ORLANDO, Fla. — Orlando District 5 commissioner Shan Rose says city leaders are tabling discussions surrounding a 24/7 homeless shelter, following feedback from the community.
A meeting Tuesday night was supposed to kick-start talks between city officials and Rock Lake community members for a 250 bed open access shelter that would operate 24/7.
The city had narrowed locations they were looking at, and was considering a property in the 2100-block of West Washington Street in District 5 due to its condition, size and proximity to public transit.
Most Rock Lake residents who attended the meeting, though, say while they want the city to help the homeless population, they don’t want to bear the burden of another shelter in their backyard.
“It can never go in 4, 3, 2 or 1, it always has to go in 5 where we live and it’s not right,” said resident Tracy Anderson. “Why is it that some of these entities can go in other neighborhoods and mess their neighborhoods up? How would you feel if you come home, and somebody got your water hose on and drinking out of it, or taking a shower?”
According to the city of Orlando, the open access shelter would have operated with minimal entry requirements, which was also an issue for some residents.
“We want to try to have the area for our kids, and we want them to be able to play to be able to walk around, and we know that this open access center isn’t set up to where they’re looking at the IDs or doing any type of background checks,” said Gary Newton II, who has been a Rock Lake homeowner since 2006.
“We’re really trying to get the neighborhood to a certain state,” he said. “We don’t have a problem with the homeless shelters being in the area, we just feel like we have a lot of homeless shelters in the area.”
While many agreed with those sentiments, there are some who were open to the idea, hoping to help people living on the streets.
Recent data from Orlando officials showed Orange County has seen a 24% increase in unsheltered people since 2023, with just over half located in or near downtown Orlando.
“Yes, we need to do lots of things, there are lots of moving parts to this but remember we’re all a community and as a community, there are many different types of people in our village and some of them are experiencing homelessness,” said resident Gretchen Anderson. “They’re already here. They need a place to go and they’re all safer if they’re safer.”
Commissioner Rose says the next step is coming to together with city and county staff to identify other potential locations for such shelters that are not in District 5.
“These are mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters who are often homeless and that’s the reason why we have to come together,” she said. “District 5 unfortunately has the bigger burden of social services and so residents are saying no more here and that’s what we heard tonight.”
Rose says she will be doing outreach in the community and will launch a task force made up of residents to ensure that their issues can be heard going forward.
Lisa Portelli, Orlando’s advisor for homelessness and social services, said in addition to the city exploring an open access shelter, community partners like The Central Florida Commission on Homelessness and The Homeless Services Network Task Force on Open Access Shelters are exploring several locations in the region to address the unsheltered crisis.