By Margie Menzel
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wfsu/local-wfsu-885547.mp3
Tallahassee, FL –
Behind Tallahassee's emergency shelter on a brisk, sunny afternoon, homeless people are bundled up at picnic tables. They're not allowed inside during the day. Some sit quietly. Others play chess or, like Theodo Buttes, dominoes.
"It's just a way to keep your mind off the weather," said Buttes. "Just a way to keep your mind off the weather."
Tallahassee's The Shelter, on West Tennessee Street near the state capital, has been open since 1991. It's gone from serving some 80 people nightly to more than 250 some nights this winter. Homelessness in Florida really spiked in 2004 and 2005, says Tom Pierce, director of the Office of Homelessness at the Department of Children and Families.
"The numbers that we can count have been pretty consistent, around 50-to-60,000 people on any given day," said Pierce. "The spikes we saw in 2004 and 2005 directly related to hurricanes."
It's hard to guess the numbers because homelessness is shifting sand. Many move from night to night among family and friends. A 2004 study of 50 cities by the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty found that in virtually every place, the number of homeless people exceeded the number of emergency shelter and transitional housing beds.
"Especially at food pantries, a lot of them are saying the people that used to donate or volunteer there are starting to become people who are in need of their services," said Dawn Gilman, executive director of the Emergency Services and Homeless Coalition of Jacksonville.
Rural counties often fare worse. About nine percent of the nation's homeless are in rural areas, according to the Council for Affordable and Rural Housing. The Shelter in Tallahassee serves seven counties. One night last month, with temperatures in the low 40s, 41 people slept outside behind the building while 210 slept inside, in beds inches apart or on mats on the floor.
"We really don't have enough low-income housing," said Pierce. "And not just what we call affordable. What we're talking about: the publically-assisted. The issue that's really oversubscribed demand-wise is the rent-subsidy programs of the federal government, the Section 8 rent. I mean, most communities don't even take applications for that program anymore."
A 2006 report found the fair-market rent for a two-bedroom apartment in the Tallahassee area to be $687 but a minimum-wage worker would have to work 86 hours a week to afford it. Meanwhile, the recession is putting long-term-employed people out of their homes.
"We have seen an increase in people who have been completely stable, have never sought services prior to this, suddenly trying to navigate the system," said Gilman.
Florida's unemployment rate, which is the biggest predictor of homelessness, is higher than the national average and expected to rise to 12.3 percent this summer. It's too soon for hard data on how that's affecting homeless services, but anecdotally, providers say the gap between need and response is widening. Tom Pierce said the non-profit service agencies are struggling to maintain the programs that they've had.
"The key is going to be how fast the economy bounces back," Pierce said. "And I think that's going to be the real driver in terms of how critical we are in terms of increasing numbers versus the resource base that we have."
Gilman says the two fastest-growing homeless populations are veterans and young children. According to a 2008 report by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, 13 percent of homeless people are veterans 19 percent are employed 26 percent have a mental disability 13 percent have a physical disability and 19 percent of single homeless people are victims of domestic violence.