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The Laker/Lutz News

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Suzanne Greene Taldone

Neighbors object, but family housing OK’d

June 27, 2018 By Kathy Steele

The Coalition for the Homeless of Pasco County can move forward with plans to temporarily house homeless families in a building at the former campus of the Boys & Girls Club in Port Richey.

The coalition, with support from other social service agencies, also will open the Housing Services Center, which will administratively help families and individuals seeking permanent housing and other services.

A former Boys & Girls Club on Youth Lane in Port Richey will be renovated and opened as a temporary shelter for homeless families, and administrative offices for the Housing Services Center.
(File)

The Pasco County Commission, with Commissioner Jack Mariano dissenting, approved the coalition’s plan at its June 19 meeting in New Port Richey.

Commissioners also approved a 15-year lease agreement for $1 a year; and, a $190,000 contract to design renovations of two buildings at 8239 Youth Lane.

During the public hearing, many area residents who live near the site gave county commissioners the same unified message they’ve delivered before: They don’t want the coalition in their neighborhood, and they are voters.

Residents say they worry about crime, loss of property values, and safety.

“We deserve to be heard. We deserve to be listened to. We live and sleep here,” said Suzanne Greene Taldone, a resident in nearby Crane’s Roost. “You keep trying to put a square peg into a round hole.”

Supporters, including most county commissioners, say it’s overdue for Pasco to step up efforts to help the homeless population.

Data from the coalition puts the number of homeless people in Pasco County at about 2,500. Homeless families make up about 1,800 of those people and there are about 700 single adults.

Mary Ashcraft is pastor at Joining Hands Mission Church and opens the church to the homeless in cold weather. She supports the coalition’s project.

“There’s so many families out there,” she said. “I get phone calls, and I have nowhere to send them but Metropolitan Ministries. They go a great job, but they are full and packed.”

The county owns the land on Youth Lane and is providing at least $700,000 in grants, and other sources, to pay for building renovations.

“I think we’re going to do the right thing,” said Pasco County Commissioner Kathryn Starkey. “Sometimes, we just have to take a chance.”

The lease agreement has a 90-day written notice of termination clause.

Starkey said, “If it doesn’t go right, we’ll do something about it.”

Crane’s Roost resident Valerie Schaefer said the coalition’s programs would be like a magnet — attracting more homeless people and transients into the neighborhood.

“We taxpayers and voters will hold you commissioners responsible if you vote this through,” she said.

Pasco County Commissioner Jack Mariano
(File)

Mariano shared concerns that the Housing Services Center could have people loitering in the area. He also thought spending available grants on Habitat for Humanity houses would be a better option.

“The issue is something we’re all sensitive to. It’s only primarily about location to the neighbors,” Mariano said. “I still don’t think it’s the right project.”

The programs approved by county commissioners were a change from the initial project to open a one-stop navigation center, with wrap-around services and a shelter for adult men and women.

Most supporters liked the shift in direction to help homeless families; while others still favored the original navigation center concept.

Under the amended proposal, the center will house four to eight families in the former teen center that’s on the site. They can receive services for up to 180 days, though coalition representatives say they expect most will be there about 45 days before transitioning to permanent housing.

No more than 36 people can stay there at any one time.

There also will be background checks, curfews, security cameras, and staff members onsite at the family shelter 24 hours a day.

Plus, the coalition will limit services available at the Housing Services Center, which will operate Monday through Friday office hours.

There will be no showers, emergency food or clothing, or health care services.

Those conditions convinced owners of an adjacent shopping plaza to support the coalition.

“This is not going to bring people out of the camps,” said Robert Lincoln, an attorney representing the plaza owners. “There’s not giveaways. It’s not going to be the anchor for bringing those people into the area.”

Chase Daniels, assistant executive director for the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office, also voiced Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco’s continued support for the program.

The coalition will provide desk space for deputies working in the area. They can stop by and fill out their paperwork, Daniels said. “They will have a presence,” he added.

Published June 27, 2018

Review board recommends family homeless shelter

June 13, 2018 By Kathy Steele

The Pasco County Planning Commission has recommended approval of a program to temporarily house homeless families in a former Boys & Girls Club building.

Planning commissioners reached that recommendation during a public hearing on June 6.

The Coalition for the Homeless of Pasco County wants to operate the temporary shelter on Youth Lane in Port Richey. The coalition also wants to open administrative offices in a second building, designated as the Housing Services Center. Individuals and families would be able to receive a range of social services at the center, with a primary focus on housing for the homeless population.

About 50 people attended a public hearing to oppose a program from the Coalition for the Homeless of Pasco County to operate a temporary shelter for families, and provide additional services at a Housing Services Center. (Kathy Steele)

The county owns the land, and has partnered with the coalition to get the program up and running.

About $700,000 in grants, and other funding sources, has been allocated for building renovations.

The Pasco County Commission is expected to make the final decision at a June 19 meeting in New Port Richey. Commissioners also will vote on an amendment to the county’s comprehensive land use plan to change the land use from open space/recreational to a public/semi-public use.

About 50 people attended the planning commission’s public hearing to show their opposition to the project. Most of the concerns, however, focused on the services available at the services center, not the temporary family shelter.

Area residents worried about increasing crime, a loss in property values, and overall public safety.

“The only good thing about this program is the good intentions,” said Suzanne Greene Taldone, who lives in the Crane’s Roost subdivision, off Little Road.

She thinks the coalition’s site will become a magnet for transients and will create “a cesspool of crime.”

Greene added: “Encampments flourish near these centers because they want to be first in line for services.”

The program was initially proposed in 2017 as a temporary shelter for adult men and women, with a focus on providing a one-stop center for social services and with a goal of placing people in permanent housing.

Amid strong opposition from residents, the coalition changed its purpose to instead help families only at the shelter. Coalition representatives also voluntarily limited the services that would be available at the Housing Services Center.

Under the proposal, the center would not have an emergency food pantry, clothes closet, showers, or scheduled visits for a mobile medical unit.

The coalition also agreed to other conditions.

Four to eight families would be housed temporarily, but no more than 36 people would stay at the shelter at any one time. The coalition estimates helping a minimum of 50 families annually.

Background checks would be done. There would be security cameras, and a curfew from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Also, coalition staff members would be on-site 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Families could stay no longer than 180 days.

The goal, coalition officials said, would be for families to stay 30 days to 60 days, with most being placed in housing within 45 days.

“This is something that is very realistic,” said Don Anderson, chief executive officer of the homeless coalition.

Area residents remain skeptical.

Judith Bowes lives in the nearby subdivision of The Orchards of Radcliffe. She said more than 70 widows live there.

“They were scared. They had a lot of sleepless nights,” Bowes said. “The shelter that will house six to eight families is not the problem. The problem is (the Housing Services Center) will bring a lot of transients into the neighborhood. My neighbors are still having sleepless nights.”

But, Amina Ahmed said it made her sad to hear people making assumptions about people who are homeless.

“Not all of them are criminals,” Ahmed said. “People think if you’re homeless, you have to have a problem, which is not true. Let’s help people become valuable members of society.”

Attorney Robert Lincoln, who represents the owners of an adjacent shopping plaza, also spoke in favor of the coalition’s efforts.

The owners had found fault with the original plan but support the new direction, Lincoln said.

He said that eliminating such services as showers, medical care and clothes makes a difference.

“You take away those kinds of things, you take away the kinds of services that get people wandering in off the street,” Lincoln said.

Plus, he noted: “It’s much better to be working with (the coalition) and becoming engaged.”

Published June 13, 2018

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