PASCO COUNTY, Fla.-- Pasco County commissioners approved resolutions Tuesday that will allow the county homeless coalition to move forward with plans for a family shelter, but the coalition's CEO said advocates are working to provide a similar facility for those who are on their own.
- Homeless coalition pushes for single's shelter
- HUD says there are 2,500 homeless individuals living in Pasco
- Plan for recovery center linking drug abuse and homelessness
"I think the concern is growing," Don Anderson of the Homeless Coalition of Pasco County said of individuals in the homeless population.
Before the coalition came up with plans to turn the former Boys and Girls Club on Youth Lane in Port Richey into a family shelter and housing services center, it was supposed to be a shelter for singles. That plan drew pushback from residents before the coalition made changes, citing cost among the reasons for the switch.
But the need remains. According to the coalition, the last point-in-time count numbers reported to HUD show there are 2,500 homeless individuals living in Pasco. Anderson said it's hard to put that number into perspective by comparing it to what counties of similar sizes and populations are experiencing, but he said one thing is clear.
"Our lack of emergency shelters for the geographic size of our county is just extraordinarily inadequate. I mean, it's laughable," he said.
Anderson said homeless advocates met with Assistant County Administrator Cathy Pearson last week to talk about how to approach the issue of homeless individuals. He said they're looking into what it would take to either build a shelter on vacant land or take over an empty building and set one up there.
Commissioners heard about one project in its early stages Tuesday. Internist Dr. Esteban Ruiz and physical therapist Tom Saxon gave a presentation on their planned Suncoast Recovery Center. It would be a 90 bed in-patient drug and alcohol rehabilitation center. Saxon said part of what they want to do is tackle the connection between the opioid epidemic and other substance abuse and homelessness.
"I see on the side of the roads everywhere I go the people that are afflicted by this epidemic, and it saddens me," Saxon said. "I know a lot of them are caught up in this epidemic, and these people are not criminals. They're more victims."
It's a plan supported by Commissioner Jack Mariano, who was against both plans to establish a shelter on Youth Lane. He said it wasn't the right location for either and thinks the possible Suncoast Recovery location on U.S. Highway 19 in Hudson would be a better fit.
"The single homeless population, when they come here, they're located right on a busy highway with great access to transportation all the way to 10 o’clock at night," Mariano said. "They're going to have residency here, they can be treated here, at the same trying to hold up a job, getting themselves standing back up on their own."
Anderson said the center sounds promising, although it's hard to say how much of the homeless issue in Pasco is fueled by substance abuse.