JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Two community organizations are hoping the new outdoor sleeping ban will make sure all people experiencing homelessness are taken care of.
Glenda McCollors McLendon is with the Chef Harvey Foundation. It’s a place she says people who are experiencing homelessness will soon be able to go to get help.
“To feed the homeless right here at the corner of Cleveland Road and Homer Road,” she said.
On some weekends you’ll find her on the street doing it.
“We go to Riverside and College Street with He Said Go Ministry. We feed and prepare all of the food for between 40 to 75 people,” she said.
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She worries those who are unhoused will be in jeopardy come October with the new Florida outdoor sleeping ban.
“This is the city of Jacksonville; you have a responsibility to find somewhere for them to lay their head,” she said.
According to the bill, certain areas can be designated in communities for sleeping or camping if those sites meet standards set by the Florida Department of Children and Families.
READ: Florida House Bill 1365
The site can only be used for a year and can’t have drugs or alcohol. It also must have access to restrooms, running water and security.
“The best thing in this bill is that our Florida Legislature agreed that no Floridians should have to sleep in the rough or outside without anything,” Dawn Gilman, CEO of Changing Homelessness, said.
Changing Homelessness is an organization that helps house people without a place to stay. Gilman said the new law can be a good thing but must include opportunities for all.
“Within this ordinance, there are no exceptions or exclusions for people with mobility issues. There are no exceptions or exclusions for families with small children. It just states anyone would have to go to this area, which would be the legal place for them to sleep,” Gilman said.
She said everyone should have the same access to mental health resources and help. McCollors-McClendon agreed.
“Why put a law in place that you have no remedy for the people that the law affects when the problem that they are getting cited for is something that is obviously out of their control?” she said.
Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan recently announced in her proposed budget that $10 million would go toward the issue of helping those who are unhoused find places to stay.
“It comes with wraparound services, it comes with housing, and there are various forms of housing that we’re going to be putting people into. We wanted to avoid having a tent city. We wanted people to have some dignity with this process,” Deegan said.
News4JAX reached out to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office about enforcement and how officers will handle the new law.
We received this statement:
JSO is working collaboratively with the City of Jacksonville to create a comprehensive plan to address the homeless population in accordance with this new legislation.