Sarasota city officials have begun a renewed effort to end homelessness among veterans in the region. In a June 6 press conference, Sarasota City Manager Tom Barwin announced the city is bringing back a homeless response initiative that pairs law enforcement with social service providers. The outreach team includes veteran and licensed mental health counselor Calvin Collins who was introduced at the City Hall press event.
“Our goal is to engage the vulnerable population in Sarasota by identifying those homeless veterans,” said Collins. “Our goal through case management will lead them to social services, job opportunities, medical/dental care and shelter for those that will accept the help.”
Barwin says city administrators are requesting city commissioners appoint members of a veteran homelessness task force as well. According to Barwin the goal is to eliminate veteran homelessness in Sarasota within the next year. “As of January 2014, our best information is that there are 127 homeless veterans in Sarasota County,” said Barwin. “We probably have up to 60 vets or so that are homeless in or around the city.”
The re-introduced homeless response team was suspended about 2 months ago on the advice of homelessness expert and consultant Robert Marbut. Marbut has been working with Sarasota officials along with other communities in Florida including St. Petersburg, the Florida Keys, Pinellas County and most recently Fort Myers through the Lee County Homeless Coalition.
Marbut said the response team isn’t a bad idea, but that the first priority needs to be the creation of an all-inclusive ‘come as you are’ shelter that combines a variety of social service providers.
“It’s not going to be successful until you have a place to take people to,” said Marbut. “So the cart’s before the horse in that regard.”
Government analysis of two possible sites for such a shelter is still in the works. Barwin said bringing back the homeless response team initiative doesn’t conflict with Marbut’s recommendations. “The reality is even if everything falls into place perfectly, we won’t see the ‘come as you are’ shelter open in nine to 12 months and we want to be responsive now.”
In recent weeks, support for a shelter located in or near downtown Sarasota has waned following a recent altercation between a shop owner and a homeless man that sent them both crashing through the shop’s front window.
Marbut says in his experience the most effective homeless shelters are located in downtown areas, but that proximity to downtown isn’t what makes them successful. “Locations are not about downtown or not downtown,” said Marbut.
“It’s about, we are near a jail, these other services, these other large agencies because that’s that clustering of the effect of the benefit and candidly, everyplace I know of has built where homeless people are.”
The proposed sites will be evaluated at a joint meeting of Sarasota City and County commissioners June 23.
