MELBOURNE, Fla. – Officials with the city of Melbourne say the community has a growing problem with homeless camps. 

What You Need To Know

  •  Melbourne officials say the city has a growing homeless problem on private properties

  • The city said they have discovered more than 35 camps on public and private property

  • The Brevard Homeless Coalition's latest count shows 815 homeless in the county

Many of them are riddled with signs of heavy drug usage, and Mayor Paul Alfrey said they found 35 camps on city property alone — camps that he wants gone.

Spectrum News 13 was there last summer when the city dismantled one large homeless camp along U.S. 1 on the banks of the Indian River.  

The camps are also popping up on vacant private properties in Melbourne.  

"It's an absolute shame," Alfrey said. "Imagine if you owned this property and the destruction of this."

Property owners are now caught up in a complicated issue, and they’re looking for solutions on how to best move these homeless camps. 

Plus, they are having to take on the expense of cleaning up the trash heaps left behind – some of which are potentially toxic.

"Not sure how long they were in here for, but they did a number," said Alicia Pepin, one of those property owners dealing with the mess left behind by a former homeless camp. 

About a month ago, she got a call about homeless people living on her property near Interstate 95.

Officials with the city of Melbourne say they have discovered more than 35 camps on public and private property.

"You pay your tax dollars to have things only for people to destroy it," Pepin said.

Walking inside the more than 100-year-old farmhouse on the property, she showed how it was left littered with old food cans, dirty clothing and trash — plus signs of drug use, like a bent spoon.

Pepin said it's especially frustrating since her father left the property to her and her brother, and they had planned to build a family home on it.

Melbourne Police trespassed more than a dozen homeless people staying on the property in the past month.​ The Brevard Homeless Coalition's latest count shows 815 homeless people in the county, many of whom are living on private properties like Pepin's.

James Dean was hired by a nearby property owner to go into these vacant properties to work with the homeless and encourage them to leave before the police are called.

"This was a homeless camp — multiple people were out in this area," Dean said.

It's now a pile of rubble, ready to be taken to the dump. The entire area is full of trash, junk, and filth.

Dean is well known around Melbourne as a wildlife trapper for more than 20 years. He cares for his community and is troubled by what he sometimes finds. Making matters worse, he often finds evidence of heavy drug use.

"I wear steel soles on the bottom of my boots in case I step on a needle," he said.

Dean said he has compassion for the people living like this, but it's a tough situation with few answers.

"This could be me out here, so I try to be as nice as possible," he said. "But some of these people do not want the help and they don't care for the help."

There is help available for homeless people living in the county's camps.

The Melbourne City Council recently approved $250,000 in grant funding for the new 2022 Street to Home program, which is already helping nearly 100 local people dealing with homelessness. 

​The cities of Melbourne and Palm Bay are partnering with Daily Bread to expand services and housing availability. ​Daily Bread is also helping with the Street to Home program, which has been assisting homeless for the past three years.

The organization is in the planning stages of finding funding for a new facility, which advocates hope will help even more homeless people bridge the gap in finding a place to live.