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Palm Beach County needs a hotel to help curb homelessness

Monicel
Palm Beach County needs a hotel to help curb homelessness

To its credit, Palm Beach County has taken steps over the years to establish a strategy to develop a coordinated and collaborative system of services to ensure the homeless have a place to call home.

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Palm Beach County faced a NIMBY and blinked. The “not in my backyard” issue that forced county staff to push back involved a plan to buy and convert an old, abandoned La Quinta Inn in West Palm Beach into a homeless shelter. Unfortunately, the hotel sits next to Century Village, an influential senior community that has been vocal in its opposition to the idea.

“Where does the money come from to do all this work and to buy the hotel and then maintain it?” asked Fausto Fabbro, president of the firm that manages the community during an appearance before county officials. “This hotel was never designed for long-term living. We are concerned about the possibility of excessive loitering. This is not a good idea.”

County staff tried to assure residents during a contentious town hall meeting that the converted hotel would be used solely for seniors in need of housing. That answer still fell on deaf ears. Worse, some county commissioners remain unconvinced that the purchase is a good idea, a further impediment to ongoing efforts.

We encourage curators to show some backbone here.

The outrage of Century Village residents, while understandable, pales in comparison to Palm Beach County’s growing homelessness problem. To its credit, the county has taken steps over the years to establish a strategy, since 2008, to develop a coordinated and collaborative system of services to ensure the homeless have a place to call home. This should include converting the La Quinta Inn, as the county needs every tool in its arsenal to address this issue.

NIMBY and other challenges must not shake the determination to help the homeless

Homelessness remains a major problem in Palm Beach County, despite ongoing efforts by business leaders, local governments, social service agencies and faith communities to find solutions. Worse, the problem grows. The 2024 point count in which volunteers and officials conduct a local census found more than 2,100 homeless people in the county, an increase of more than 300 from the 1,800 counted in 2023.

Those who are unlucky enough to find themselves on the street come from different circumstances and different walks of life. Families with young children, the disabled, military veterans, the elderly, women fleeing domestic abuse, those affected by mental health or addiction issues – homelessness involves people with problems that don’t have easy answers.

The high cost of living, especially in an increasingly expensive housing and rental market in one of Florida’s wealthiest counties, hasn’t helped. According to county estimates, about 65 percent of the homeless are first-time homeless, a situation county officials attribute to cost-of-living increases and rising rents rather than the more popular but stereotypical notion that homelessness is fueled by crime. and drug addiction.

The county has stalled on the homeless solution: Plan to turn West Palm hotel into homeless housing draws outrage from Century Village

The state of Florida didn’t help when earlier this year Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation prohibiting local governments from allowing homeless people to camp or sleep on public property. Introduced as a measure to keep the streets safe, HB 1365 set aside $30 million and requires the Florida Department of Children and Families to administer regional agencies to provide housing and other services for the homeless. How well the new law will work is anyone’s guess.

What remains problematic is a provision that would allow individuals, business owners or the Florida attorney general to file lawsuits to compel counties and municipalities to comply with the law. Bad enough that local communities like West Palm Beach will have to raise the money to round up the homeless, establish settlements and provide improved services. Add the legal costs of lawsuits to an already expensive mix that takes money away from more effective programs to help the homeless.

Fortunately, Palm Beach County started earlier than most to recognize the problem and try to fix it. Unlike other communities now struggling to comply with state law and the impending winter season that attracts homeless “snowbirds” to South Florida, our county already has an infrastructure that, with improvements, can make a difference.

Obviously, the sale won’t be easy, but the onus now falls on county staff not only to negotiate the purchase of the La Quinta Inn, but also to make sure nearby residents and county commissioners remain skeptical with the idea that the 140-bed facility can be adapted and maintained to serve its homeless clients without disturbing the surrounding community.

And instead of shouting “not in my environment”, maybe this community can say: “Let’s talk about it to find a solution”.

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