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Shelter, empathy for those in need

Those who paid attention to the drama swirling around a tent city for the homeless in St. Petersburg over the past week learned something about this place they call home. First, the homeless have a face and voice. In an extraordinary City Council session, the residents of tent city got a rare chance to make their case for understanding and empathy. Mostly, they succeeded.

Whether for reasons of bad luck or bad choices, those men and women find themselves at the bottom of a competitive, rapidly changing society. It is not to their advantage or ours to allow them to stay there without the offer of a hand up.

We also learned that though the needs of the homeless are largely unmet in St. Petersburg and Pinellas County, it isn't for a lack of effort on the part of some dedicated and caring people. When tent city residents thrust themselves into the public eye, the bureaucracy responded with surprising speed. County, city and private agencies met with every resident and gave aid, or at least offered it. Some of the homeless got rent vouchers, others a bus ticket back to where family or friends could help. Some got spots in an overnight shelter, and some turned down the help as too little, too late.

No one should believe that a rent voucher or bus ticket will solve the problem for long. As we learned from some tent city residents, you can have a job and still not be able to afford the escalating cost of housing here. Many people in the tent city are members of the "chronic homeless" class, those who repeatedly find themselves on the streets and may have been there for a year or more. It is common for those people to suffer a serious medical condition or mental illness, or to be drug or alcohol abusers.

This nation, much less one city or county, has failed to find a ready solution for those ills. At least the tent city identified the immediate need. "Beds are the top priority," said Sarah Snyder, executive director of the Pinellas County Coalition for the Homeless, a nonprofit group trying to coordinate resources for the homeless.

By beds, Snyder means places in emergency shelters. There is far more demand than the various charitable organizations running shelters can meet. That's how the tent city was born.

Housing for the homeless falls into three categories: emergency shelter, transitional housing or permanent supportive housing. None is adequate to meet demand, but to avoid more tent cities, the immediate focus has to be on emergency shelter.

Some shelters allow no more than a five-day stay, not enough time to stabilize a situation. The Pinellas Homeless Leadership Network - which includes officials from local government, nonprofits and the business community - is working on a business model for three new emergency shelters, one each in north, central and south Pinellas. But that plan is a year from being completed.

Meanwhile, Snyder and others are searching for a quicker solution. If they are able to find a building or land suitable for a shelter, it will be up to the cities and county to fund the project. Anyone who is offended by the tent city or homeless people sprawled out in public parks should support this effort rather than condemn it.

Some of the homeless who spoke at the St. Petersburg public hearing say all they want is a safe, comfortable place to sleep and somewhere to store their belongings while they try to get their lives together. Providing that baseline of dignity is a goal the entire Pinellas County community should be able to support.

[Last modified January 14, 2007, 20:23:37]