News

Beacon for homeless casts a glare

Officials try to manage Sacred Heart's offer for the homeless to sleep on its property.

By JANET ZINK, Times Staff Writer
Published September 16, 2007

---

	Mike Sample sits on the steps of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Tampa, where he sleeps.
Chris Zuppa | Times

ADVERTISEMENT

TAMPA -- Each night just before dusk, dozens of homeless people gather across the street from Sacred Heart Catholic Church in downtown Tampa, waiting for the sun to fully set.

When it does, they approach the church steps, some spreading out collapsed cardboard boxes as makeshift beds.

For more than two years, shortly after Franciscans took over the 100-year-old downtown church, the steps have been a safe haven for the homeless.

But in recent months, the numbers have become overwhelming, with sometimes more than 50 people gathered there to sleep, spilling off the steps and onto the city sidewalks.

Now, even the church that had tried to be a beacon for the needy is taking steps to limit the visitors. And Tampa police are an increased presence.

From Aug. 10 to Sept. 10, 2006, police reported only one incident around the church on Florida Avenue at Twiggs Street. In the same period this year, there have been eight reported incidents.

"What started out as an act of charity became bigger than life," said Father Sean O'Brien, who every morning rouses the overnight guests and hands them brooms and bags so they can clean up the steps before downtown workers begin their day.

To get the crowd under control, O'Brien last month asked volunteer groups to stop bringing food to the church to feed the homeless.

"Some people thought that was uncharitable," O'Brien said. Others understood.

"Some of the homeless people told us not to allow the food because it would attract more people. And it did," he said.

Providing food also meant more trash, and more homeless men and women were using the church and surrounding properties as a public bathroom.

"That's become a big, big source of controversy," O'Brien said.

O'Brien hasn't fully welcomed the attention of the police. He was surprised two weeks ago when officers came to the church and warned people not to sleep on the sidewalks because it violated a city ordinance.

"Why it suddenly went into effect -- we were never really able to get a clear answer," O'Brien said.

Plus, the police have known about the nightly gathering for years, he said.

"It wasn't like they were blocking the sidewalk so nobody could get by," he said.

Tampa police Maj. Bob Guidara said the situation at the church has spiraled out of control.

"As a result of the accommodating posture they've taken, the logistics of harboring so many homeless has become impractical," he said.

It also poses health and safety issues. Many of the homeless people use the abandoned Old Federal Courthouse across the street as a bathroom. Fights break out.

"It's minimal effort to ensure that those people that are there are safe. As a result, we're removing those that don't know how to behave," Guidara said. "We're trying to work through this without being heavy handed."

Mike Sample, 46, who has been sleeping on the Sacred Heart steps for the past few weeks, says the relationship between the police and the homeless is not always contentious.

One night last week, he said, a police officer stopped in front of the church and handed out hamburgers. And he doesn't blame church leaders for wanting to weed out troublemakers.

"This is a church," he said. "You should respect it."

Most cities struggle

Tampa isn't alone in its struggles to accommodate its homeless population.

In St. Petersburg, the issue came to a head earlier this year when police slashed the tents of nearly two dozen homeless people camped beneath an overpass.

Community and city leaders are still working to determine the best way to shelter that city's thousands of homeless people.

In Tampa, O'Brien is mobilizing church members to expand their outreach beyond just providing a place to sleep. The church's recently formed Peace and Justice Committee works one on one with the homeless to get them the help they need.

Many are addicts, some have criminal records or mental disorders, O'Brien said. Some are violent. Some prefer living on the streets.

"It's a very, very complex issue," he said. "They're a lot of work."

The men and women who gather at Sacred Heart say they want people to understand that they're not all drug addicts, alcoholics and criminals.

Sample said a divorce left him without a place to live and he works odd jobs in the hope of saving up enough money to find a permanent home.

Paul Sanders, 19, ended up homeless shortly after being kicked out of a foster home when he turned 18.

"I don't want to be out here," he said.

He has been communicating with friends in Texas, trying to line up a job and a place to live.

John Tuttle, 44, recently diagnosed with melanoma, has struggled to make ends meet working construction. But with the slowing real estate market, he has ended up on the streets.

"There's no work right now," he said.

He said the last job he had was working on the SkyPoint condominium tower on Ashley Drive. He is bitter that the city recently stopped a church group from providing food to homeless people at Curtis Hixon Park at the urging of condo owners.

"I was good enough to work on them, but I wasn't good enough to eat food across the street from them," he said.

How to manage

Mark Huey, Tampa's economic development manager, says the homeless are part of most downtowns.

"Where it becomes an issue is where there's such a concentration, the general public's ability to use public spaces are hampered," he said.

The Homeless Coalition of Hillsborough County later this month will unveil a public awareness campaign to dispel stereotypes of homeless people. One goal of the campaign is to encourage business and community leaders to help address the problem.

"Breaking the cycle of homelessness is a very challenging issue. It takes an entire community to come together and assist with quality affordable housing, programs and services," said Rayme Nuckles, who heads the coalition. "We are grateful for the work of all the faith-based organizations in our community, we are specifically grateful to Sacred Heart for identifying homelessness as an issue."

Janet Zink can be reached at jzink@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3401.

[Last modified September 16, 2007, 01:33:08]

[an error occurred while processing this directive]