Neighborhood Meeting To Discuss Temporary Housing For Homeless

NEW PORT RICHEY, FL -- Pasco County commissioners have a plan to help get homeless families off the streets. Now they want to know if the rest of the county agrees with them.

Pasco County Public Services will host an informational neighborhood meeting Wednesday, May 16, from 6 to 8 p.m. to discuss the proposed homeless Navigation Center in New Port Richey.

The meeting will take place in the first-floor board room at the West Pasco Government Center, 8731 Citizens Drive.

County staff will present plans to residents and business owners to transform the vacant Boys & Girls Club building at 8239 Youth Lane, New Port Richey, into a multipurpose center for homeless families to be operated by the Coalition for the Homeless of Pasco County.

The coalition is proposing a rehousing program that would serve up to eight families at a time until they can be relocated into affordable housing within 45 days. The proposed center would provide temporary housing (typically four to eight weeks) for families. During that time, the center will provide job training; resume building; financial literacy services; case management; and basic healthcare.

Coalition CEO Don Anderson said the program will focus on highly motivated families with children who are interested in finding a permanent home. He hopes to serve as many as 50 families a year.

At last count, there were about 2,500 homeless people in Pasco County.

The proposal to be presented Wednesday night is a change from the coalition's original plan to house up to 75 people in the building, which was revised due to the high cost.

Nevertheless, the new proposal has its share of dissenters.

County Commissioner Jack Mariano worries that this use of the building might reflect badly on the revitalized shopping center next door. He also feels the center is a duplication of services already provided by Metropolitan Ministries in Pasco County.

Resident Sabrina Taldone fears the center will attract crime and vagrants. She has started an online petition that now has 362 signatures.

"This proposed homeless center is an allegedly indispensable response to the threatening homeless problem in Pasco County," said Taldone. "While this is a serious and urgent issue, the Navigation Center is an unacceptable solution."

Taldone said, when Pinellas County opened a similar facility, crime complaints doubled during the first three months.

"Spending $600,000 for a 20-bed facility is absurd against thousands of homeless in Pasco," she said. "The demand and consequences will significantly outstretch the capabilities of this one small center."

She's also concerned that the center will lower property values in the area and hurt the surrounding businesses.

The planning commission will make a recommendation on whether to go ahead with the project at its June 6 meeting. A final public hearing is expected to take place on June 19.

Click here for an update on the conditional use status of the facility from Coalition for the Homeless for Pasco.

Image via Pasco County