While ‘bridge’ shelter just opened, city is hurrying to find solutions before it closes
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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The temporary shelter that opened for people moved from a homeless camp along Union Street on Monday will be open for 27 more days.
The Temporary Bridge Shelter, being managed by Changing Homelessness and the City Rescue Mission, was donated by Jacksonville real estate company JWB. The company learned there was a need for space and wanted to help.
“I think the homelessness is a big issue here in Jacksonville and (we’re) just being able to be a small part of the solution,” JWB President Alexander Sifakis
Downtown Jacksonville homeless camp set to close Tuesday
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Jamil Boyd, 41, calls the site, nicknamed “Tent City,” home.
“I have been here for about three weeks,” he told News4Jax. “COVID hit, I got laid off.”
The residency of Tent City has grown over the last several weeks.
“Everybody who is out here, still out here, sticking it out, is actually needing the services,” Boyd said. “It is not a game.”
A count from volunteers on the property Sunday morning confirmed there were 153 tents with approximately 125 people within the perimeter secured by a fence and Jacksonville police.
Randy Reschly said he has lived at Tent City for about two weeks.
A homeless camp’s growth in downtown Jacksonville has sparked a new effort to move people there to hotels while seeking permanent housing for them, Mayor Lenny Curry said Wednesday.
The makeshift community’s spread during the COVID-19 pandemic poses a public health concern, Curry said as he and homelessness service providers outlined an initiative called Pathway to Home to handle it.
Four extended-stay hotels have contracted to provide rooms and more are in discussions, said Dawn Lockhart, the city’s director of strategic partnerships.
The effort targets about 50 households, maybe 75 adults, who have tents or makeshift shelters around a vacant block of Jefferson Street at Union Street, near charities that deal with homelessness.
Jacksonville to move people living on streets into hotels
‘Pathway to Home’ project hopes to get homeless into permanent housing within 30 days
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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Help is days away for those living in a homeless camp in Downtown Jacksonville.
Mayor Lenny Curry and the city’s COVID-19 Shelter Task Force announced details Wednesday of a plan to provide shelter, food and long-term options for the city’s homeless, saying outreach has begun at a homeless encampment on city property at Union and Jefferson streets to let people know they will be moved into hotels within days.
The city estimates that there are about 40 people in the camp, but officials say the problem is much greater, and they are working on that as well.
As Jacksonville homeless camp grows, city hopes to gain more funding
Shelters forced to reduce bed capacity due to COVID-19 social distancing rules
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Now, the corner of North Jefferson and West Beaver streets is home.
“A lot of people don’t care and some people do care,” Creed told News4Jax. “There are some compassionate people, but sometimes it’s a little far and wide. Sometimes you might get one meal a day.”
At 62 years old, Creed should be planning for retirement or spending time with loved ones. For now, that is not an option.
She showed News4Jax her bed, tucked underneath a blue tarp, protected from any potential rain. Depending on the day, there are 20 to 40 people living in the homeless camp.