange County church ministry’s housing complex for homeless people was shut down Wednesday by the county fire marshal with a court filing alleging that conditions at Hope City Refuge posed “severe life safety issues.”
But coming on the same day Florida’s governor signed a law prohibiting the unhoused from sleeping in public spaces, the move underscored the depths of the homelessness crisis in Central Florida and across the state, where too many people compete for too few shelter beds.
Some of the men, women and two dozen children who sleep in bunkhouses and repurposed storage containers in a complex that houses as many as 120 people at a time didn’t want to leave.
“I believe in God and I believe in Pastor Marcos,” said Ramon Rodriguez, 53, speaking through a translator about Pastor Marcos Diaz, who oversees the church’s boarding complex and spiritual center on the one-acre plot on Harrell Road near the East Colonial Road interchange with State Road 417.
Rodriguez said he has lived at Hope City Refuge for more than a year and is grateful for a roof over his head.
Diaz denied the structures are unsafe and offered a guided tour of the buildings to refute allegations the sleeping quarters lack fire detection, prevention and suppression devices — deficiencies cited in fire inspection reports since November.
He pointed out a sprinkler, fire extinguishers and smoke detectors.
“We have 22 children here. What’re they going to do with them? Put ’em in the street? In a hotel for two weeks?” he said. “We got to be real about this. We
can’t sugarcoat the housing crisis happening in Orange County.”
“We’re trying to make a difference,” Diaz said.
He said the county’s beef started with zoning, which allows just one single-family home on the lot.
Public Safety Director Danny Banks said the county sought the injunction to protect the people living there.
“If a fire were to occur on that property, there could be the loss of many dozens of lives,” he said.
Banks said county officials, mindful of the shortage of shelter space and affordable-housing options, arranged temporary housing for its residents before visiting Hope City Refuge on Wednesday morning to serve the injunction notice.
“Anyone we’ve displaced will have shelter over their heads tonight,” he said at a press conference.
Banks credited the county’s not-for-profit homeless-services partners for finding suitable options.
Kaleo Ministries’ Hope City Refuge lacks county-issued certificates of occupancy for “unpermitted makeshift and converted buildings and structures including….a converted garage referred to as a ‘dorm’ and approximately 10 shipping containers,” according to the order signed by Circuit Court Judge Margaret Schreiber.
The order named the property owner, Melissa Rodriguez, also known as Melissa Diaz. She is the wife of Marcos Diaz.
Fire Marshal William Farhat said the county tried to work with the operators of the complex, installing smoke detectors in buildings, loaning fire extinguishers and providing training to staff and residents on how to properly use them.
The shelter was directed to keep a 24-hour “fire watch” log because it lacked an automatic detection system.
Farhat said the Fire Marshal’s staff visited Hope City Refuge daily to make sure “fire watch” logs were kept.
“It was just a matter of trying to provide a little bit more safety to a very dangerous situation.” he said. “But there’s been no movement by the owner to correct the violations on the property.”
The temporary closure of Hope City Refuge was the second blow in as many months to homeless resources in Orange County. A fire last month at the Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida’s men’s shelter on Terry Avenue displaced 237 men.
Martha Are, executive director of the Homeless Services Network of Central Florida, said the decision affecting shelter beds in east Orange County reflects the limited choices that people experiencing homelessness must face.
“More than anything, this situation reveals the painful choices people are forced to make when they can no longer afford the increasing cost of rent in this community,” she said. “We know Central Florida is a rapidly growing region, and the housing options for our lower-income residents simply have not kept pace.”
The region will face additional pressure to find options for its homeless under a new law signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis Wednesday. The bill prohibits cities and counties from allowing homeless people to sleep on sidewalks, park land, and other public spaces — in effect banning camping on those sites. It also institutes new rules for the services and security that sanctioned camping locations must provide.