Homeless center proposal gets cool reception

By John Labriola - Citrus County Commissioner Holly Davis' proposal for a county homeless center in Lecanto drew critical reactions from her colleagues last week as commissioners questioned government's ability to effectively handle the problem of homelessness.

"Nonprofits do a very good job of helping [homeless] people, and personally I do not believe that is government's place," said Commissioner Diana Finegan. "I'd encourage anyone who's concerned with homelessness to get involved with a nonprofit."

Commissioner Rebecca Bays said the focus should be on addressing the underlying factors that produce homelessness. 

"I think the proper course of action on something like that is to go to the root cause, and many times it's mental illness or substance abuse," Bays said.

Commissioners were reacting to a recent news report that described Davis' proposal for an open-door homeless processing center on Lecanto Highway between the College of Central Florida and the Citrus County Transit Center. Davis said the center would provide the homeless with a place where they could get a hot meal and shower, wash their clothes, and get referrals to other services, adding that the center would have some beds available "for emergencies." Funding would come from a combination of state and federal grants and private donations, she said.

Mike O'Connell of Floral City warned commissioners that building a homeless shelter could attract hordes of drug addicts to the area, as happened in his former hometown of St. Augustine.

"I've discovered that whenever the public sector gets involved, as opposed to churches and private charitable efforts, the government unfortunately has a tendency, no matter how well-intentioned, to make the problem worse," he said.

Davis responded to the criticism by saying her idea is "a work in progress," acknowledging that "maybe it won't get any traction." 

"I'd like to see something like that happen, but it needs to be a team effort," she said.