Kissimmee may pay homeowners to renovate garages for the homeless

In what may be a first-of-its-kind effort in Florida, Kissimmee hopes to use city funds to renovate homeowners’ garages into studio apartments for low-income residents.

The idea came from Commissioner Angela Eady, who said she was moved when she encountered a family with a baby sleeping in their car near her home.

“Seeing a family like that, it just hurts,” Eady said. “I thought about it and I said there has to be something that we can do.”

If adopted and implemented, the policy would offer Osceola County’s growing number of homeless a new avenue for affordable housing in a county that has no comprehensive homeless shelters and a city without any. The city council unanimously agreed Tuesday evening to study how to translate Eady’s idea into action.

Since 2019 Osceola County has seen a 70% increase in those experiencing homelessness, according to recent regional data. Advocates for the homeless say Florida’s recently adopted ban on public camping and Kissimmee’s ordinance that prohibits sleeping in your car make it critical to find new and innovative solutions for those who cannot afford market-rate housing.

As attractive as Eady’s idea may sound, it raises a host of difficult questions, including: How many Kissimmee homeowners would participate? How would their neighbors react? How would “affordable” be defined, and how many homeless could afford the rental rate that is set?

City officials are already grappling with some of those issues. The study, which could be complete within 30 to 60 days, will look specifically at providing funding assistance for the renovation or construction of accessory dwelling units, spokesperson Alibeth Suarez said in an email.

To apply for city funds homeowners probably would have to have a two-car garage, not live within a homeowners association, have a homestead exemption and agree to keep the unit affordable for multiple years, Suarez said.

Rev. Mary Downey, CEO of Hope Partnership, said such creative thinking is sorely needed. The nonprofit has seen a 20% increase over the last year of people seeking their services, which include serving food and providing showers. As many as 1,300 people show up weekly, she said, most of whom are living in their cars, in tents and in motels across Highway 192.

“I just was talking to one of my case managers who was telling me just this week he’s worked with two different single moms who have been living in their car with their children and luckily we were able to get them into some temporary housing,” Downey said.

Downey said the city will need to put protections in place for those who rent the units under its new program. She said she hopes to see units that are safe, clean and inspected consistently.

“This is me speaking for the last 15 years of experience and having people come into this space and tell me about how they rent a room for $800 and they’re literally locked into that room every night,” Downey said.

Ashon Nesbitt, CEO of the Florida Housing Coalition, said Kissimmee’s “novel” idea is “commendable” but in order for it to work the city needs to get buy in from homeowners.

“They’ll also need some technical assistance for homeowners navigating the whole permitting and construction process,” Nesbitt said. “There’s also the whole becoming a property manager, so there’s a lot of pieces to it that have to be addressed to make it as easy as possible for the homeowner to get it done and then to manage it.”

But Nesbitt said if successful, the policy could make a big impact as many homes are built with large garages that many families don’t use.

“I think to offer this as an option is really good and one for other communities to watch,” Nesbitt said.

Kissimmee is taking the first leap in Florida but California and New York already have similar programs in place. The two states, which grapple with large homeless populations, have drawn more applicants to provide the housing than they allocated funds to pay for, leading to many who never get their chance to renovate.

But Eady is optimistic that a successful program in Kissimmee not only helps the homeless but also the homeowners struggling to pay their mortgage or insurance costs.

“It’s a win for everyone,” Eady said.