Jacksonville's New Five-Year Plan to Address Homelessness Following Outdoor Sleeping Ban

"We do a little bit more humanitarian work on that side because we contract with the St. Francis House for eight beds per night," says a Jacksonville-based organization, who intends to propose a five-year program to the Jacksonville City Council to address a new ban that will prevent unhoused people from sleeping outside overnight. In 2007, St. Augustine enacted an ordinance prohibiting camping outdoors from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.

"I believe they need somewhere to stay during the day that's safe, that's out of the rain, that's out of the heat, and so on," said Gerald Cates, a Vestry member who wears many hats at his home church, including assisting the unhoused who may use the church as a temporary home. According to Cuthbert, people without homes usually take advantage of the opportunity, and it also provides an opportunity to help with the underlying causes of homelessness, such as dependency and mental health issues.

"First and foremost, I'd like to point out that there are already laws against sleeping on private property, known as trespassing," said Cindy Funkhouser, CEO of Sulzbacher. "So, that means it's illegal to be homeless," Funkhouser stated that a 5-year homeless strategy plan will be proposed to the city council, with the first year costing millions of dollars.

"There are a lot of us working together with the mayor's office, city council, and JSO when we, as a community, found out that this law was going to be put into effect," says Funkhouser. If the plan is accepted, Funkhouser stated it would go into force shortly before the new ordinance is implemented later this year. The Community Benefits Agreement from the stadium purchase would also benefit local organizations like Sulzbacher.