CARES Act funding is used to get homeless off the street — but time running out for some
Luke McCloud, 53, suffers from anxiety and depression, and those conditions “went through the roof,” when he read a letter Sunday from the City of Fort Lauderdale saying he had to leave his current residence, the Rodeway Inn & Suites in Dania Beach, the following day.
McCloud has been put up in the hotel, which would normally serve a cruise ship clientele, using money from the CARES Act., the $2 trillion stimulus bill passed in response to the economic fallout from the onslaught of COVID-19. Homeless people like McCloud are seen as particularly vulnerable to the virus and so Fort Lauderdale sought to relocate some of them to a hotel using vouchers as payment.
The city recalled the eviction notice later Sunday night after activists scheduled a news conference the next day to protest, but the vouchers will run out this week, and according to McCloud and others, promised assistance has not materialized.
Fort Lauderdale was already among the places listed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for having the largest number of homeless people, and with COVID-19 hobbling the economy, that number is growing. As confirmed coronavirus cases in the state rise, both the city and Broward County are struggling to find permanent refuge for their homeless population.
In Miami-Dade County, Ron Book, chairman of the board at Homeless Trust, began a similar program, placing homeless people in hotels to protect them from the coronavirus and storms. “Our goal is to end homelessness,” he said.
Dr. Shedrick Boren, a professor of social work at Florida International University and former CEO of Camillus Health and Camillus House, said homelessness during COVID-19 poses a particular challenge in South Florida.
Because of the heat, he said, “you’re going to try to find places that are going to be as cool as possible so you’re probably going to be closer than six feet with a lot of people.” Those experiencing homelessness also don’t have access to bathrooms to wash their hands on the street, he added.
’This cannot happen’
When Fort Lauderdale launched the Temporary Hotel Assistance Program, Mayor Dean Trantalis had a long-term goal in mind. “If they were ever going to leave that hotel,” he said, “the intention was that they would be placed in more permanent housing.”
As part of his participation in the program, McCloud signed a form confirming, “I understand that this program is time sensitive and it is important to remain compliant with case management to develop a safe and viable exit plan.” Soon after, a case worker told him to begin an independent search for an apartment and that the city would then help pay the first and last month’s rent.
The same message was conveyed to some 70 voucher recipients before funding for the program ran out.
At a press conference organized by local activist organizations, McCloud, who spent his days and nights on Broward Boulevard near the Broward County Main Library prior to moving into Rodeway, spoke among other program participants, asking that the city follow through on its promises.
“We’re asking for long-term housing for everyone here — affordable long-term housing,” said Bertisha Jones of the New Florida Majority. Beside her, one participant held a sign that read, “Ft. Laud Mayor Trantalis Don’t Evict These People.”
By then, the eviction order had been recalled, but no one knew how long the reprieve would last. Not even Mayor Trantalis.
Midday on Monday, Rodeway Inn, which is actually in Dania Beach, not Fort Lauderdale, was also waiting to hear back on how long the Fort Lauderdale program would continue, according to Nadine Bankley, the hotel’s sales and marketing director.
She had seen the program extended three times before by an additional 30 days, another 30 days, and then a week. Each time, she said, the city communicated with her, most recently informing her that the week-long extension would end on Monday, July 13.
Program participants, however, said they were not aware.
Even so, the hotel is willing to house voucher recipients until Sept. 30, if the city asks, Bankley said.
Amid uncertainty, everyone turned to the city and to Mayor Trantalis for answers, who at the time, had none to give.
The program, which had used at least $530,000 of city funds to cover the costs of the hotel rooms, meals, case managers and private security, had run out of money to continue at Rodeway Inn, where the majority of its participants were being housed.
Funds did not run out for a smaller group of participants, housed at the Extended Stay America Hotel in Fort Lauderdale, according to the mayor.
In response to the unrest created by the eviction order, Mayor Trantalis began a back-and-forth conversation with Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office and the Broward County Commission to find a way to extend the program again.
“The county is prepared to put them back on the streets,” the mayor recalled telling Gov. DeSantis over the phone. “This cannot happen.” The governor’s office then told him to seek support from the county, which received $3.4 million of CARES Act funding in early June to provide economic relief in the wake of COVID-19, he said.
According to the mayor, the county had previously told the city that CARES Act funding was not intended for a program like Temporary Hotel Assistance, but by Monday night, it agreed to offer a portion of the funding to extend the program at Rodeway until Friday, July 17. After which, participants who test negative for the coronavirus will be placed in shelters, and those who test positive will be quarantined in “alternative housing.”
Broward Commissioner Nan Rich said that the county was never against using CARES Act funding for programs combating homelessness, so long as they were related to COVID-19. In fact, she said, the city was already using grants from the CARES Act to support the voucher program.
When asked to clarify on where the funding for the program comes from, city spokesman Chaz Adams said, “the program is being funded by CARES Act dollars and private donations.”
A Temporary Fix
Ron Book was wary of the Temporary Hotel Assistance Program from the start.
“It was very clear to me that they were doing this on some temporary basis,” he said. “It’s not the way to do it.”
Book, a powerful lobbyist who has made combating homelessness his personal cause, has been using CARES Act funding to test and house people experiencing homelessness in Miami-Dade. As of Sunday, July 12, the Homeless Trust had placed 252 people in three hotels located in Overtown, Miami Springs and North Miami.
Though critics have said the trust’s selection process for the hotels has left some without housing, Book plans to administer 2,000–3,000 COVID-19 tests to the county’s homeless population this week and fill an “excess of 500 beds,” he said.
In total, both the Homeless Trust and Fort Lauderdale programs have housed nearly 350 homeless people in hotels, a stay that, for some, is indefinite.
“Whenever COVID ends we will have a tail of folks still in hotels that we’re going to have to work into shelter placements or into permanent housing,” Book said.
This report has been updated to state the correct date when funding for rooms at the Rodeway Inn runs out, July 17, and to correct the spelling of Nadine Bankley’s name.
This story was originally published July 15, 2020 at 8:30 AM.