Halifax Urban Ministries officials are considering using their North Street shelter space for adult homeless individuals after homeless families there move to a new shelter this spring.
DAYTONA BEACH — As the city continues its battle with a chronic street homeless problem, there's a new proposal to get a roof over the heads of close to 100 people.
In a few weeks, Halifax Urban Ministries will be moving its homeless family shelter from the space it leases at North Street to an old elementary school that's being renovated into a refuge for 300 people with no place to go.
When the new Hope Place family shelter opens, that will free up 94 beds back on North Street that HUM is strongly considering using for homeless adults.
The owner of the North Street building, the Volusia Flagler Coalition for the Homeless, is behind the idea. So is Catholic Charities of Central Florida, which would run things at the newly configured shelter in the city's downtown and rent the space. Halifax Health has also been amenable to being a partner in the venture.
"There are currently a very limited number of beds available for single individuals who are experiencing homelessness," said Anne Evans, chairwoman of the Halifax Urban Ministries board. "This situation will not improve until the First Step homeless assistance center is opened."
The nonprofit's board has not taken a final vote on the idea for the 94 beds yet, but likes what it has heard so far enough to keep pursuing the venture, Evans said. If things keep moving forward, the new use of the 12-year-old shelter off Ridgewood Avenue could start by March or April.
City permission won't be needed. A semi-public use permit in place since 2006 allows homeless services on the property, and would even allow an expansion up to 250 beds.
City Manager Jim Chisholm declined to comment on the idea. Mayor Derrick Henry said he has met with the partners in the proposed shelter effort "quite a bit," but he didn't want to offer an opinion yet.
"I don't have a whole lot to say about it at this point," Henry said on Friday afternoon. "I haven't looked at the budget yet. I pretty much decided what direction I'm leaning in, but I don't want to say publicly until I talk to Anne (Evans)."
The new shelter plan
A draft plan, which could still undergo some changes, targets single adult homeless people at least 18 years old as the clients who would be sought for the soon-to-be-empty shelter beds. The idea is to catch the homeless people who fall through the cracks: Those who can't afford a place of their own, don't qualify for existing programs and don't have major problems with drugs, alcohol, mental health and domestic abuse that would funnel them to specialized institutions or shelters.
It would be a place for those sleeping in cars, woods, parks, abandoned buildings, business alcoves, bus stations and camp grounds. It would also include those losing their current housing, staying in motels when money allows and leaving another shelter or institution.
Both men and women would be served.
About 95 percent of residents would come from referrals of other agencies, and the remaining 5 percent could be people who show up with a sudden need for housing, Evans said.
To be chosen for one of the 94 beds, people would have to agree to look for a job or seek benefits, be ambulatory and get tested for drugs. People with serious mental illness or addictions that require detox services would be referred elsewhere. Also not accepted would be registered sex offenders, registered predators and people exhibiting violent or abusive behavior.
Those chosen to live in the temporary housing would be given help with needed documentation, medical services, substance abuse treatment, employment, life skills training, transportation, legal services and educational services. Case managers would meet weekly with individuals to review progress. Clergy would be on call to help people with their spiritual needs, and transportation could be set up for them to get to the house of worship of their choice.
At the facility, residents would get three free meals per day and have a place to take a shower and do laundry. In a supervised computer room, they could check email and search for jobs. They would have a curfew, and their visitors would have to be pre-approved.
It's generally the same homeless population that will be served when the new First Step Shelter opens. But with that 100-bed facility west of Interstate 95 not likely to be ready for clients until next year, HUM sees a chance to start helping in a month or two instead of a year or two.
The intention is to complement First Step Shelter, not compete with the facility that will be located on city property near the Volusia County Branch Jail, Evans said. With that focus in mind, the proposed venture has been dubbed First Step Pilot at North Street.
"First Step Pilot at North Street is a temporary solution to provide emergency housing and services to single individuals who are experiencing homelessness," the draft proposal states. "The program is time-limited and will end when First Step Shelter is operational. At that time, the individuals in the pilot program will be transferred to First Step."
