This story was originally published by Osceola News-Gazette. This story is part of a collaborative initiative of independent local news outlets working towards a more informed and engaged Central Florida.
In order for the federal government to assist those working on the local level to aid those experiencing homelessness, the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department (HUD) needs an accurate count of how many people are homeless in a community, and where they are.
They need to be counted. This week, the counters are counting.
It’s all part of the Point In Time Count, which concludes today. The Homeless Services Network is responsible for that count in Orange, Seminole and Osceola counties, and Hope Partnership, a local group that seeks solutions to provide a safe place for people to call home, assembles the group of volunteers that scours Osceola to get an accurate count.
Hope Partnership Chief Operating Officer Will Cooper said HUD mandates the county every two years, but his organization does it every year to have fresh annual data.
“It’s not the best data collection mechanism, but it’s consistent,” he said. “Many of the same volunteers are back from last year, when they geotracked their findings in order to make this year’s count easier.”
(Note: The volunteers request media or photographers not be present during the count, citing the sensitive nature of the information and wishes of those being counted. The News-Gazette has honored that request.)
Cooper said teams head out to downtown areas of Kissimmee and St. Cloud, Wal-Mart parking lots, near libraries and other places it has identified encampments in the past. This year they’re being sent out with supplies like water, snacks and other essentials.
“When the Salvation Army center burned down, it made things more difficult,” he said.
What has also made the count, which must get specific information from those unhoused for them to be counted for funding purposes, difficult is the new state legislation banning sleeping or camping in public areas.
Hope Partnership, along with the Salvation Army, had a gathering Wednesday afternoon at the Kissimmee Lakefront, where they offered supplies to those experiencing homelessness — a prime chance to have them take the survey en masse — before heading back out to conduct the second day of the three-day count.
Joseph, a homeless man at the event who agreed to an interview, said he and his mates have "felt more heat" since enforcement of the public camping ban started Jan. 1.
"We're lucky to find spots where the cops don't bother us," said Joseph, who's been in Central Florida since leaving high-priced New York six years ago and stays in Osceola County because he likes it. "I haven't seen the cops arrest anyone yet, they just move people along. But when they ask what to do, the cops tell them, 'Figure it out yourself.'"
He said he has a place he sleeps now. "But for how long, before I get troubled again?" he asked. "There's no shelters. I know folks like Hope Partnership are here to help, but the county leadership needs to do something. It's getting ridiculous. They could open up a tent village, right here in Lakefront Park, but they don't want to."
While Joseph said he's encouraging others like him to be part of the PIT Count, Hope Partnership CEO Rev. Mary Downey said the camping ban clearly has made the count a bigger challenge.
“Imagine those people, do they wonder if it is safe to communicate with (the counters)?” she said. “Our teams are doing all they can to get honest answers.”
Homeless Services Network officials say the law, and the corresponding local ordinances cities and counties passed to get in compliance with the state, have resulted in the homeless hiding better in new places to not fall afoul of the ban.
Since questions they must answer include, “Where did you sleep the night before?” the fear of giving the wrong answer is making them less likely to respond.
“There are folks out there who are hesitant to engage. We hear the nervousness and fear from our clients, and we have concerns about where they’re going to move on to,” Cooper said. “We hear messages like, ‘Nothing’s changed for me, and I’m getting frustrated,’” Cooper said. “And I totally get that.
“We’re still looking for clarity in the law. No single new law will make housing more affordable.”
But, without those pieces of information, people who are clearly homeless cannot be counted as such, even if tents, sleeping bags and other bedding are present. HUD’s guidelines for the PIT Count are very specific.
There is also a concern that, should the PIT Count come in lower than last year— Downey said Osceola’s count was lower than it should have been because of mitigating factors—supporters of the camping ban law will declare it a success because there weren’t the homeless people found to count.
Cooper said that goes hand-in-hand with the bill essentially criminalizing homelessness.
“I think it is (doing that). It’s in the bill,” he said. “It’s not a bill aiming to help anyone experiencing homelessness. The aim is for those people not to be seen, not to provide them a dignified place to stay.
“If we don’t want people sleeping in public, we should provide the resources to help them get housed instead of kicking the can down the road.
Downey said anything placed on the books that doesn’t lead to providing people a safe place to call home is a “push to criminalize.”
“This law is taking power out of the hands of the local community groups that are trying to help the situation. But at the end of the day, housing ends homelessness,” she said. “State leaders are trying to have fewer people seeing the homeless.
“But it’s difficult to ignore if they are standing right in front of you.”