About 70 homeless people who were staying in two Daytona Beach motels at the city’s expense are being shuffled around once again.
Ray Yanessa is one of them.
- Daytona Beach moved homeless out of motels
- Homeless were at the motels after they had to leave Salvation Army
- City footing the bill
Yanessa and the others were staying at the Salvation Army earlier this year, with Daytona Beach footing the bill.
But that money ran out and the group was moved to two area motels on Ridgewood Avenue.
“They put me up here for 10 days. Actually 10 days, 11 nights,” said Yanessa.
That bill was also compliments of the city to the tune of almost $25,000, which ran out as well.
So the city had to come up with a new solution.
Fellow homeless man Steven Demonte and at least 50 others who were staying at the Royal Inn Motel will now be moved to a facility on Kingston Avenue in Daytona Beach, run by AME Church.
Others will go to Ormond Beach Alliance on Nova Road.
Demonte does not know how long his stay on Kingston street will last.
“I don’t know. I wish I knew. They’re just taking us and moving us around,” said Demonte, who has medical issues and carries an oxygen tank.
But Yanessa and about 20 others will have to fend for themselves, continuing a life on the streets.
“I’m done, I’m out on the streets, right back where I started. I knew it was only a temporary fix when I got into the Salvation Army,” said a worried Yanessa.
All this shuffling to find shelter for the homeless started when a large group camped out in front of a Volusia County building on Beach Street earlier this year.
Since then city and Volusia County leaders have gone back and forth on where to place the homeless permanently.
“We need to be in a shelter, we need to have a roof over our heads. And I hate to take advantage of the system like that, but we’ve got to be able to hold people accountable for not providing shelter,” said Wayne Perry, also homeless.
Yanessa says he is hoping to buy an inexpensive car to live in, but for now only has his bicycle to get around, waiting for city and county leaders to come up with permanent housing for the area’s homeless.