Cuts could challenge Jacksonville homeless center

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Services for Jacksonville's homeless that rely heavily on city funding may be forced to cut their hours or even close their doors in the face of deep budget cuts.

Pastors with ICARE rallied Wednesday in front the Jacksonville Day Resource Center, concerned about what will happen at the end of the month when City Council members decide who gets money and who doesn't.

The center, which is in the heart of downtown, serves about 200 people of day, providing the homeless with showers, computers and other resources vital to their daily lives. The doors to the center could very well close on Oct. 1, but members of the faith community say it's a place the homeless can't do without out.

"I believe it will be a great travesty if we allow this program to go away with a the stroke of a pen," said Rev. Hugh Chapman.

The center is Steve Creekmore's first stop in getting his life back on track.

"I can come in here and get a shower," he said. "The computers, they print things out for me. I can use the phone."

The center opened in April and connects the homeless with mental health and substance abuse services, as well as available housing and job opportunities for free. The director, Tillis DeVaughn said since it opened, it has helped hundreds of homeless get back on their feet.

He said he's concerned council members don't know how important the resource is.

"From their perspective, they are just the programs that they don't touch them, something they can't relate to," DeVaughn said. "And this means a lot to these clients."

DeVaughn said no one knows the full impact of the budget cuts quite yet. But right now, the center is open only three days a week. DeVaughn said that, in itself, is not enough.

"One of our target goals is to limit misdemeanor crimes, like taking a shower in a business restroom, so they can come here and take a shower," DeVaughn said.

"It's not necessarily our responsibility to provide those services, and maybe we need to get the private side to help us fund those things," Councilman Bill Gulliford said.

He said all the council members are sympathetic to the community's needs, but when it comes to what the city can truly afford, the homeless are not at the top of the priority list.

"I know the homeless effort is extremely important, but if you prioritize it with the police and fire, I think they come up second," Gulliford said. "And that's the predicament we're in right now."

Homeless advocates say if the center closes, the taxpayers won't be saving money but instead spending more in prosecution and jail costs, because they expect more homeless people to be arrested for loitering and vagrancy without anywhere to go.


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Tarik anchors the 4, 5:30 and 6:30 p.m. weekday newscasts and reports with the I-TEAM.