City Offers Homeless People One Way Ticket Out Of Town -
Ian Cummings
(Ian Cummings) The latest solution to homelessness in Sarasota could involve a bus ticket and a wave goodbye.
In a move that has been tried elsewhere around the country, with varying results, city officials are backing a plan to offer transportation out of town to some of the people living on the street in Sarasota. On Tuesday, the City Commission voted unanimously to place $1,000 in a “Homeward Bound fund” that would help finance that one-way travel.
Those funds would, city officials hope, be matched by donations from the public. The city is partnering in the effort with local charities, including Resurrection House and the Salvation Army, but is seeking more control as it contributes money.
A few individuals already have been reunited with family elsewhere, said Calvin Collins, a licensed mental health counselor and veteran the city hired earlier this year to work with people living on the street. All of the people offered travel out of town would be similarly connected with family, friends, or caregivers.
Collins said that, while the number of people so helped at this point is few, the effort could make a difference over the next couple of years. He cautioned against expectations of any quick fix for homelessness. “This has been going on since before you and I were born,” Collins said.
The transportation may include buses, but also other means of travel. So far, nonprofits have been paying for most of it, and Collins asked the city to help. “Right now, the money has pretty much dried up through the Resurrection House and Salvation Army,” he said.
How many people could be transported by the program in the future, and what will happen to them, is unclear. So is the role police or other city staff would play in selecting candidates for travel.
Collins suggested that the nonprofits would remain in charge of arranging transport, but City Manager Tom Barwin said that could change. “We’re asking for the flexibility to do either,” Barwin said.
Similar efforts have gone wrong elsewhere. Last year, the city of San Francisco sued the state of Nevada for allegedly busing mental patients to California to avoid the cost of treating them.
Meanwhile in Sarasota, how much progress has made on homelessness this year is a subject of some disagreement. The transportation offer is just one of several programs remaining after a proposal for a homeless shelter was abandoned this summer. Collins is in regular contact with 222 individuals living outdoors in the city now, and he has found housing for 35 veterans among them, he said.
Some commissioners and downtown merchants credited the Sarasota Police Department with helping to move groups of homeless people away from Main Street in recent weeks.
“Vagrancy numbers are way down in downtown,” said Vice Mayor Susan Chapman.
But, as Barwin noted, there remain at least 250 people on the streets near the center of the city.
Some business owners complained that the Rosemary District has attracted a large number of people pushed away from Main Street by police. Bill Cornelius, owner of the Blue Rooster, at 1525 Fourth St., said most people weren’t aware of the full magnitude of the problem, and urged the commissioners to do something about it.
“Very influential people come to my restaurant,” he said. “This town is going to get a terrible black eye.”
- See more at: http://survivalbackpack.us/city-offers-homeless-people-one-way-ticket-town/#sthash.5LrkUbmq.dpuf
(Ian Cummings) The latest solution to homelessness in Sarasota could involve a bus ticket and a wave goodbye.
In a move that has been tried elsewhere around the country, with varying results, city officials are backing a plan to offer transportation out of town to some of the people living on the street in Sarasota. On Tuesday, the City Commission voted unanimously to place $1,000 in a “Homeward Bound fund” that would help finance that one-way travel.
Those funds would, city officials hope, be matched by donations from the public. The city is partnering in the effort with local charities, including Resurrection House and the Salvation Army, but is seeking more control as it contributes money.
A few individuals already have been reunited with family elsewhere, said Calvin Collins, a licensed mental health counselor and veteran the city hired earlier this year to work with people living on the street. All of the people offered travel out of town would be similarly connected with family, friends, or caregivers.
Collins said that, while the number of people so helped at this point is few, the effort could make a difference over the next couple of years. He cautioned against expectations of any quick fix for homelessness. “This has been going on since before you and I were born,” Collins said.
The transportation may include buses, but also other means of travel. So far, nonprofits have been paying for most of it, and Collins asked the city to help. “Right now, the money has pretty much dried up through the Resurrection House and Salvation Army,” he said.
How many people could be transported by the program in the future, and what will happen to them, is unclear. So is the role police or other city staff would play in selecting candidates for travel.
