FLORENCE, SC (WBTW) – The City of Florence launched the ‘No One Unsheltered’ project Monday afternoon.
City council amended the budget to set aside $75,000 to assist homeless shelters and nonprofits that combat homelessness. The goal is to have all of the homeless resources partners together to make sure every homeless person has a place to rest.
Each organization will be reimbursed by the city for its services.
“One of the issues that have been troubling this community and this council is homelessness. There are dozens of homeless organizations that deal with the issue from different perspectives. There are numerous causes of homelessness, whether it be mental health, financial problems, spousal/ child abuse, or some form of addiction. All of those organizations address homelessness and it’s causes from different perspectives,” explained Florence Mayor Stephen Wukela.For example, if one of the five shelters in the city are full. The program directors will find a spot at another shelter. Then provide transportation to the shelters.
“Each of them, of course, every year come to this council asking for support in those efforts. The council is very receptive to those requests and we desire to help them but you can’t really help them all. If you do, you end up spreading out what money you have so thin that it doesn’t make any real impact,” said Mayor Wukela. “We asked through the Mayors Coalition, all of these different organizations to come together with a collaborative program that involved them all, allowed them all to participate and to try to unify their efforts and share resources and share knowledge.”
Bryan Braddock, Chairman of the city homeless committee and Executive Director of the House of Hope says over 100 people have received services since July. The group anticipates having more people come in during the winter months.
“That’s when we have the most need of course when it gets cold. It goes from becoming a safety issue to a health [and] safety issue when it’s cold,” said Braddock. “The money is supporting us working together to meet the needs. I appreciate the support from the council.”
The ‘No One Unsheltered’ project will meet four times a year to review the outcome of the program and make adjustments.
Council also approved changes to the budget that could help prevent mosquitoes carrying the Zika virus.Last August, a Florence County woman was diagnosed with Zika after traveling to an area with the mosquito-borne disease.
One of the changes will include a nearly $20,000 grant from DHEC to purchase mosquito control equipment designed for mosquitoes that carry the Zika virus.
Other changes to the budget include the new redevelopment park project and additional purchases for police equipment.
Council is set to review the second reading at its next council meeting.
