Proposed Orlando homeless shelter will improve community, official says

ORLANDO, Fla. — As a new homeless shelter is being prepared to house about 200 men, community activists have filed discrimination complaints saying the facility will be set up in an area already cluttered with social services.

The president of the Orlando Union Rescue Mission, thought, says worries that the shelter could increase crime in the area are unfounded.

The shelter will do the exact opposite, Freddy Clayton said.

“The mission will cause fewer problems and reduce property levels less than the Parkwood Inn that operated there until last year,” he said, referring to the now-vacant extended stay hotel that will become the new shelter.

Men who are sent to the facility, called Project Hope, will be required to go through substance abuse rehab, get their high school diploma and do work at the mission, Clayton said.

Residents are not allowed to leave the facility at all for the first 90 days and have to be checked out after that, he said.

“We know that our facility suffers very, very little crime because the environment is so structured and contained,” Clayton said.

While residents are likely to have a relapse while living at the shelter, it is usually a short-lived occurrence, he said.

“Most of them will have a relapse,” Clayton said. “The relapse typically will last a few hours. Most of them will come back to us that night.”

Clayton urged residents, especially the group Save West Orlando that filed the discrimination complaint, to give the shelter the benefit of the doubt.

“If you give us a chance and let us do our job, you will see that we will make a difference in the community,” he said.

Officials are hoping to open the new homeless shelter by Thanksgiving.

Cox Media Group