Slowly, person by person, day by day, St. Pete’s tent city is shrinking.
Largely under the radar in recent weeks, the tent city has been steadily losing tents (and people) as city officials find homeless men and women temporary places to live. Director of Social Services Rhonda Abbott says 30 tents are left on the property, down from 75 when the tent city first went up. City officials are not allowing any more homeless into tent city.
“We’re working with the remainder of folks that are there to get them employed, into a place or into a treatment facility,†she says.
As I reported in this week’s issue, the tent city’s permit is set to expire at the end of May. And then?
“I doubt there will be any chance [the city] will renew the permit,†Abbott says.
Meanwhile, advocates say there are more homeless this month than last. An estimated 76 more homeless men and women are on the streets after Northwest Presbyterian Church ended its temporary shelter program on March 31. To further compound problems, the proposed mid-county shelter in Largo has come to a standstill.
Despite the enthusiasm displayed at the last homeless summit, homelessness doesn’t look like it’s leaving the city limits anytime soon — just look at Los Angeles.
This article appears in Apr 18-24, 2007.