JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The City of Jacksonville is coming up with a plan to address where its homeless population will go, as a new state law is set to take effect in October that bans people from sleeping outside.
Hundreds of unsheltered people will be impacted by this law.
According to the latest numbers from the advocacy group Changing Homelessness', which completed a point in time count in January of this year, there are currently around 566 unsheltered people living on the streets of Jacksonville. That number is up 43% from last year.
Tents and piles of blankets lining the sidewalks in downtown Jacksonville provide a glimpse into how the homeless community lives.
Jason Ivery runs a nonprofit that feeds the homeless every month. His believes banning people from sleeping on the street will create more problems for the already vulnerable population.
“It's not a solution. We need to help them, just throwing that out there like you can’t sleep on the street, that just doesn't make any sense. You go to jail you’ll be right back out," Jason Ivery, founder of "Love Without Limits Inc., said.
Starting Oct. 1, homeless people cannot sleep in public places. According to the law, counties can create areas for the homeless to sleep.
In her proposed budget, Mayor Donna Deegan has allocated over $10 million to address the problem. Council Member Joe Carlucci already has some ideas for a solution.
“Maybe looking at what existing shelters we have. There are talks of maybe some hotels options that are there. So, we’re going to have to sort through all those details and figure out what’s the best and easiest path forward in the amount of time that we have," he said.
Ivery believes in order to really help our homeless community, the solution needs to go further than just providing them a place to stay for a night.
“Some kind of program where we help them get jobs, you know, build them back in the community," Ivery said.
Starting Jan. 1, citizens will be allowed to sue the city for damages if the public sleeping and camping ban isn’t enforced.
The group Love Without Limits hosts community events where they find and provide resources for the homeless on the first Sunday of every month.
Anyone looking for more information can visit their Facebook page here or email Ivery at lovewithoutlimitsjax@gmail.com .