Changing Laws To Help Orlando's Homeless

"'It's probably not legal,' says Orlando city commissioner Robert Stuart, who heads the nonprofit Christian Service Center. He is referring to the city's 1999 ordinance that forbids social-service groups that help the homeless in Parramore, like his, from expanding or renovating. The city has long felt the presence of social services - especially the Coalition for the Homeless - in the blighted neighborhood has hindered redevelopment. So, at the behest of city commissioner Daisy Lynum and Parramore landowners, the city passed a law."

"Since then there's been stalemate. The city wants the Coalition out of progress' way in Parramore but couldn't find a place to put it. Lynum didn't want it relocated into her district because too many social services are already crammed into poor, minority areas. Other commissioners weren't volunteering their districts, either."

"Meanwhile, the situation has worsened. The city has as many as 7,000 homeless people a night, yet there are only 2,000 beds to put them in. Many homeless people prefer the streets to the Coalition; the men's pavilion, where homeless men can sleep on mats on a hard floor, is perceived as dangerous. The Coalition also puts women and children into separate facilities."

"The Coalition and the city both agree that the facility, which opened in 1989, is outdated."