Unsheltered During the Hurricanes
As Central Floridians watch the final remnants of Hurricane Debby cycle out of the region, a substantial portion of the area’s unhoused population are simply trying to survive while anticipating the next storm to pass through.
This will be an especially vexing hurricane season for the providers of homeless services in Central Florida – the one-two punch of a rapidly growing population experiencing homelessness coupled with accelerated storm predictions have organizations like Christian Services Center scrambling to secure both funding and volunteers to help provide shelter, services and material support for the region’s unsheltered during extreme weather events. A point-in-time count of Orange County’s homeless population in June showed the area’s unsheltered population more than doubled in the last twelve months – from under 600 to just over 1,200.
Eric Gray is the Executive Director for the Christian Service Center – he joined Engage to talk about his nonprofit’s response to Debby.
Florida Water Pipes
One of the pinnacle achievements of the Biden Administration will be the application of the Investing in America program promoting infrastructure development as well as a committed investment in STEM industries. One of the lesser known provisions of the agenda includes an effort to replace the lead pipes used to build out much of America’s plumbing needs.
The use of lead pipes dates back to Roman times – it wasn’t until the 1950’s that the danger of using lead to deliver water became apparent.
But lead pipes are still used extensively. A 2014 report uncovered the catastrophic impacts of lead poisoning in Flint, Michigan – despite the knowledge of the area’s water district. This was one of the catalysts encouraging the White House to commit funds to replacing lead pipes.
The EPA sent a survey out to all fifty states to report lead pipe usage to gauge what needed to be replaced. The State of Florida reported it had so much lead piping that it would require a fifteenth of ALL THE NATIONAL FUNDING. In actuality, Florida doesn’t have much in the way of lead plumbing. But the money has been appropriated – and Florida squiring these funds means other states genuinely in need of pipe replacement cannot, for the time being.
Nick Tabor is a freelance investigative reporter, he researched and filed a deep dive on this process for The New Republic and he joined Engage to share his findings.
The City of Orlando is a municipality that has no need for lead pipe replacement – they simply aren’t used and research into the early development of the city found they’ve never been in use. Additionally, The Orlando Utilities Commission provides high quality drinking water to the communities it serves. Bradly Jewell is the director of water production for the OUC – he joined us to answer some questions about the region’s water, including where it comes from.
Banning ‘Ban This Book’
The state of Florida does not ban books, according to Governor Ron DeSantis. Back in February, he argued the state simply provides parents with the right to object to obscene material in school libraries. The statement was in response to a national spotlight that was being shown on Florida following the removal of more than 300 books from school shelves during the 2022-23 academic year.
In recent years, conservative Americans have flooded school board elections in an effort to establish roots in local politics. The primary focus of their attention is on books they deem unacceptable for young students. These include books with LGBTQ+ themes, discussions about puberty and human development, books with messages of acceptance and tolerance and even books with anti-establishment undertones.
And this is how, in May of this year, Alan Gratz’s book about banning books got banned.
Gratz typically writes young adult historical fiction – imagined accounts of 9/11, Pearl Harbor and the Holocaust appear in his works. In 2016, he wrote a different kind of book. Titled “Ban This Book” – Gratz tells the story from the perspective of a middle school girl and her efforts to get her favorite book unbanned and returned to the shelves of her school library. The book – From The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankenweiler by EL Konigsburg – tells the story of a brother and sister who run away from home and move into the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. It is a book that has been challenged for encouraging anti-authoritarian sentiments, though not in Florida.
“Ban this Book” does mention OTHER books that have been banned – and that is why the Indian River chapter of Moms for Liberty asked that it be removed from the district’s middle school library.
Last month, Gratz signed his name to a letter with other authors that have had their books banned by the Indian River School Board. "The decision indicates that the removal was motivated by politics, and not what is best for the students and families of Indian River County," Gratz said in his letter, asking for the book to be reinstated.
Engage spoke with Alan Gratz about his book and its removal from Indian River Middle School. The irony that his book about banned books was banned was not lost on him.
The request to remove the book was placed by Jennifer Pippen – the head of the Indian River chapter of Moms for Liberty. The organization promotes conservative political action – specifically in schools. The group has targeted curriculum that promotes LGBTQ+ tolerance, it has labeled programs acknowledging the role of women and people of color as “critical race theory” and has fought vaccine and mask mandates during and since the COVID pandemic. And they recommend the removal of books they deem unacceptable for youth.
Engage spoke with Jen Pippen about her decision to recommend “Ban this Book” for removal.
