HUDSON, Florida -- A homeless shelter in Pasco County may be forced to shut down with families forced to move.
- Holy Ground Homeless Shelter may be forced to close
- The owner of the property wants to sell the land
- The shelter has been in operation for nearly 30 years
The Holy Ground Homeless Shelter has been open for nearly 30 years in Hudson, but now the landowner wants to sell the property.
Lisa Barabas-Henry founded the shelter 27 years ago. She's now packing it all up.
"I cry all night, I pack all day," Barabas-Henry says. "This was not how it was supposed to end."
The property owner wants to sell the land but won't sell it to Barabas-Henry unless she also buys the property across the street, which she says she can't afford.
"I'm leaving 27 years behind. A legacy to this community. It'll be a catastrophic event in my view," she says.
Barabas-Henry lives on the property as well and has paid nearly $3,000 a month in rent and insurance.
She says she runs the only shelter in Pasco County that is open 24 hours a day and will take anyone in.
Currently, about 30 people are at the shelter.
"The community brought them. Pastors brought them. Police officers brought them. People would get dropped off. And I handled it from there," Barabas-Henry says.
Not only will they have to leave, but they also don't know where they're going to go.
"We pack, we go. But we don't know where we are going. It's just so heart wrenching to think, where are we going?" Barabas-Henry says.
As of now, the shelter has until the end of November to find a place to go.
"We pray and we hang in. We have to have hope and faith," Barabas-Henry says.
She is planning to speak at the Pasco County Commission on Tuesday to see if they can help. She also has a lawyer working with the property owner.
The property owner did not return our phone calls for this story.