ORLANDO, Fla. — Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer released a statement on Monday confirming that the proposed homeless shelter in the SODO community will not be moving forward.
The issue has sparked controversy, as some residents say they are unsure how the new shelter would impact the surrounding communities.
Neighbors and fellow community members expressed their concerns two weeks ago at a town hall meeting. City officials want to use the Orange County Work Release Center on Kaley Avenue for the shelter, and the community is worried the facility could bring crime and traffic to the area.
“Over the last several years, the City of Orlando has researched potential shelter sites throughout the area to meet this need. Most recently this included a partnership with Orange County to assess a vacant corrections facility just south of downtown. Unfortunately, we have determined that this location is not feasible,” Dyer said in a statement.
“Thank you to the Orlando City Council for their willingness to pursue bold strategies to meet the needs of the unsheltered population, especially Commissioner Patty Sheehan for her leadership in listening to the concerns of residents in her district as we evaluated the Kaley Street shelter option,” he said.
The mayor said he arrived at this decision after hearing residents’ personal stories and concerns.
He said he and city officials will continue to search for a solution to address area homelessness, calling it “one of our community’s most complex challenges.”
“But we can’t give up. Homelessness can’t just be someone else’s problem. It’s not a challenge we can simply push away out of fear. We must address it and offer support to the unsheltered, together,” he said.
Octavian Cantilli of Stop SODO Shelter released the following statement in response: “I would like to thank the over 1,500 people who stepped up and shared their concerns with petitions, yard signs and volunteered their time. I’d also like to thank Commissioner Uribe for adding the community consensus clause to the interlocal agreement and for attending all of our Stop SoDo Shelter meetings. We appreciate her taking the time to listen to the people most affected.
“While I’m thankful Mayor Dyer is no longer pursuing converting the work release building into a shelter, the fact remains downtown Orlando and SoDo does have a growing amount of homeless people on our streets and through our neighborhoods. With that we believe it would still be productive to hold our March 12 meeting. The purpose is to update and discuss what the community supports as viable, equitable, and compassionate solutions that BOTH help homeless people, but also keep our children, schools, businesses and neighborhoods safe.
“I’m hoping that moving forward city council and county commission make community engagement -with advance notice-and transparency priorities when formulating solutions to our homeless problems, and PRIOR to making important decisions.”
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