Anyone familiar with the
homeless issue knows that it has noboundaries. Such as the case involving a few cities hereinVolusia
County, Florida. Where transients areallegedlyrelocated by police officers at the city'sborderlines,thereby placing the burden of their welfare onthe adjacentcity's respective shelters. As expected, policechiefs MikeLongfellow of Ormond Beach and Stephan Dembinskiof DaytonaBeach Shores have summarily stated that theirofficers donot dump
homeless people off at Daytona Beach'sborders justso they can clean up their own streets. Bothhave said that their officers will give someone who needshelp a ride asfar as they can take them. Whichunderstandably means atthe borderline, and not necessarilythe shirking ofhumanitarian duties that may have beenmisperceived by theofficers actions. However, the city ofDeland has becomesort of a refuge for the homeless. And inthe last couple ofmonths there have been a noticable surgein their city's homeless population. The transients therehave claimed that they have been threatened by Daytona Beachpolice officerswith jail if they did not get on a bus out oftown. Linda Brown, program director of Agape Clubhouse atFirst Methodist Church in Deland has stated quite firmlythat"they're really harassing them." Daytona Beach policechief Mike Chitwood has been frustrated with a deluge ofcomplaints from residents and business owners concerning thehomeless. He has offered thesuggestion to set aside moremoney in the department'stravelers aid fund to help some geta free ride out of townshould they have a place to go. Outof necessity for the common good, a "homeless summit"
meeting was held at theDaytona Beach Hilton Oceanfront Resortbetween the variousrepresentatives of social serviceagencies, police, city,and county officials. The dialoguebetween the attendees ofthis meeting have appeared verymeaningful, and the overallprimary agreements were twofold;Homelessness is not onecity's problem but a regional matterrequiring cooperativejoint efforts, and the funding to makeit happen. Currently, there are approximately 2,600 homelesspeople inVolusia and Flagler counties. Police chief Chitwoodsaidthat he wants to send two bicycle patrolman toFortLauderdale to observe how the officers there handletheirhomeless problem. The need for an outreach program isanidea that is eagerly engaged upon by the variousgroups.Lindsay Roberts, executive director of theVolusia-Flagler Homeless Coalition has stated that we have nooutreach inthis area at all, we need people who will go outunder thebridges and find these people and get them to therightplaces. And the reverberating acknowledgment fromtheattendees of this meeting was that "the right places"arenot other cities, but rather a joint cooperationbetweengovernment agencies, law enforcement, and socialservices because there are no boundaries of the homeless.