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Tampa Church To Homeless: Don't Sleep On The Steps

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By ELLEN GEDALIUS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 3, 2007

TAMPA - About 18 months ago, about 10 homeless men sought refuge on the front steps of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in the heart of downtown.

They slept there peacefully, church officials said, and everyone got along.

In the past few months, though, the crowd sleeping on the steps of the Florida Avenue church swelled to about 70 people. More recently, the problems - fights, cursing, drunkenness, trash - grew, too.

Now Sacred Heart officials say the homeless, at least for the time being, are not welcome to sleep on the church's steps. They made the decision a few weeks ago.

"The whole scene had changed from people feeling very safe on the steps to people not feeling comfortable," the Rev. Andrew Reitz said. "We don't have any way of controlling the situation.

"It got to the point we said, unless we could have some supervision of the situation, we were not helping the situation of giving people a safe place to sleep at night," Reitz said.

About 9,500 homeless people live in Hillsborough County, but there are only enough beds for about 15 percent of them, said Lesa Weikel, community relations manager for the Homeless Coalition of Hillsborough County.

Beds are available at the Salvation Army, Metropolitan Ministries and other organizations.

The steps of Sacred Heart provided a safe place for the homeless to sleep, Weikel said. With so few beds available, the dislocated homeless probably are taking up shelter behind buildings, in alleys and under bridges "because there's not anywhere else for them to go."

Tampa Police Capt. Marc Hamlin said the problems at Sacred Heart developed a few months ago. Some people complained the homeless spilled into the sidewalks, blocking Twiggs and Marion streets. Some business owners complained the homeless were using their bathroom facilities.

"It just got out of Sacred Heart's control," Hamlin said.

The department's "calls for service" log doesn't show much of a pattern. To date, the department has fielded 51 calls at the church this year: 10 in July; one in August; five in September; 10 in October.

Calls were generally complaints of assaults, disturbances, thefts and liquor law violations, Hamlin said.

The city has struggled recently to balance accommodating the homeless while trying to build a more energetic, residentially oriented downtown.

In this case, however, the city did not ask Sacred Heart to remove the homeless from its steps. Instead, part of the impetus for the change came from an unlikely source: the homeless themselves.

Reitz said some of the original group of homeless people approached the church's leadership with complaints.

"At times, there was violence and people hitting each other," Reitz said. "That's when some of the regulars said they were uncomfortable. It's too bad because it could have worked out."

Reitz said the homeless were leaving a considerable mess on the church's property as well. Initially, the church would give the homeless brooms to clean up after themselves. But the larger group wasn't receptive and instead left food wrappers, cardboard boxes, cigarettes, plates, forks and spoons on the church steps.

Rats weren't uncommon.

Church staff members and committees are talking internally to generate ideas that might solve the problem, Reitz said. Meanwhile, the church remains committed to helping the homeless find rehabilitation services, counseling and jobs.

"Even though the homeless aren't on our steps, the situation is something we're still interested in," Reitz said.

Christine Burdick, president of the Tampa Downtown Partnership and Homeless Coalition board member, said she doesn't think an easy solution exists. She said Reitz called her a few weeks ago to tell her the church was asking the homeless to leave.

"I know it was challenging for them," Burdick said. "Sometimes they couldn't police that group of people, that community. I know that this wasn't easy for him."

Reporter Ellen Gedalius can be reached at (813) 259-7679 or egedalius@tampatrib.com.

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