Lee County, Fort Myers looks to enter homeless into ‘Rapid Rehousing Program’

After dozens of homeless people were forced out of Lions Park in Fort Myers, some were offered hotels as temporary housing. However, not everyone was offered that option.

For now, they are saying the hotels will be available for at least two weeks, maybe more. The City of Fort Myers set aside 280 rooms.

Lee County says it’s also helping the homeless get into the “Rapid Rehousing Program.”

There are no more tents and no more people sleeping overnight at Lions Park. But this has different implications for different people.

Jimmie and Dawn both called this park home just one week ago. Their paths since then have been quite different.

Jimmie Niles struggles with homelessness. For now, he is considered one of the lucky ones.

“It feels good to wake up in the morning, take a shower, use hot and cold water,” Niles said.

Niles spent two months in a tent at the park. Now, he’s staying at the Holiday Inn across the street, going through the rehousing process.

He hopes this light will be the end to one of the darkest eras of his life. “I believe in God, and he does miracles,” Niles said.

Dawn, on the other hand, has not been as lucky. She, her three children and her grandson have slept in their car at Lions Park since November.

She says that she missed it when the outreach teams offered people at the park a place to go.

“We’re still in our car. We’re waiting,” she said. She’s still waiting for a spot in the “Rapid Rehousing Program.” Dawn began that process Monday.

Mayor Kevin Anderson says the city’s goal is to get everyone in need through the program, provide them with mental health services, substance abuse resources and job training along the way.

“This is an opportunity now to address the issues which led them to the homelessness to hopefully prevent it from reoccurring,” Anderson said.

Dawn will continue to wait for her opportunity to join rapid rehousing. She holds out hope that she and her family will find somewhere to go.

“Right now, we’ve been struggling because, when we were here, they were coming feeding with food 3 times a day, and we had gotten used to it,” she said.

“My questions are just going to be what’s the next step? How long? We were fine here because we had everything we need, but now we don’t have nothing again,” Dawn said.

Dawn says she doesn’t meet the qualifications for shelters because one of her children has a severe brain injury that causes her to become violent at times.

Lee County insists that it has enough units available through its rapid rehousing program to provide housing for everyone in need. The process typically takes two weeks.

Dawn hopes she’ll be able to get through the process that quickly.