Volusia County leaders are considering creating a new position to oversee the county’s homeless issue.
On Monday at Daytona Beach International airport, local volunteers presented a new plan to get people off the streets.
The new plan discussed Monday is modeled after Orlando and Orange County, one of the plan creators told the crowd. It includes starting a commission on homelessness, and to fund and hire a leader of the commission to act as a community liaison.
That person would be tasked with working to solve the crisis – and head up issues like how to shelter the homeless.
Chet Bell helped come up with the plan that's been in the works for nearly a year.
“It brings together all the different segments of the community that want to work on homelessness and it will provide a single voice," said Chet Bell.
Homelessness in Volusia County is a decades-old problem, but it’s been in the spotlight in recent weeks after a homeless camp ballooned outside a county government building in downtown Daytona Beach.
"I went out of business. I lost my house because I couldn't pay the mortgage," said a homeless man in the crowd.
"I see how difficult it is for families to overcome homelessness,” said Daytona Beach Commissioner Pam Woods, “The challenges that they face on many, many levels and how if you aren't collaborative, if you aren't working together, that you can't do anything to address it."
Commissioner Woods works with homeless families daily and is hoping the plan they heard Monday will keep people off the streets.
Leaders said there is money to get the job done, including government funding, private sector funding and grants that top out at about $5.5 million for both Flagler and Volusia counties.
Bell said that’s enough cash to meet their goal to provide every homeless person a roof over the heads.
"We need a community-wide approach to end all homelessness once and for all," said Bell.
Bell said they hope to establish this commission within the next 60 days.