AIR DATE OCTOBER 13, 2022
Title: Homelessness Support
Learn about the barriers to seeking help when homeless and how organizations in the central Florida area are working hard to bridge that gap.
Guests and Locations
Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida, President/CEO – Allison Krall
Samaritan Resource Center, Executive Director – Zeynep Portway
Proactive Interventions Help to Solve Issues with Homelessness
About 30,000 people in Florida experience homelessness on any given day. Many of those individuals come to the Orlando area because of the warm weather. Of those, approximately 10% are veterans, and 5% are young adults.
One-third of the homeless individuals in Central Florida face chronic issues that prevent them from getting into secure housing.
Samaritan Resource Center (SRC) delivers wraparound services to support this community. I recently spoke with Zeynep Portway, who has served as the organization’s Executive Director since 2020. “We have showers. We have a laundry service,” she said. “We have mail service that can use us as their mailing address. We have case managers here on site that work with clients on case plans and long-term employment or housing goals. We have a mental health counselor that comes in once a week, through our partnership with Lutheran Counseling Services.”
Although SRC is the only drop-in resource on Orlando’s east side, they’re not the only place where help is possible. The Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida offers a safe and warm bed and a healthy meal.
“There are folks who come to us who may not have had those things in a little while and some people even longer,” said Allison Krall, who has served the Coalition for over two decades.
It Is Important to Meet People Where They Are
It can be easy to judge why someone is homeless by looking at their appearance, but that one glimpse is only a small portion of their story.
“We have an outreach team that goes out to the camps,” said Portway. “We go out there and meet with them and do assessments and referrals.
Krall says the Coalition is available to anyone, but most people who use those services are within walking distance of the facility. “The folks who we serve are in the lowest end of the earning cycle and so our folks don’t have large incomes and the cost of housing in this community has grown significantly,” said Krall.
Portway tells me they have clients lining up as early as 7 AM. “It’s first-come, first-serve, and they’ll sign their name and indicate what services they need,” she said. “They’ll come in and check in at our registration desk, and then they’ll typically get whatever vouchers they need for the next building.”
That includes getting food at SRC’s distribution table.
Can We Solve Chronic Homelessness in Central FL?
Although every story is different, most people who experience chronic homelessness typically have long-term or complex health conditions. They could have a physical disability, a substance use disorder, or a mental illness. Once homelessness occurs, it can be challenging for them to get back into housing.
Permanent supportive housing paired with support services, case management, and proactive interventions is a proven recipe that can solve chronic homelessness.
That means the stigma that surrounds homelessness needs to end. “I want to emphasize that once you get to know our clients, they are amazing, amazing human beings with amazing stories,” Portway told me. “I wish that people would realize it’s not easy for them to live the way they do, and it’s not easy to get out of the situations they’re in.”
“There is always a need for volunteers and in-kind donations,” added Krall. “We do supply drives for hygiene products, formula, diapers, and baby wipes because we don’t have a budget line for those items. If someone wanted to host a supply drive for those needs for the coalition, that would help.”
More information about SRC is available at samaritanresourcecenter.org. You can also support the Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida by visiting centralfloridahomeless.org.
