In Orlando, $350K moved 250 people off the streets
For four years, Vanessa Artis and her two adult children slept on the sidewalks of Parramore, hoping for a bed of their own.
Finally last year their fortunes began to change with the help of the Christian Service Center and a rush of federal funding that has made a surprisingly large dent in the neighborhood’s ongoing homelessness crisis.
First, the Artis family was placed in an extended-stay hotel. Once she had a stable job, they were moved to an apartment in Sanford, where the nonprofit helped them afford to settle.
“Being able to have somewhere to stay, to stabilize myself and being able to work, that was my whole goal,” she said. “That was the blessing of them, they basically saved me.”
The Artis family’s experience is testament to the power of a $617,000 federal grant, and the creative work of the Christian Service Center and the city of Orlando in devising a program they hope can be replicated elsewhere.
Initial grant documents showed a goal of using the money to rescue about 40 people in Parramore from homelessness, with a focus on women and children. A final report of the program’s first year shows 257 people, or 111 households, were lifted from homelessness using about $346,000 of the grant money to do so.
The remaining funds were used to set up a walk-up site for people experiencing homelessness to receive services and to survey the people sleeping outside — two initiatives that should help more people in the future.
With a successful first year, city officials and the nonprofit are planning to continue their efforts with a second batch of federal funding. Next month, the city council will likely see a proposal to continue it with another $350,000 Orlando expects to receive from the feds.
Part of the program’s success is because there were a lot of ways the money could be spent, so long as it was related to helping somebody end their homelessness, said Lisa Portelli, a senior advisor on homelessness to Mayor Buddy Dyer. The federal program, called RUSH, was initially designed for communities impacted by Hurricane Ian, but its requirements were not rigid.
“We need additional dollars like this and the flexibility,” she said.
For instance, $29,447 was spent on bus, plane or train tickets for 57 people who had families willing to house them out of the area for at least six months, the report shows.
Another 174 people, or 73 families, needed help getting into an apartment, often in the form of financial assistance for a security deposit, as well as covering the required first and last month’s rent. Ninety-two people were temporarily housed in hotels before more permanent housing was available.
Despite that chunk of people aided, the region and neighborhood are still in the throes of a crisis. Unsheltered homelessness is up 75% across the Orlando area over the past five years and many are experiencing it for the first time, said Eric Gray, the CEO of the Christian Service Center.
“There’s new people every day,” Gray said. “You have to address the issue at its source, which is the construction of affordable housing. But while you’re doing that, you can’t ignore the emergency that’s in front of you.”
Clarissa Bórello said she and her two toddlers were especially grateful for how quickly they were moved through the program, and eventually into an apartment.
She’d just escaped an abusive relationship and was staying temporarily at a family member’s home.
Within days of her first conversation with the Christian Service Center, the family was placed in a hotel room for two weeks, and then they found their apartment in Orlando. For Bórello, who works in car rentals, the nonprofit ultimately paid a total of $4,760 in hotel and moving costs.
“It was life-changing,” she said. “The big thing that made a big difference in what their program did, is they understand the urgency.”
Gray said the program didn’t require a lot of staff or even a lot of money, so he hopes it’s a model that can be replicated in other areas of Central Florida like Apopka, Kissimmee or Sanford.
“My hope is more that people say ‘look at what is possible with this kind of investment,’” he said.
Of the families in touch with case managers at the center, everybody remains housed, he said.
More thorough tracking will continue in the coming months to assess results.
For Artis, even while she was on the streets, she maintained her license to work as a security guard. Since having a steady roof over her family’s head, she’s been able to get a license to work as armed security.
The program provided her $10,200 to pay for a hotel stay, move-in costs and utility deposits. Now she has a steady job working at a hotel and is able to pay her rent while building her savings.
Her children are doing much better too.
“It was stressful for them being on the street,” she said. “Now we’re in a place that is very much better.”
