With a growing number of people in Central Florida living on the streets, in the woods or in their cars, Seminole County plans to hike the amount of money it gives to local shelters.
“We are getting more and more calls from people who are losing their housing because of rent increases,” said Carrie Longsworth, manager for the county’s community assistance division. “A large increase in those requests is from our senior population, as well as those on fixed incomes.”
After a recent county staff presentation about the dire need for homeless shelter beds and affordable housing, commissioners agreed to raise the community services agency’s budget to $1 million next fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1. That’s a 16%, or $157,767, jump from what the county has allocated annually for the past several years.
A third of it — about $333,000 — will go to the Rescue Outreach Mission in Sanford, Seminole’s only emergency homeless shelter, and three other smaller shelters in the area.
“But when you think of $300,000 being allocated to homeless shelters, it’s such a drop in the bucket considering the need,” Commissioner Amy Lockhart said.
The rest of the funding — about $667,000 — will go to non-profit organizations that help low-income residents.
Commissioners could even agree to dedicate more money when they approve next year’s budget in September.
The approach to funding is a change from the past several years, when Seminole dedicated a lump sum of about $842,000 each budget cycle to the four shelters in the county and non-profit agencies. The entities all competed for that pot of money. Now the county will give the shelters a guaranteed portion of the funds.
“Our homeless shelters are an essential need in the county,” Longsworth said. “And we obviously have very limited shelter beds.”
Rescue Outreach Mission, with 115 beds, would receive up to $206,460; SafeHouse of Seminole, with 48 beds, $86,580; and Recovery House and Boys Town, each with 12 beds, would receive up to $19,980 each, according to the proposal.
Chris Ham, executive director of the Rescue Outreach Mission, on Historic Goldsboro Boulevard, said he often has to turn people away because of limited bed space.
“It’s becoming a bigger challenge every day,” Ham said. “We’re seeing seniors whose $900-a-month rent is going up to $1,200 and $1,400 a month. And we’re seeing home insurance is also going up.”
One of the biggest challenges facing the Central Florida region of Seminole, Orange and Osceola counties is the lack of affordable housing. Inflation is adding to that burden, especially for shelters and charitable organizations, Ham said.
“All of us are dealing with inflation, which means higher costs for food, utilities, salaries,” Ham said. The county’s changes are “a big boon for us not to have to be in this competitive process [with other organizations].”
In January 2023, the most recent data available, 2,258 people in Central Florida were living in temporary shelters or considered homeless. Of those 587, were unsheltered or living on the streets, in woods or in cars. That’s a 75% increase from 2019, according to the Homeless Services Network.
Seminole staff proposed the changes after results of a recent county “community needs assessment” that included a survey conducted last February and March by the Florida Housing Coalition.
Results showed the top needs are homeless services, mental health and childcare. And the top housing needs are rent subsidy, housing for homeless families and funding for shelters.
