Homelessness Explosion in Florida Panhandle Looms

By Diane Nilan, HEAR US, Inc., www.hearus.us

On June 25, a Florida judge issued a massive eviction order to impoverished and desperate families and adults who live in a trailer park on the edge of a naval base north of Milton, in Florida’s Panhandle. They have until July 13 to leave, but they are fighting to at least buy time.
Melissa, who is organizing a last-ditch effort to forestall the eviction, lives with 14-year-old autistic son and a rotating roster of daughter(s) and grand babies, in her ramshackle mobile home. They’ve been there since Hurricane Ivan (’04) when they became homeless and FEMA placed them and other families in this park. Melissa is featured in the HEAR US documentary on the edge: Family Homelessness in America.
The park of about 20 lots is owned by Ms. Carla, a crusty gal with a heart of gold covered by porcupine quills. She ruled like a dictator, but cut families slack when need be. She recently had health problems and has moved into assisted living. The park is now in foreclosure.
As her health issues became evident, her out-of-state family got involved, and began making noise about selling the park. They have expressed total disdain for the park tenants and have refused to share any plans they were making for the disposition of their mother’s park.
Many of the families in the park have tarnished credit and rental history, not to mention are living in poverty, some in doubled up situations. The park also has a few single people and couples, one disabled. Only 2 of the house trailers are occupant-owned. They are exploring logistics of moving their units to another location, but few options are available. And the cost to move a house trailer is upwards of $3,000.
Virtually all of the adults in the park will face significant barriers finding alternative housing. With bad credit and a history of evictions, landlords are dubious about accepting renters who might not be able to make on-time rental payments. None of the tenants have access to the amount of money needed to move in, typically 3 times the monthly rent. Nor is it likely that they will be able to raise the money in the 2 weeks before their evictions.
Even motels, the 21st Century homeless shelters, will be difficult to access. The weekly rate at most Panhandle motels is more than $300.
During this uproar, the EPA got involved because of a toxic sewage leak. Evidently repairs were paid for by Ms. Carla but not made, and now that factors into the eviction notice.
This rag-tag collection of desperate tenants, after an initial flurry of panic last summer when Ms. Carla’s children got involved, have been in limbo since then. They’ve tried to pay rent, but neither the family or the bank would accept it. They are trying to find legal help as well as housing assistance, but no resources appear to be available.
Ironically, Melissa used to work for the local homeless coalition before she had to resign to take care of the needs of her autistic son. A worker handed her a homelessness resource guide the other day. She was one of the people responsible for creating that guide.
The court’s eviction notice states they must be out by July 13 (a short window considering next week has July 4th right in the middle). Someone’s supposed to come out to shut off the water within days.
Once the water is off, families with children are rightfully concerned that DCF will get involved for substandard living conditions.
At least 8 families, with dozens of children and a handful of adults without children have nowhere to go. The only family shelter is in Pensacola, and no way could they handle the influx.
They need legal help STAT! They have no resources to hire lawyers.
Melissa and another tenant have extensive documentation for this saga. They’re willing to talk to media and to a lawyer. Without help, homelessness will be their reality.
Friday the 13th takes on new meaning for these soon-to-be-homeless kids and adults.