TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

St. Pete To Open New Tent City For Homeless Dec. 1

ADVERTISEMENT

By CARLOS MONCADA, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 2, 2007

ST. PETERSBURG - Images of police with box cutters, slicing and discarding homeless people's tents as a fire and safety threat, cast a national spotlight on St. Petersburg's treatment of its neediest residents.

Now, with a new tent city preparing to open Dec. 1, local leaders are hoping to avoid a possible repeat of January's tent slashing.

Catholic Charities, at the request of the Roman Catholic Diocese of St. Petersburg, is heading an effort to transform 10 vacant acres at the end of 126th Avenue North, just west of 49th Street North, into a temporary home for up to 250 street people, primarily from St. Petersburg, where most of the county's estimated 5,000 homeless are concentrated.

The project is timed for the annual migration of homeless people from colder places.

"It showed us that we had to get prepared in advance this year and not just let this happen to us," Catholic Charities President Frank Murphy said.

"We said, 'Let's try to approach this in a more proactive way and look for a place where we can have these people be safely and securely,'" Murphy said. "So, yes, having lived through that last year, we sort of said we need to do something this year."

Offering 5 Months Of Stability

They came up with Pinellas Hope, an unusual social experiment that has the blessing of city and county leaders.

For five months, until April 30, homeless people can take advantage of creature comforts others take for granted: a place to sleep and shower, the use of a bathroom, and a meal, in modular structures as well as tents.

People can develop a sense of stability at the new campsite, start looking for work and eventually move into low-income housing, Murphy said.

"We'll try and provide for them reasonable living conditions, social service support, a warm meal at night and just treat them with respect and dignity and try to help them get out of the difficulties and throes of homelessness," he said.

The new tent city is in an industrial zone, away from residential and commercial areas. Last year's tent city in St. Petersburg, and another that sprang up nearby, drew complaints from adjacent businesses and residents.

The diocese provided the land, which is being cleared of dead trees and heavy brush by St. Petersburg workers and a private company. Pinellas County human services officials are providing $460,000 to help with operating costs, including 24-hour security.

Private donors such as Harry Stonecipher, former president and chief executive officer of Boeing, are giving more than $500,000 to provide sewer and other utilities. Catholic Charities is kicking in about $150,000 worth of services.

In all, more than $1 million in public and private contributions and in-kind services are going into Pinellas Hope.

"There's a lot of people out there, that all they need is a chance," Stonecipher said after touring the site Wednesday afternoon with Murphy.

"If this can make a difference in a few lives, it will all be worthwhile," he said.

The plan is to use vans and buses to bring street people to the site from popular homeless spots such as Williams Park in downtown St. Petersburg.

The campsite is along a major bus line, and organizers envision giving some people bus passes.

More Volunteers Are Needed

Dozens of volunteers have been enlisted, but dozens more are still needed.

"We're going to be feeding about 250 people a night for about 150 nights," Murphy said. "You can imagine what kind of volunteer effort that's going to take."

The Rev. Bruce Wright, who runs Refuge Ministries in St. Petersburg, has concerns that the city may use the campsite to enforce ordinances the city council passed in March.

Those ordinances, enacted in response to the tent cities that formed, essentially prohibit people from sleeping on sidewalks next to residential properties and in city rights of way if shelter space is available.

"We're already being told by such a wide range of homeless people that law enforcement is already intimidating them with this opening of Dec. 1, to the point of saying, 'Come Dec. 1, we better not see any of you guys hanging out at Williams Park anymore,'" Wright said.

Wright said that though he would encourage any homeless person who wants to use the campsite to do so, many will choose not to go because of the background checks that will be required of those staying there and because it will take some farther from their places of work.

"It's not really about helping the homeless as much as it is about getting them out of downtown for the tourist season," Wright said.

Reporter Carlos Moncada can be reached at (727) 451-2333 or cmoncada@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT