Although Gainesville was ranked as the fifth-meanest city toward the homeless in the U.S. in 2008, developments on the City of Gainesville/Alachua County 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness are taking steps in a positive direction.
The next big step is the construction of the One-Stop Homeless Assistance Center. The center will house 68 homeless people and offer several different services.
Alachua County’s Poverty Reduction Program Director John Skelly helped start the initiative. Skelly said several of the plan’s objectives have had a slow start, but the center is beginning to take action.
“It’s not only adding more beds, which is important … but the transitional house will allow them to stay for six months to a year, and the services will help end their homelessness,” he said.
Construction on the center, which will be built on Northwest 53rd Avenue, is planned to begin this summer and completion is expected summer or fall of 2012. The public will be able to help create this home after construction begins.
Skelly said plans exist to start a website for the center that resembles a registry. People will be able to buy from a list of specific items the center needs.
Christy Finnegan, executive director of Arbor House, said the center is needed very much and will offer several services including food stamps and support. With the downturn of the economy, Finnegan has noticed homelessness is a growing problem.
“Some people used to volunteer at these organizations, and now they are clients,” Finnegan said.
In 2010, Alachua County Coalition for the Homeless and Hungry counted 1,292 people in Gainesville without adequate housing.
