Lee County in talks to create facility for homeless people waiting for permanent housing

Lee County commissioners want to use taxpayer money to find homeless people a place to stay while they wait for a permanent home.

The goal is to make sure people on a waitlist for housing are not waiting on the street. Commissioners are thinking of building a facility for people on the rapid rehousing waiting list to get them off the street and under a roof while they wait.

Commissioners during their Tuesday morning meeting asked staff to take two weeks to create a new housing option that would allow people to wait for their turn on the waiting list.

Commissioners will talk about the building, what it might look like and where it might be located, during their next meeting.

Commissioners heard from people about what it’s like to be homeless.

One of those people was Carlton Martinez, who used to be homeless. Now Martinez has a car-detailing business. He travels on buses and tows his car-cleaning supplies with his bike.

“I have been (homeless) and that is the reason I joined these people,” Martinez said. “It is something dear to my heart.”

“These people are exposed to the elements and COVID,” Martinez told commissioners on Tuesday.

The rapid rehousing program has a waiting list of about 271 people and has a wait time of about 30 days.

“The longer that somebody is on the streets and out of a housing situation, the more they start to get used to living under those conditions,” said Lee County Commissioner Brian Hamman.

It’s not final, but it’s a good place to start.

“If someone has a home, it doesn’t matter how small it is,” Martinez, of Lehigh Acres, said. “If they’re gathered together in a home setting, where their mind is at ease then they begin that journey to the top.”

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