George Crossley
STOP (sic)

Dear Mr. Crossley:

Mayor Dyer has asked me to respond to your letter of August 2, 2006 that you sent on behalf of the STOP (sic) coalition. It is my hope that, as you suggest in the last two paragraphs of your letter, we can engage in a serious dialogue about this important issue.

The issue of homelessness has been a concern of the City Council and the Dyer administration from the beginning. In fact, in June of 2004, the Mayor's Working Committe on Homelessness, an important community task force which began under the leadership of the prior administration, presented the Mayor with 26 recommendations. To date, fourteen of those recommendations have been or are currently being implemented and several others are being explored. One of those recommendations was that the City should control/manage public meal distribution and feeding programs throughout downtown Orlando through educational programs and appropriate ordinances.

While we may differ about the ordinance passed by City Council on July 24, 2006, we can agree that the issue of homelessness goes well beyond just a concern of where to serve food. In fact, homelessness is not just a social service issue, but is an issue involving mental health and substance abuse, public safety, housing and economic development.

City staff has been actively pursuing solutions for some of these issues, including a 10-year plan to end homelessness, and I wanted to share these activities with you.

From the perspective of mental health and substance abuse, City and County staff are working with Chief Judge Belvin Perry, Rich Morrison of Florida Hospital and the Governing Board of the Central Receiving Center to create an assessment center for those dually-diagnosed, chronic homeless individuals transitioning out of acute care to assist them in finding permanent housing.

Regarding housing options for the homeless, at the August 14, 2006 meeting, the Orlando City Council approved $385,000 to Safe Haven Maxwell Gardens, which will provide an additional 25 permanent supportive housing units at that facility. On that same agenda, the Council approved $329,258 in CDBG [Community Development Block Grant] funding for renovations to the Health Care Center for the Homeless. We are also currently working with Orange County government to provide funding to rehabilitate the housing units at the Maxwell Terrace facility that currently houses 274 formerly homeless people.

The City has been working to assist the Coalition for the Homeless to enhance/modify services to best meet the needs of the homeless population and to relocate all, or a part, of its facility from the Parramore area. Many of the discussions have centered around the Men's Pavilion and how the operation could be changed to provide case management and other services which are not being provided in its current operational model. The American Insititute of Architects is working with the Coalition to create new design models that would greatly improve the facility for its consumers. They are slated to complete their design work early this fall and will present it to the public for review and input.

Based on the suggestion made in your August 2, 2006 letter about the [Washington,] D.C. Downtown Improvement District's Day Center, I visited the facility on August 19th and obtained information about its operation. Discussions are now underway to determine how such a model could be replicated here in Orlando. As you know, a pilot daytime drop in center was one of the recommendations made in the Mayor's Working Commitee on Homelessness Report in 2004. The City has been meeting with several faith-based organizations on a regular basis to discuss the drop in center idea.

Finally and most importantly, City and County staff have been meeting to develop a mechanism for creating and implementing a regional 10 year plan to end homelessness. Utilizing the recommendations made by our community through the Mayor's Working Commitee on Homelessness, the plan would create measurable benchmarks and [a] timetable to accomplish those goals. The Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce, FannieMae, and local philanthropic organizations have expressed interest in being involved in this critical planning process. As Mayor Dyer said in his State of the City address in February, it will take leadership from the business community, civic and religious organizations and from the governments of all 86 cities and 7 counties of Central Florida to develop a long term plan of action.

The good news is that there is a wealth of resources and compassion in this community to assist the homeless, as evidenced by the outpouring of support at our recent Council meetings. However, everyone has their own idea of what should be done and how to do it. The real leadership challenge lies in channeling all of the energies and good intentions, getting everyone to the table, coordinating all of the providers, utilizing the best practices from around the country and tailoring a plan to fit our own unique circumstances here in Orlando.

As for our differences on the issue of feeding the homeless, the City is committed to maintaining an attractive safe area for groups to use at the Sylvia Lane site. We would encourage you to work with the City and social service agencies to enhance the site and coordinate the meals there so that we can best serve those in our community. If you have concerns about the Sylvia Lane site, please share them with us and help us determine how we can address those concerns. You might also consider working with existing providers to utilize their facilities in a mutually beneficial arrangement. And finally, I would urge you to work with us, along with faith-based organizations and downtown businesses, to try to locate an additional indoor feeding location so that individuals can be afforded the dignity of being able to sit down in shelter and enjoy the food that is being so generously offered to them.

Please contact me at (407) 246-2251 or Marsha Segal-George, Deputy Chief Administrative Officer at (407) 246-2612 at your earliest convenience, so that we can continue this important conversation for our community.

Sincerely,

Alana C. Brenner,
City Clerk

CC: Mayor Buddy Dyer
City Commissioners
Byron Brooks, Chief Administrative Officer
Cherly Henry, Chief of Staff
Jody Litchford, Interim City Attorney
Marsha Segal-George, Deputy Chief Administrative Officer
Lelia Allen, Director, Housing Development
Chief Michael McCoy, Orlando Police Department
Frank Billingsley, Director, Economic Development Department
Brie Turek, Press Secretary