'Too valuable' to shut down
Evans sent copies of the proposal to the seven First Step Shelter Board members, and she hopes the idea will be discussed at one of that board's upcoming meetings. But even if First Step Board members don't like the idea, HUM is still going to push ahead with the plan, Evans said.
When First Step is open for business, the North Street program will be reconfigured to fill gaps in the needs of the homeless and augment what's happening at the new shelter on the city's western edge, the proposal says. That could mean putting an emphasis on the medically needy homeless or turning the facility into a triage center for First Step Shelter, Evans said.
"We don't want to shut it down," Evans said. "It's just too valuable to the community. We'll work with the community and see what makes sense. We all need to work together."
The beds in the North Street shelter aren't likely to stay empty for any length of time. The city permission to have the shelter there granted under the semi-public use permit would lapse if the beds weren't used for a year or more, Evans said.
The estimated annual budget for the new North Street shelter venture is $538,343, $182,672 of which would be covered with in-kind donations. The remaining $355,672 would have to be funded with grants, private donations and local government dollars if elected officials were agreeable to that.
At least two grants have already been identified, one for emergency shelter, and another grant that could possibly provide around $1 million per year to address substance abuse and mental health problems, Evans said.
Close to $217,000 of the budget would go toward employee expenses under the proposed financial plan. Three of those employees would be case workers who would help residents with everything from locating permanent housing to connecting with government benefits to finding jobs.
When residents were ready for housing, the shelter could help provide furniture and financial assistance to cover the costs of moving, setting up utilities and paying rent. The case workers would also follow up with residents for three months after they left the shelter to ensure their lives weren't veering off track again.
The goal would be for people to be at the shelter for no more than about 60 days. Another goal would be for at least 60 percent of residents to move into permanent housing, and for at least 80 percent of those rehoused not to become homeless again within 12 months.
If the Halifax Urban Ministries board gives final approval to the idea and funding is lined up, it would take about four to six weeks to clean the shelter space, install new carpet and get things ready for a new operation, Evans said.
'Come live our life'
The proposal comes on the heels of the city failing to lock down a plan to create a temporary shelter in tents on land off LPGA Boulevard west of Derbyshire Road. The plan to use the land owned by the Salvation Army until First Step Shelter opens was rejected last week by the First Step Shelter Board, which had been asked to provide close to $600,000 for the 9-month venture.
The HUM plan is also emerging as the city is cracking down on rules at the homeless safe zone on the corner of Clyde Morris Boulevard and Bellevue Avenue. That city-owned piece of property was designated in August 2016 as a place the homeless could spend the night, provided they didn't bring tents, vehicles and camping equipment. They were also mandated to leave at sunrise each morning and not return until sunset.
With those rules broken over the past few months, city officials decided last week to go back to full enforcement. The end result is many of the dozens of homeless who were camping on the site are now in search of a new place to stay since they find those parameters unacceptable.
The homeless had until 6 p.m. Thursday to remove their tents, vehicles and camping gear from the site. The city provided a van for people who needed help moving things, offered rides and helped make calls for assistance. By Friday afternoon, the safe zone had been completely cleared off and the only people there were a few city public works employees.
Police Chief Craig Capri said his officers tried to be lenient this winter with the cold weather, and even suspended the city ordinance that prohibits camping on city property. But the homeless ignored rules for the site and things started getting out of hand, the chief said. It wasn't fair to nearby residents and businesses, he said.
"We're getting a lot of disturbance calls and fights," said Capri, who noted trash was also becoming a problem. "It's not really changing. It's going back to the way it should be."
Cynthia Lewis, who had been spending her nights in a tent at the safe zone the past couple of weeks, is so upset by the changes that she threatened to organize a protest in front of City Hall.
"We need to be heard," Lewis said. "We're not dogs. We're human beings."
The 53-year-old Lewis said she and her boyfriend have been homeless since Hurricane Irma last fall, when a tree landed on their rental trailer home and badly damaged it. She said they each recently got jobs and they're trying to put their lives back together.
"Not all of us are drug addicts and criminals," she said. "This is real life. Come live our life for a week. You think the homeless are going away? We're not."