Page 10 - Layout 1

Mayor’s Message

or anyone who lives or travels to downtown, it’s hard to miss the tragedy that
has enveloped the plaza between the main library and Stranahan Park. Some
F75 to 100 homeless people have pitched tents or laid out sleeping bags
because they have nowhere else to go for shelter.
For too long, this encampment has stood as a symbol of our community’s inability
to adequately address the issue of homelessness. These are people who need help
not only in en-suring they have food and shelter, but also to find work, recover from
substance abuse or overcome health issues.
Hope is on the horizon.
Over the past six months, the city has been working with Broward County, the
business community, faith-based groups and non-profits to develop long-term
solutions. We expect to roll out our new initiative within the next few weeks.
Our first step will be to help those in the downtown encampment find shelter and
help. Then, we will address the other homeless around the city. There are some
2,000 homeless across our community.
Dean Trantalis
Mayor, The main component of the plan is to expand a rapid-rehousing program.
City of Fort Lauderdale Homeless individuals would be placed in supportive housing where caseworkers
would link them to the social ser-vices that they need. It’s important that we combine
housing with social services otherwise many would likely return to the streets. Help
will be targeted to individual circumstances be-ginning with immediate health care
and mental health assessments followed by regular interaction with caseworkers.
The homeless shelters that we have are regularly full. We have been expanding their
capacity, but this alone is insufficient and not appropriate for more than a short,
emergency stay. As a result, our homeless partnership has been working to identify
apartment units or hotel rooms that can be made available. For some, the stay may
be while they receive job assistance or go through recovery. But for a few, the
housing will be permanent because of physical or mental health issues. Permanent
housing, though, will be a last resort as we will also look for any family members that
can assist. Our partnership is committed to family reunification when it is possible.

Both the county and city are increasing how much we spend on homelessness so
we can launch this program. In addition, we have received tremendous support
from the private sector. Among the major financial contributors are AutoNation,
BB&T, Bank of America and the Castle Group.
Office Contact:
Scott Wyman While housing is costly, it is less expensive than the current hidden costs of
Assistant to the Mayor homelessness born through our hospitals and jails. The program should reduce
Email: swyman@fortlauderdale.gov emergency room visits as well as the rate of incarceration.
Phone: 954.828.5004
We plan to direct people into the housing-social services program through a
couple efforts.
First, we will launch a very targeted and well-crafted outreach to the homeless to
encourage them to take the assistance. Second, we are creating a special
Community Court where individuals charged with offenses like panhandling and
camping in public places are not jailed but instead are placed into our new network.
We recently conducted a successful dress rehearsal of the Community Court at City
Hall in preparation for the start-up. In addition to the rapid-rehousing and

8 The Landings & Bay Colony