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Letter to the editor

Resources for homeless try to fit needs of women

By CRISTINA SILVA, Times Staff Writer
Published September 4, 2007

Cynthia Moreno, 18, spends the afternoon sitting underneath the bridge at 15 Street North and 5th Avenue North. New statistics show the homeless woman population is on the rise in St. Petersburg.
	[Times photo: Willie J. Allen, Jr.]

ST. PETERSBURG - Cynthia Moreno wears rhinestone-crusted barrettes and sparkly aquamarine eyeshadow.

She likes to go to the beach and shop for pretty clothes. With more than 200 MySpace friends, she seems no different from most teenage girls except Moreno, 18, is homeless.

She spends most of her days sitting on a dusty curb under a highway overpass.

"I try to have fun when I can. I live each day in the moment," she said while sitting outside a St. Vincent de Paul food bank on a recent afternoon. "I have a lot of friends on the street."

Young women like Moreno, who are homeless because of bad decisions and unreliable family members or friends, are becoming more common, city officials and homeless advocates say.

In recent months, the population of women living on the streets in St. Petersburg has spiked, and county officials say they expect the homelessness to spread throughout Pinellas.

"We are dealing with women who have become homeless because of lost jobs or medical problems," said Sarah Snyder, executive director of the Pinellas County Coalition for the Homeless. "We have some that have substance abuse problems. These are people who cannot find affordable housing."

The rise in the female population has social services agencies scrambling to add extra beds in women-only shelters and provide other services specific to women at a time when funding for nonprofits has been slashed nationwide.

Of 2,219 homeless people in Pinellas who were surveyed in January, nearly 30 percent, or 625 respondents, were women.

Finding shelter for these women, especially those with children, can be more difficult than finding a place for men to sleep because safety is generally a greater concern, advocates said.

Moreno, a former foster child, became homeless two months ago when she moved to St. Petersburg from Knoxville, Tenn., with her best girlfriend. The two moved into an apartment together, but when her pal met a new guy, Moreno was told to move out, she said.

Moreno then met someone outside a Salvation Army shelter and decided to stay on the streets with him instead of moving back in with her mother in Knoxville.

She is optimistic they will save some money to return to her hometown.

"Living on the streets is what you make of it," she said. "I would be bored if I was by myself."

Cristina Silva can be reached at 727 893-8846 or csilva@sptimes.com.

[Last modified September 4, 2007, 07:00:38]