Longtime Point-in-Time (PIT) count volunteer Michelle Green believes the upcoming data may not fully capture the scope of homelessness in the region. Click here for the story.
NOTE: This story originally appeared on WUCF.
Interviewing BHC Executive Director, Amber Carroll, Daily Bread Executive Director, Jeff Njus, and a former Genesis House resident, Krystel highlights the challenges of those living unsheltered in Brevard. To watch the segment, click here.
Aired: January 23, 2025.
Jeff Njus, Executive Director of Daily Bread, shares his thoughts on this year’s Point in Time Count. Click here for the full story.
Today, the United States Supreme Court ruled in City of Grants Pass, Oregon v. Johnson in favor of the City of Grants Pass. The crux of this case hinged on whether issuing civil citations and criminal charges, per the City of Grants Pass’s municipal ordinances, on those sleeping in designated public spaces constitutes cruel and unusual punishment if no practical shelter option exits or it does not have sufficient capacity. While many cities across the U.S. have similar ordinances which apply to the general population, these ordinances disproportionately and negatively affect the homeless population without addressing long term solutions. You can read the Supreme Court’s decision here: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/23-175_19m2.pdf.
The Brevard Homeless Coalition, serving as the Lead Agency for the Brevard Continuum of Care (CoC), believes that homelessness is a symptom of a greater housing crisis. As a community, our best path forward towards making homelessness rare, brief, and non-recurring is to address the root cause – a lack of affordable housing. Housing is the solution to homelessness. While the development of new affordable housing units is a multi-year effort, an immediate and critical need is to connect those living unsheltered to resources and a safe place to stay. Currently no drop-in shelters exist in the County. We are advocating for three drop-in centers located in the north, central and south parts of the County.
We invite the community to join the Brevard Continuum of Care, a free membership organization, to become educated on the issues impacting our homeless residents and to become an informed advocate for the development of more affordable housing units and drop-in shelters. To learn more, please see here: https://brevardhomelesscoalition.org/coc/join-the-coc/.
https://www.wesh.com/article/homeless-problem-florida/44057407
May 20, 2023
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