Collins suggested that the nonprofits would remain in charge of arranging transport, but City Manager Tom Barwin said that could change. “We’re asking for the flexibility to do either,” Barwin said.
Similar efforts have gone wrong elsewhere. Last year, the city of San Francisco sued the state of Nevada for allegedly busing mental patients to California to avoid the cost of treating them.
Meanwhile in Sarasota, how much progress has made on homelessness this year is a subject of some disagreement. The transportation offer is just one of several programs remaining after a proposal for a homeless shelter was abandoned this summer. Collins is in regular contact with 222 individuals living outdoors in the city now, and he has found housing for 35 veterans among them, he said.
Some commissioners and downtown merchants credited the Sarasota Police Department with helping to move groups of homeless people away from Main Street in recent weeks.
“Vagrancy numbers are way down in downtown,” said Vice Mayor Susan Chapman.
But, as Barwin noted, there remain at least 250 people on the streets near the center of the city.
Some business owners complained that the Rosemary District has attracted a large number of people pushed away from Main Street by police. Bill Cornelius, owner of the Blue Rooster, at 1525 Fourth St., said most people weren’t aware of the full magnitude of the problem, and urged the commissioners to do something about it.
“Very influential people come to my restaurant,” he said. “This town is going to get a terrible black eye.”
- See more at: http://survivalbackpack.us/city-offers-homeless-people-one-way-ticket-town/#sthash.5LrkUbmq.dpuf(Ian Cummings) The latest solution to homelessness in Sarasota could involve a bus ticket and a wave goodbye.
In a move that has been tried elsewhere around the country, with varying results, city officials are backing a plan to offer transportation out of town to some of the people living on the street in Sarasota. On Tuesday, the City Commission voted unanimously to place $1,000 in a “Homeward Bound fund” that would help finance that one-way travel.
Those funds would, city officials hope, be matched by donations from the public. The city is partnering in the effort with local charities, including Resurrection House and the Salvation Army, but is seeking more control as it contributes money.
A few individuals already have been reunited with family elsewhere, said Calvin Collins, a licensed mental health counselor and veteran the city hired earlier this year to work with people living on the street. All of the people offered travel out of town would be similarly connected with family, friends, or caregivers.
Collins said that, while the number of people so helped at this point is few, the effort could make a difference over the next couple of years. He cautioned against expectations of any quick fix for homelessness. “This has been going on since before you and I were born,” Collins said.
The transportation may include buses, but also other means of travel. So far, nonprofits have been paying for most of it, and Collins asked the city to help. “Right now, the money has pretty much dried up through the Resurrection House and Salvation Army,” he said.
How many people could be transported by the program in the future, and what will happen to them, is unclear. So is the role police or other city staff would play in selecting candidates for travel.
Collins suggested that the nonprofits would remain in charge of arranging transport, but City Manager Tom Barwin said that could change. “We’re asking for the flexibility to do either,” Barwin said.
Similar efforts have gone wrong elsewhere. Last year, the city of San Francisco sued the state of Nevada for allegedly busing mental patients to California to avoid the cost of treating them.
Meanwhile in Sarasota, how much progress has made on homelessness this year is a subject of some disagreement. The transportation offer is just one of several programs remaining after a proposal for a homeless shelter was abandoned this summer. Collins is in regular contact with 222 individuals living outdoors in the city now, and he has found housing for 35 veterans among them, he said.
Some commissioners and downtown merchants credited the Sarasota Police Department with helping to move groups of homeless people away from Main Street in recent weeks.
“Vagrancy numbers are way down in downtown,” said Vice Mayor Susan Chapman.
But, as Barwin noted, there remain at least 250 people on the streets near the center of the city.
Some business owners complained that the Rosemary District has attracted a large number of people pushed away from Main Street by police. Bill Cornelius, owner of the Blue Rooster, at 1525 Fourth St., said most people weren’t aware of the full magnitude of the problem, and urged the commissioners to do something about it.
“Very influential people come to my restaurant,” he said. “This town is going to get a terrible black eye.”
- See more at: http://survivalbackpack.us/city-offers-homeless-people-one-way-ticket-town/#sthash.5LrkUbmq.dpuf