You can listen to the audio from Monday night’s Sanford City Commission Meeting

The City of Sanford posts all meeting audio on its Web site. Click anywhere on this article to go to the City’s site or you can go directly to the link. SACSON’s issue comes in about 30 minutes into the meeting: http://www.ci.sanford.fl.us/audio-citycommission.aspx

Daytona Program Benefits Homeless Men, City

DAYTONA Beach, Fla. — Daytona Beach officials said its program to deal with its homeless problem has seen enormous success in its first 10 months.

The members of the Salvation Army’s clean streets team say that by picking up city streets they are lifting themselves off them.

To view the complete story, click anywhere or go directly to: http://www.wesh.com/news/21522450/detail.html

Sanford May Pass Tougher Panhandling Laws

Click anywhere to see Channel 9’s story …
WFTV.com

SANFORD, Fla. — The city of Sanford wants to be able to arrest some of its most aggressive panhandlers. Downtown business leaders have been pushing for tougher panhandling laws for years and now the city is about to pass them.

There’s nothing illegal about begging for money and, technically, that won’t change. What will be regulated is so-called “aggressive” panhandling, which is panhandling by someone who touches the person they’re asking for money, blocks an entrance to their car or building or anyone who panhandles while drunk.

For parents with babies or a group of shoppers, downtown Sanford may seem like an escape from urban hassle. But the very urban problem of panhandling has hit downtown hard. Now, the city thinks it may have a solution.

“I think it’s wonderful that they’ve actually done something about it,” Exclusive Cuts Salon owner Brenda Iles said.

Iles organized business owners after a panhandler forced his way into her salon. She likes the idea of arresting those who use intimidating tactics.

“That’s pretty much what the situation was, is they always wanted more. Once you gave them a little, they took more,” she explained.

However, targeting people who claim they’re just “asking for help” involves hurdles. There’s nothing illegal about walking through a public space with a cup or a hand out asking for money. In fact, it’s even protected by the Constitution.

That’s why Sanford leaders say the plan will only work if the city is very clear about what takes legal panhandling into the aggressive realm.

“The police know what they can enforce and citizens know what they can do or not do,” assistant city attorney Lonnie Groot said.

While many businesses welcome tighter restrictions, a few insist it’s a problem best handled at the personal level.

“You treat them with a little bit of respect and you explain to them that you’re in business the same way that they’re in business, to try and make a little bit of money,” Willow Tree Cafe owner Theo Hollerbach said.

The panhandling problem becomes more serious on the streets during the winter months, so the change comes at the right time. People who panhandle aggressively would face as much as 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.

Copyright 2009 by wftv.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Homeless: Orlando could be the most violent metro area in Florida, survey finds

OrlandoSentinel.com
By Willoughby Mariano

Sentinel Staff Writer

August 20, 2009

The nation’s third “meanest” city for the homeless may also be the state’s most violent toward them, say survey results being released today.

Forty-six percent of homeless people questioned in Orlando and Orange County in an ongoing local survey said they were physically attacked in the past four years by someone they thought was not homeless — well above Florida’s average of 27 percent, according to the National Coalition for the Homeless.

The same organization last month ranked Orlando as the third “meanest” city in the country, behind Los Angeles and St. Petersburg. A coalition report released earlier this month said that in 2008, Florida led the nation in violence against the homeless for the fourth year in a row.

This year alone, at least two homeless men have been slain in Orange County.

“To me, the statistics are shocking. It shows the problem is much worse than we thought,” said Michael Stoops, executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless.

Orange County’s results in this most recent survey are preliminary. There were 35 Orlando respondents and 1,350 statewide. However, in Orange Osceola and Seminole counties there are about 3,800 homeless people at any given time, according to the Homeless Services Network of Central Florida.

The network is in the midst of a more extensive local study that aims to survey 650 homeless people. It plans to release results this fall.

Here’s more about the coalition’s survey, and what it means.

Click anywhere to read the full article

NYC Homeless Given 1-Way Tickets; At Least 100 Sent To Fla. Since 2007

Click anywhere on the article and you’ll go to the link, if interested in watching the televised report

From WKMG TV
POSTED: Wednesday, July 29, 2009
UPDATED: 7:32 pm EDT July 29, 2009
ORLANDO, Fla. — New York City’s homeless are on the move, and many are being sent to the Sunshine State.

The city has been purchasing one-way tickets for homeless families to places all over the world since 2007.

Mayor Mike Bloomberg said the program is the only way to keep the people out of the city’s expensive shelter system. Some are concerned that the practice is just relocating the problem, and not resolving it.

Florida is dealing with nearly 86,000 homeless people and is in the middle of a crisis to provide shelter and affordable housing to the homeless population.

Downtown resident Ryan McKey said he doesn’t like the program.

“I just came from New York and didn’t have a problem. I get back here and get stopped for change on every corner. We already have too many homeless,” McKey said.

The practice, dubbed “Project Reconnect,” is aimed at homeless families in New York who have relatives elsewhere who are willing to take in the family member.

“I think it’s a good idea. Anything we can do to help families reconnect and possibly get them back on their feet is good,” Trey Killingsworth said.

It costs the city of New York around $36,000 a year to house and feed a family in a shelter. Considering that expense, a plane ticket can save the city thousands of dollars.

The Coalition of the Homeless of Central Florida applauds the goal of reuniting families, it said the program does not address the problem.

“On the downside of it, this is not a good way to address the homeless issue. Moving them from one corner to the next corner or one city to another is not addressing the issue of homelessness,” coalition CEO Brent Trotter said.

The New York department that oversees the program did not respond when asked for the exact number of homeless people who have been sent to Central Florida, but at least 100 families have been sent to Florida since the program began.

Copyright 2009 by Internet Broadcasting Systems and Local6.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Keeping up with the Orlando teen walking for the homeless …

Click anywhere on the story and you’ll be linked to David Ashby’s blog. Here’s his latest entry:

Still on hold

Okay i know many of you are wondering about my sister. As of right now I cannot tell you anything due to her want for privacy. She is still in the hospital and is recovering faster then we thought. When I have permission to release it to the public I will.

I will continue my Walk, I believe on Saturday in DeLand Florida. I will have to walk about 25-35 miles a day instead of the 21 we thought. I will have to catch up to were I’m supposed to be. Also my mother will be staying here in Virginia with my sister, so I will have someone else follow me instead. I as of right now have nothing else to report to you. I will continue to blog, more on the Walk then now.

Thank you all who are following my journey and who are concerned about my family,

David Ashby

Trek for homeless kids halted by accident

Click anywhere on the story and it will take you to the article.

A 14-year-old Florida boy says an accident involving his sister forced him to suspend his 1,100-mile walk to highlight the needs of homeless kids.

Orlando resident David Ashby said in an e-mail he would eventually continue along his lengthy trek, but not until after he spends time with his injured 10-year-old sister, Aubrey, the Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel said Thursday.

“I am sorry if this delay inconveniences anyone,” Ashby said, “but my family comes first, and I must be there for my sister in this crisis. I promise to return very shortly. My mission will not be complete until I return and continue my trek.”

Ashby’s sister suffered a brain injury Tuesday when she fell face first off her bicycle. She is set to undergo surgery at the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville, Va., the Sentinel reported.

The newspaper said Ashby began his cross-country journey on Monday and had planned to visit homeless shelters along his route while traveling an average of 21 miles a day. Ashby had been in DeLand, Fla., when he received the news of his sister’s injury.