Dozens of homeless people in Daytona Beach will now have somewhere warm to sleep -- at least for a while.
On Wednesday, the city commission said a temporary shelter will be open for the next 90 days to house about 50 homeless people on Beach Street. Some business owners are behind the idea and will even use their own money to help pay for the shelter.
“My first $100 donation that will go directly to the Salvation Army,” said business owner Tom Myers.
Myers is one of several Beach Street merchants who plan to donate money. His hope is to get housing first for the homeless.
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This week, the city was able to move 12 homeless people into the Salvation Army shelter. However, many business owners like David Stamey who would like to donate money can’t afford it.
Stamey, owner of Art, Jewelry Design, said the homeless are driving his customers away. He offered up a recent incident as proof.
“I said, ‘sir, I'm trying to wait on this customer,’ and he said, ‘c’mon give me some money’,” Stamey said. “And I said, ‘sir, you’re going to have to leave.’ And that customer didn’t feel really comfortable about it and she’s never been back in since.”
The city commission hopes it can help alleviate some of Stamey’s stress with a temporary Salvation Army shelter that will cost almost $6,000 a week to operate. A grant will help pay for some of that cost.
The shelter is only temporary though. The council passed a motion Wednesday to ask the county to give them an offer in writing, and negotiate the terms of funding a permanent shelter.
Stamey is still worried that this process of going back and forth between the city and county will take too long.
“Get something done, you know? Help the people that need to be helped and give a little bit of relief to the business owners,” said Stamey.
The county plans to meet Thursday morning. County leaders will talk about putting the homeless in a temporary lot in Daytona Beach.