The Pinellas County Commission meets today. Soon the Commission will decide what to do with about a million dollars designated for homeless initiatives. 17 different providers have submitted applications for funding, including Catholic Charities, for their Pinellas Hope Project.
Last Friday, Pinellas Hope broke ground on phase two of their Tent City project for the homeless.
Catholic Charities has said they'll need $600,000 to keep Pinellas Hope going. And if they don't receive that funding from the County, they say they their Tent City project could be in serious trouble of sticking around.
Meanwhile, across the Howard Franklin, Catholic Charities got a boost last week in their campaign to build a Tent City in the East Lake Park District of Hillsborough County.
Recently, the hearing officer that the group has been trying to persuade to get the project going, James Scarola, reversed his previous opposition and now is in support of the 250 bed facility.
Despite his previously declared criticism of the project, County Commissioners themselves were stunningly in support of it when it has came before them. All that is, except for Commissioner Kevin White, who represents the East Lake Park area.
Homelessness has been a problem in American cities for over 20 years now. But locally the Tampa Bay area has not fared well in its treatment of the homeless, according to the National Coalition of the Homeless.
Also today, at noon, MoveOn.Org is hosting a pro health care reform rally in Tampa, in front of the Blue Cross Blue Shield headquarters at 4350 Cypress Street in Tampa
This article appears in Sep 2-8, 2009.