KISSIMMEE, Fla. — A hotel in crisis is trying to clean their way out of trouble.
Star Motel and Lake Cecile Inn Resort have incurred over $1 million in fines for unsafe conditions, as hefty amounts of debris are piled up on the backend of the properties.
Barbie Austria, the founder of the nonprofit Kissimmee Poinciana Homeless Outreach, hired a truck to haul off some of this garbage. She said one of her goals is to remove 30,000 pounds of trash from the site.
They want to continue the cleaning up efforts on Thursday.
Sergine Lucien does not live at the Star Motel but she is compelled to come out here and be a part of these clean up efforts... She was once homeless living in a car, this is why she’s joining them. @MyNews13 #News13Osceola #N13COVID19 pic.twitter.com/m7g2jHMoVS
— Stephanie Bechara (@BecharaReports) June 30, 2020
“I would like to raise funding to relocate these families into permanent housing, affordable permanent housing,” Austria said. “I know I am asking for too much, but I am willing to work with anyone and everyone, but these families need to be out of this situation.”
Star Motel’s power was shut off on June 22 due to non-payment from management. The property manager said the hotels are dependent on the tenants’ rents to continue to rehab the properties but that at the moment, they barely have any rent money coming in.