ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Driving or walking around the 32825 ZIP code in the Orlando area, it doesn’t take long to find people who have taken to sleeping in tents or doorways.
Jessica Long told News 6 her son was attacked by a homeless man while he was on his way to school.
“It was early in the morning, and he was on his way to high school,” she said. “He called on the phone completely freaking out.”
Long said her son told her he was ordered off his bike at knifepoint by a man who then rode off on it.
Orange County sheriff’s deputies later found the bike and the man – 46-year-old Robert Alan Blackwood.
According to his arrest report, Blackwood is homeless.
“It’s people that are experiencing great despair, and they have nowhere else to be,” Long said. “Then they have bad actors preying on that community. This is my neighborhood, and I can’t let my children go outside.”
Long first alerted News 6 about this issue on ClickOrlando’s Hits the Road page, and some of her neighbors saw it too.
Lee said: “The homeless population in east Orange County has increased in the last few months, setting up camps all over.”
Susan wrote: “Panhandlers are coming up to the car window. What will be done?”
News 6 took those concerns to Samaritan Resource Center on East Colonial Drive, which is the only homeless facility in east Orange County.
CEO Zeynep Portway said in the four years that she has worked at the center, she has seen the number of people seeking help double.
“I think a lot of people around here don’t realize that there are no shelters on the side of town,” she said. “When you tell people that, they’re surprised. When they’re complaining about the panhandlers, the homeless that are around, in front of the subdivision, the homeless behind the business, and the camps in the tents, they think it’s an easy answer to just go to a shelter.”
“Unfortunately, it’s not just that neighborhood. It’s happening across the region,” Martha Are said.
Are is the CEO of the Homeless Services Network of Central Florida.
She confirmed the only shelters where people can sleep overnight are in downtown Orlando, which is 11 miles away.
News 6 asked her what it would take for an overnight shelter to be built in east Orange County.
“The hardest part is finding a location,” she said. “It’s finding a place where the neighbors will allow it.”
News 6 followed Are to Tallahassee, where she testified on a bill that would allow counties and cities to create their own overnight shelters.
She said more work needs to be done on the bill, but it’s a start.
News 6 also brought the homeless concerns of the 32825 ZIP code to Orange County Commissioner Maribel Gomez Cordero, and she said the issue is complex.
She said Orange County has created several programs to help residents pay their rent and avoid eviction.
“For the last few years, Orange County has been operating an Emergency Rental Assistance Program,” she wrote in a statement. “The first portion of rental assistance served over 4,600 residents and distributed more than $30 million in assistance. The second portion, which is still operational and available to residents, offers up to $20,000 for potential applicants and covers up to 18 months of rent.”
She said what is desperately needed is more affordable housing, which is something commissioners continue to work on.
“Our local housing and homeless crisis are directly related to each other,” she wrote. “This is an extremely complex issue that will continue to demand a large amount of myself and my colleagues’ attention. I remain committed to working with our staff, local nonprofits, and community leaders to address this issue.”
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