The new measure makes panhandling on a street median that’s 6 feet or less wide illegal.
While city and police officials insist the ordinance is not targeting them, people who are homeless and their advocates say there’s no question who will be hurt the most.
“I’m living on the streets,” said Charles Smith, 35, who has been panhandling in the city for about a month, “and now you want to fine me because I’m out here trying to make a living?”
Smith said it’s so much easier for panhandlers if they can stand along a median as drivers waiting at a red light have time to think about giving spare change.
Home/Florida Good/Alachua County Conducts 2021 Point-in-Time Count Amid Pandemic
Alachua County Conducts 2021 Point-in-Time Count Amid Pandemic
By Lillian Lawson
January 27, 2021
Dozens of volunteers met at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church early Tuesday with coffee and donuts in hand, ready for the annual point-in-time count of homeless people in Alachua County.
The volunteers found their team and zone assignments on a whiteboard. Each team gathered plenty of red care bags with toiletries, socks, ponchos and snacks to give to those without shelter.
Their goal: Spending the day finding and counting as many of the homeless population within the county as possible.