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Expansion of DeLand shelter to help Daytona Beach homeless

Since the beginning of the year, Volusia County has been struggling to house more than 100 homeless people.

Leaders in the county and Daytona Beach have not decided where to temporarily house the homeless people while a permanent solution is figured out.

But soon in DeLand, 20 of those people will be able to get off the street.

The Neighborhood Center of West Volusia broke ground to expand its facility, which already helps about 150 people at the DeLand compound.

The expansion will add 20 beds, and while it doesn’t solve the county’s problem, it’s a good first step.

The center has been helping people get out of homelessness for about 50 years.

“So we have six males that stay in here for up to 30 days,” said the center’s executive director, Susan Clark.

Clark said the 10-bed emergency shelter gives people time to find a job before moving into transitional housing, which holds about 140 people.

The facility also offers its residents money management training and case workers.

“They start paying a little but there, hey a little buy in, get ready to move into their own place,” said Clark. “And then we have funds to help them with that and first and last months’ security.”

It’s a wrap-around approach to a problem Clark said she’s seen growing rapidly during the last five years.

“Not only single homeless, but also women with children that are homeless,” she said. “Elderly individuals that have fallen into a situation of homelessness, veterans that have fallen into issues of homelessness.”

Once the expansion is complete in about four months, some homeless people will be able to move in.

“We meet them where they’re at and then we help move them back into a place of self-sustainability,” said Clark.