Community leaders made a call to local government officials for help with the sheltering and cooling of unsheltered individuals, as weather changes progress.
Florida’s hurricane season officially began June 1, and this summer has been projected to be one of the hottest on record.
On Friday, the Christian Service Center of Orlando hosted a press conference where Executive Director Eric Gray urged the public about the needs of people experiencing homelessness during these times of emergency. The event was held under the noon sun “to prove a point,” as Gray put it.
With sweat dripping down his face, Gray said faith-based organizations and nonprofits can’t continue bearing the brunt alone, as the needs grow.
“We're really challenged with how many people are coming out here every day. It's growing every day,” Gray said.
Gray said more people experiencing homelessness needed his organization's emergency services last year than ever before.
According to Dr. Pia Valvassori, a Board member at the CSC, more people die from heat than from any other natural phenomenon in the world.
“In 2021 alone, there were 1,600 deaths related to extreme heat, marking a 60% uptick from previous years,” she said. “These reports recognize this number is an undercount.”
“This is crisis-level at this point, both because the heat is so intense and because the numbers of homelessness have increased so much, and it's not proper to expect the nonprofit sector to shoulder that by itself.”Martha Are, CEO of the Homeless Services Network of Central Florida
Democratic Rep. Anna Eskamani, District 42, commended Gray and other local leaders and nonprofits for their labor to help the most vulnerable, especially the ones facing housing insecurity or living in low-income communities that may lack energy efficiency or functional protections against heat.
“Folks are just spending a lot of their money on trying to stay cool. And those who don't have money, have no alternatives, no options,” she said.
Eskamani spoke about House Bill 433, signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in April, which no longer allows local governments in Florida to enact laws designed to protect outdoor workers from extreme heat.
Eskamani said the law was pushed by “big business interests,” so they could avoid paying for workers’ heat protection, affecting outdoor agricultural and construction workers, whom she said are often workers of color.
She said that, despite the cost, resources to provide cooling to vulnerable people, especially those “working their tails off to support our economy” is necessary and only fair.
“We're basically saying (...) they don't have the benefit of basic safety and protections,” Eskamani said. “The cost of losing someone is immeasurable. When someone dies from heat stress, they are gone forever. You can't put a price tag to that.”
To that, Gray said legislators are disconnected.
“Most of the people that are making decisions are working and living in air conditioning 100% of the time,” Gray said. “That's the reality that they see every day, so that's the reality they're gonna legislate around. If you're not outside, and you're not spending time out in the heat on a regular basis, you don't get it.”
Other people in attendance included Warren Foster, program manager at Orange Blossom Family Health Center, Shaniqua “Shan” Rose, who’s running for Orlando’s District 5 seat in the City Commission, and Martha Are, CEO of the Homeless Services Network of Central Florida.
“This is crisis-level at this point, both because the heat is so intense and because the numbers of homelessness have increased so much, and it's not proper to expect the nonprofit sector to shoulder that by itself,” Are said.
Gray called for public agencies to open air-conditioned spaces for cooling, as well as beds for shelter during storms.
Lillian Hernández Caraballo is a Report for America corps member.
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