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Homelessness isn't just an urban issue

The number of homeless people in Citrus County would surprise most residents, according to advocates and Sheriff Jeff Dawsy.

By JOHN FRANK
Published October 16, 2006

INVERNESS - The number of homeless people in Citrus County would surprise most residents, according to advocates and Sheriff Jeff Dawsy.

The county's rural setting doesn't mean homelessness isn't an issue, said DuWayne Sipper, executive director for the Path of Citrus County, a shelter in Beverly Hills.

Sipper said an advocacy group counted 468 homeless people in a recent one-day survey. The Path shelter takes a dozen people, and the Sanctuary Mission in Homosassa has just 10 beds.

Dawsy said law officers found one homeless man sleeping in the woods Friday morning during a search for a criminal suspect.

Vicki Genz, director of the Sanctuary, said another misperception is the type of people who are without homes.

"Homeless is not just out on the street. It's someone who doesn't have their own place," she said, noting that many women and children are displaced by abusive households.

Sipper said 90 percent of the clients that come through his shelter are refugees of domestic violence.

Dawsy acknowledged that when he was a street cop, he worried that crime would increase near the homeless shelters. But, he said, "that hasn't materialized."

His officers often call upon the shelters and local churches to house domestic violence victims and others who have to leave their home because of unsafe conditions.

Genz's operation provides a transitional learning environment, meaning its clients adhere to a strict regime with curfews and job placement programs.

"The whole goal is to put back their lives," she said.

The Sheriff's Office joined the leaders of the county's two homeless shelters to increase awareness of the issue and highlight their upcoming holiday fundraising drives.

Last month, the office pitched in to buy healthy and nutritious foods for the two shelters. They used $2,500 from a $25,000 grant from the Florida Attorney General's Office.

Dawsy said that using the grant money to buy the shelters food was the idea of the office's chaplains.

"It was a way to be proactive," said chaplain Gary Evans. "Rather than pick up the pieces of their life later."

John Frank can be reached at jfrank@sptimes.com or 860-7312.

[Last modified October 15, 2006, 20:05:26]