LAKELAND, Fla. (AP) - A decision made safely under the roof of Lakeland City Hall next week could keep hope alive for the city’s homeless or reduce the number of helping hands.
Lakeland’s commissioners face a series of difficult decisions in making the city’s 2020 fiscal budget. One program that may be on the chopping block is the city’s homeless initiative.
“I didn’t vote for the caseworker to begin with, it’s not a high priority to me,” Commissioner Bill Read said at the July 16 budget session.
Last November, the commission narrowly voted 4-3 to allocate $190,000 from red-light traffic citations to fund for one year a “rapid rehousing” program. Its aim was to provide 25 homeless adults or homeless adults with children with rent assistance. Of that, $90,000 was set aside to pay two caseworkers under Tri-County Human Services to assess and link homeless individuals to housing, jobs and other services.
Mutz has asked for $101,000 in the 2020 budget to continue the program. However, a preliminary poll went 4-3 against providing further funds in favor of other proposed projects at that July 16 budget session.
“I think we can find private dollars to support that,” Commissioner Sara Roberts McCarley said during budgetary debates.
Ivon Ruz, Tri-County’s spokeswoman, said that since February the agency’s collaboration with the city has reached out to 176 individuals. If Lakeland cuts its support, Ruz said the program would be discontinued.
“I think the city commissioners are divided in a sense, thinking people will continue to help them if they will not going forward,” Ruz said. “We would have to cut it.”
There were 415 homeless people in Lakeland on Jan. 23, according to an estimate from the Homeless Coalition of Polk County’s point-in-time count. That estimate includes 188 in emergency shelters, 149 in transitional housing and 78 unsheltered, but does not account for homeless children, those sleeping in cars or a friend’s couch for the night.
“There’s so much need, there’s not enough agencies and not enough hands on deck to help all those in need,” Ruz said.
Tri-County caseworker Luke Simmons cautioned against judging the status of the city’s homeless population based on who is sitting on the benches at Munn Park.
“It’s not fair at all,” he said. “A lot of them are housed at a nearby shelter, and some are hanging out at the park as there’s not much to do.”
Simmons sat down with The Ledger to discuss in detail his work over the past six months.
“When you hear the word ’homeless’ you get this picture,” Simmons said. “It’s a person affected by homelessness. The person is not defined as a homeless person.”
Simmons, a Bartow native, said his approach as a caseworker is heavily influenced by his past.
“I was homeless twice in my life here,” he said. “I feel their pain because I’ve been through it and know what it feels like.”
Simmons said his work differs from others in that he goes out to emergency shelters, encampments in the woods, cars in parking lots, hotels and streets to meet people who are homeless where they are at.
Caseworkers must vet each individual to ensure he or she is a Lakeland resident, as required by the city’s program, according to Simmons’ supervisor Solimar Colon-Ortiz, then determine his or her immediate needs. Simmons tries to find a suitable home for those with some source of steady income, whether a minimum-wage job, pension or disability check.
“There are a lot of guys who have been living in an emergency shelter for a couple of years now and they have incomes,” he said. “They are living in the shelter as they can’t get ahead enough to have a deposit to put down on housing.”
Affordable housing, or a lack thereof, lies at the heart of the city’s homeless issues. Simmons said he and other caseworkers often broker deals with landlords for rental contracts for what he called the “working poor.” Some have prior evictions or have faced criminal charges and need someone willing to give them a second chance, Simmons said.
The city’s caseworkers have found housing for 171 of the 176 individuals it has worked with. Of 83 total cases opened - family units of a parent and child count as one case - 39 have landed jobs and are in housing, 15 are open and pending placement, and six people were provided transportation - bus or plane tickets paid for by donations - back to towns where they previously had a job. There are 23 people who Simmons and caseworkers have introduced to existing nonprofits for further services. There were only five unsuccessful discharges.
“We’re not expecting to be 100% successful, but we do have a high percentage of success,” Ruz said.
Simmons said his job doesn’t end at housing. Caseworkers help ensure individuals have necessary ID cards, submit applications to support programs, obtain donated furniture and can pay the bills before they close a case.
“The City of Lakeland through this program is changing people’s lives, completely changing people’s lives, pulling them up where their quality of life is so much better,” he said.
If the city’s funding was cut, Tri-County employees said it would be hard to replace because much of state and federal sources to address homeless issues comes with strict limitations.
“What’s different about this program is we don’t have to hit all those check marks to ensure they meet this or that criteria,” Colon-Ortiz said. “If they are in a difficult spot, from Lakeland, the city of Lakeland and our caseworkers are here to help.”
Both Colon-Ortiz and Simmons said the effort also provides something more priceless.
“It helps people as they feel they are being supported by the city,” Colon-Ortiz said. “It gives them hope.”
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Information from: The Ledger (Lakeland, Fla.), http://www.theledger.com
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