Why So Many Homeless/Panhandlers in Ocala (Orlando, Port St. Lucie: crime, houses)

[Wannabeoffgrid]

HuitreCouture, I have no idea why I can't respond to a couple of you but one comment I was able to reply to.
I get what you are saying and I do agree. I think cops can get these people to move along. The one guy I mentioned literally has a dog that appears he is medicating it. It literally lays on the side of the road and he looks at it with his "sad face" as he pets it. He wants people to think the dog is sick and give him money. The guy is at the same corner 5 days a week for months. By now if the dog was sick, it would be dead. He should be arrested for animal abuse. That would get him to move along for sure.

I have lived in SWFL for most of my life and yes, it is very transient. When the Republicans had a convention, the Dems bussed in homeless from other states. They paid them to protest at the convention. Once the convention was over, the homeless stayed. They went to St Armand's area and tag-teamed the corners. There was a family with the passed out sick kid, the limping Vet (that was fake and only limped when cars were stopped), then there was a couples that would take turns, then there was a sick dog one.....They worked shifts and all the street corners were covered. They would get dropped off and work 4 hr shifts. The community passed laws to get it to stop and they left. Then the ACLU (as always) sued and said they had rights to beg for money and to lay on the meridians on the roads with all their props (dogs, kids, canes, etc) so the town came back and wrote new laws. This time the residents won and magically all of them disappeared. Poof. Over night all these "homeless" somehow found a way to get out of Sarasota. They moved on to another city.

Meanwhile, there were real homeless people in Sarasota. But locals knew who they were and they were not begging on the streets. They would be passed out under a tree or a park bench.

Anyway, thanks for your insight. I really wanted to find out what is going on here.

[Wannabeoffgrid]

Originally Posted by huitrecouture

Oh don't worry. Biden gave out BILLIONS so local corrupt politicians have PLENTY to spend and brag about.

https://www.ocala.com/story/news/non...es/6417725001/


Ocala residents are being evicted to make room for an affordable housing complex for the homeless.

https://www.wcjb.com/2022/07/18/ocal...plex-homeless/

I agree 100%

[AngelaRetired]

By WCJB Staff
Published: Aug. 31, 2022 at 11:47 PM EDT|Updated: 11 hours ago

OCALA, Fla. (WCJB) - Marion County sheriff’s deputies are looking for a pair of grand theft auto suspects they say stole a good samaritan’s truck.

Deputies say 32-year-old Jonathan Whitaker and 28-year-old Kristina Visnich approached someone at Ocala Jai Alai and claimed to be homeless.

The victim offered them a place to stay for a few days.

Deputies say Whitaker and Visnich took advantage of the man by stealing his truck.

Deputies believe the pair have done this kind of thing before.

Marion County couple wanted after posing as homeless, stealing good samaritan’s truck

https://www.wcjb.com/2022/09/01/mari...aritans-truck/

[AngelaRetired]

Why are people so trusting???

I think there is more to this story! Maybe they were going to "trade" sex or drugs for cash/food/a place to stay the man thought.

Why would you let two "homeless" stay with you? Not me! Lol, I don't even let my "neighbors" into my apartment. Knock on my door = peephole = I "may" open my window to talk to you.

Gone are the days when you could "trust strangers" = yes I am old/lol.

Hope he gets his truck back

[huitrecouture]

Originally Posted by AngelaRetired

Why are people so trusting???

I think there is more to this story! Maybe they were going to "trade" sex or drugs for cash/food/a place to stay the man thought.

Why would you let two "homeless" stay with you? Not me! Lol, I don't even let my "neighbors" into my apartment. Knock on my door = peephole = I "may" open my window to talk to you.

Gone are the days when you could "trust strangers" = yes I am old/lol.

Hope he gets his truck back

Yeah that's probably what was going on.

Meanwhile the police in Jacksonville told me NEVER believe anyone. He said Downtown they were pretending to be homeless but they were actually crackheads and criminals who came down from Atlanta for "easy pickings".

That same day a crackhead acting fool tried to steal my dog right off the leash!

[AngelaRetired]

Oh my goodness!!!

[Jackalope]

Then donate to homeless shelters. Do NOT give panhandlers money or food. Most of them panhandle as a job, preying on the sympathies of good people. The truly needy, the mentally ill, drug addicts etc., rarely panhandle. For those people who truly need help, we have shelters where they can get out of the weather and get food and clothing...but not drugs or alcohol.

[Ghaati]

Originally Posted by Jackalope

Then donate to homeless shelters. Do NOT give panhandlers money or food. Most of them panhandle as a job, preying on the sympathies of good people. The truly needy, the mentally ill, drug addicts etc., rarely panhandle. For those people who truly need help, we have shelters where they can get out of the weather and get food and clothing...but not drugs or alcohol.

1. There aren't enough shelters to house all the homeless.
2. Shelters typically don't permit homeless to actually be there all day, they have to leave during the day and not come back til a designated hour, usually suppertime.
3. Some shelters don't provide services for active drug users, for the safety of everyone else in the shelter, including themselves.
4. The genuinely down on their luck, folks who have worked and worked, lived within their means, but weren't able to save and when their car broke down - lost their ability to get to work, lost their job, lost their apartment - should not be forced to sleep in cramped quarters with the mentally ill, who do NOT have nurses and doctors available to make sure they're properly medicated while at these shelters.
5. Yes many panhandlers are not actually homeless. Some of them live in trailers or campers with a few other people. Not exactly the lap of luxury, there.

ALL homeless need help. In fact even panhandlers need help. If they were employable with a job that doesn't involve being filthy, begging from people who give them dirty looks and sometimes even throw garbage at them, gets them in out of the rain or the brutal Florida sun, they probably would be working.

For whatever reason, they're not employable doing anything else. Even making beaded bracelets and selling them at the beach is a step up from panhandling, and they're not doing even THAT.

[Jimrob1]

There is a homeless camp a block or so away from my house in a wooded area, across from Walmart here in SW Ocala. Then some cars in the Walmart parking lot with people living in them. The people panhandle at the entrances to Walmart Parking lots. Actually I'm surprised its not much worse in Ocala, and across the state considering the climate.

I moved to Florida from Portland Or. Where currently there are some 6000 living on the streets at election time. Homeless everywhere and then some. Its that way on the West Coast from San Diego to Seattle. From tents on streets and sidewalks to Homeless camping in neighborhoods, alongside freeways, panhandling all over the place. With the new laws being put into effect in Portland the homeless are going to have to go to shelters, or designated camps with agencies to help them. Clean up the areas where homeless took over, and prevent it from happening it again.

Perhaps Florida is going to have to face up to the fact, that the issue of homelessness is in Florida and deal with it.

[dontaskwhy]

Originally Posted by Jimrob1

Perhaps Florida is going to have to face up to the fact, that the issue of homelessness is in Florida and deal with it.

I agree with this completely. Sad fact but true. There are no easy answers when most citizens refuse to fund such programs and simply state, "Not my problem".