Every day by 7:30 a.m., Lazarus Project case managers, a nurse and a psychiatrist ride through the streets of downtown and northwest Miami looking for people like Douglas, who they found hungry, plagued with lice and in need of medication.
"He was very aggressive, very nonverbal," said program manager Natalie Gild. "We’ve gotten him to a state – 2 or 3 months we’ve been working with him – where he talks, he’s happy, you can see a smile on his face when he sees us."
The specialized team primarily assists persons who have mental illness and refuse to go to shelters.
"There is not a cure for severe mental illness, but if they take the medication that I provide, you can see how they improve, how they get showers and they eat," said psychiatrist Luis Gonzalez.
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Then there is Connie, who said she’s been living on the streets for the past 15 to 20 years.
"I don’t do clinics, I don’t do appointments, and I don’t do shelters and I don’t do programs," she told NBC6.
Her feet were swollen and burnt, but she took her help on the sidewalk.
Quick solutions to a decades-old problem
Starting Oct. 1, a new state law that prohibits sleeping on the streets, sidewalks and parks goes into effect. This has local cities working furiously to find solutions to avoid fines and arrests.
The Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust is stepping up its efforts to find solutions for the homeless.
There are almost 2,800 people living in emergency shelters and another 1,000 living in the streets of Miami-Dade County, according to official figures.
"When I create and find a housing opportunity over here, I’ve got someone ready with money and resources to move into it, which creates a bed and shelter that allows me to take somebody else off the streets," said Ron Book, chairman of the Homeless Trust.
The Miami-Dade and Miami mayors agree that all options should be exhausted before they make any arrests.
"An arrest does nothing to provide a homeless individual with a future. It doesn't provide them the services they need and it doesn't provide them shelter or housing", Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava told NBC6. "That would overwhelm our justice system and is really inhumane."
"We will use all of our resources to avoid making arrests," Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said. "We are putting more funds than ever in dealing with the homeless."
The Homeless Trust stated that for those who remain on the streets because of mental illness or addictions, the most effective solution is permanent supportive housing, where they are given their own space and not subjected to the rules of the shelters.
"But here’s what we promise them – that a case manager is going to knock on their door every day, every other day, and they’re going to work them, and they’re going to work them and our success rate is 94%," Book said.
That's why the Homeless Trust has been buying buildings, such as one in Overtown, to convert them into permanent housing units. In North Miami, Mia Casa is the first permanent home for elderly residents who are homeless. Next up is to transform the former La Quinta Inn motel in Homestead.
In Broward County, officials say they spend about $43 million each year to fund shelters and other programs that deal with homelessness. County leaders there are also working on legislation following the new state law. Fort Lauderdale recently passed legislation that mimics it.
"It's a challenge that not just Broward County, not just the state of Florida is facing, but the nation, you know, as a whole has to grapple with," said Patrice Paldino of the Broward County Human Services Department.
Punishment for public sleeping
In a recent opinion piece, Broward County Sheriff Gregory Tony said, "The county jail system is not a solution to the homeless crisis."
"Nowhere in that legislation does it mention jail or the sheriff’s office," he said.
Tony said the new law has placed needed urgency in finding real solutions for the homelessness problem.
"To keep someone in the jail, I just read that the chief judge estimates it costs taxpayers over $224 a night for someone to sit in our Broward County jail," said Jacob Torner, the vice president of TaskForce for Ending Homelessness.
Torner says taking them off the street is much cheaper, between $38-50 a night.
"An arrest does nothing to provide a homeless individual with a future, it doesn’t provide them the services they need, and it doesn’t provide them shelter or housing," Book said.
Business owners weigh in
Another part of the measure will give legal standing to residents and business owners to file civil lawsuits against local governments that allow sleeping or camping on public property. That part of the law will take effect Jan. 1.
Local authorities could be forced to open encampments to house unsheltered people under pressure from lawsuits.
On Fort Lauderdale's Galt Ocean Mile, business owner Erica Leonard says homelessness has become a burden for her and other business owners in a quaint shopping center along A1A.
“You can see them talking themselves. You can smell the alcohol. You can see the crack pipes on the ground," said Leonard, who owns Pilates studio Core 954. "You can see them doing it right in front of us. And it’s really scary because you just don’t know what to expect."
"I want to be able to feel safe," she said.
Norby Belz is the vice president of the North Beach Restaurants and Shops Association, which represents about 100 businesses.
“The bad thing about the law is that we didn’t get any resources to help deal with it," Belz said.
He believes there needs to be more focus on mental health and housing.
“I understand these individuals are human beings, but when you’re causing problems for our businesses, we need a solution that helps get these individuals off the street and gets them off the street now," Belz said.
In Miami-Dade County, if there's still a significant number of people on the streets near the end of this year, Book suggested another solution.
"We might rent a warehouse somewhere and house people with bathrooms and showers and provide services as one of those children and family locations," Book said. "I mean call it an encampment, but it won’t be an outdoor encampment because I don’t believe those are healthy for our community."
While some advocates for the homeless reject the new law, the director of the Homeless Trust cautiously welcomes it, because he points out that it could bring the county closer to their goal of ending homelessness.
