Monday morning was the last chance for local homeless and housing service workers to keep hundreds of displaced residents from facing homelessness, after the city of Orlando condemned a hotel that was being used as long-term housing.
More than 60 housing-insecure units at the Howard Johnson by Wyndham off International drive were occupied by families with children, people with disabilities, felons, those with past evictions, and older adults on low, fixed incomes who had been renting the rooms, paying by the week. The residents found out Wednesday they had to vacate, even though their rent was paid up, and City of Orlando workers showed up Thursday to deliver the Notice to Vacate – and offer support.
Trinette Nation with the Coalition for the Homeless was there with the organization’s outreach teams since the notice to vacate, offering resources and working to connect as many residents as possible to housing. In that time, Nation said her teams were able to place five families with children in bridge housing right away, four of which will go straight into their own permanent apartments.
“I will tell you, every time one of the families got packed up and into one of our transport vehicles to get housed, we would just smile. We felt happy,” she said.
While not everyone found a place to go, Nation said the Coalition’s shelter location on Terry Avenue was able to take in one woman and two men into their respective centers to keep them off the streets. Other than that, she said her teams were having conversations, getting details, and gathering information to understand how to best help the residents and connect them with organizations, friends or family who could help them right away. That included coming up with a plan and also offering hope.
“I mean, it isn’t a good situation, but my community outreach teams are doing what they do best — they are providing resources, having conversations, and reminding people that they are not alone and that there are organizations out there who want to help them,” Nation said.
The City of Orlando condemned the building after learning the occupants had their water service shut off due to non-payment by the owner. After a visit, water utilities resumed, but the Orlando Fire Department reported the place was “hazardous” due to a lack of functioning fire alarms.
On Wednesday, the residents said, the building’s owner and other property managers and workers knocked on their doors to deliver the message that they could no longer stay there. The renters said, the owner later on took back what he said, telling them that everything was worked out and that they were safe to pay their week’s rent. Many of them did — $250 in cash or via Cashapp, the only two forms of payment the residents said the owner would take that day.
Property records show the hotel belongs to RORE Orlando I Drive LLC. Attempts to reach the owner for comment by Central Florida Public Media were unsuccessful.
The City of Orlando’s visit and notice to vacate Thursday morning came as a surprise for the residents who had just paid up.
For people like 38-year-old Chantel Anderson, a wheelchair-bound woman with cerebral palsy, that was all the money they had.
“I want to scream. It just ain’t fair. I'm not saying it because I'm disabled. I'm saying it because of what everybody’s going through. They had no right,” Anderson said.
As far as people with disabilities, Nation said they weren’t able to help everyone, but the Coalition was able to put Anderson and her partner into an apartment. Anderson’s partner worked until the Monday deadline to pack up and get all of their belongings and pets out of their room on time.
Last week, other groups swiftly jumped into action to help those losing their homes, including the Christian Service Center and HOPE Team, holding interviews, triaging residents, and bringing in helpful household items, water bottles, and ordering pizza for lunch.
CSC Executive Director Eric Gray said there should be some oversight or protocols in place to prevent this from ever repeating itself in Orlando.
“Our community is somewhat used to seeing motels shut down and abandon its weekly tenants, but in Kissimmee on U.S. 192, not Orlando on International Drive,” Gray said. “Orlando is doing well in many areas. We are a great community. Our biggest weakness is our hesitancy to speak publicly about our warts for fear it will discourage visitors."
To house the residents, Nation said the Coalition worked closely with Core Housing of Central Florida, an organization currently taking applicants for people who would like to become landlords and make their properties part of the effort to house families on the brink or homelessness or trying to get out of it.
Warren Foster with HOPE Team focused on helping medically needy residents move out and find respite if necessary.
“It’s overwhelming, but we have to show up for these people. I think a lot of us are still processing what happened and how we’re going to keep handling growing homelessness in our communities,” he said. “It just blows my mind that this could happen.”
A spokeswoman for the City of Orlando said the building is now condemned due to immediate safety issues. Water, electricity and gas services will be discontinued as of Monday.
Lillian Hernández Caraballo is a Report for America corps member.
