Hidden in the woods along US 192 is the homeless camp where Rachel De Silva lives in. There’s more than a dozen tents out there.

“It’s just very hard,” she said.

  • Kissimmee cracking down on homeless camps on US 192
  • Residents may soon be forced to leave
  • Current resident used to live at controversial Heritage Park Inn
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Before she was cooking in the open and hanging her clothes out to dry, she used to live at the Osceola Heritage Park Inn. The inn left its tenants without water or electricity for months.

“I think that the Heritage Park has a stigma and nobody wants to take anyone who stayed at the Heritage Park,” she explained.  

De Silva takes care of her husband who was severely injured after slipping and falling in the condo hotel. She said they’re now having a hard time finding a home. Now she's been told they would soon have to vacate the area.

The City of Kissimmee Code Enforcement sent a letter to the property owner, asking them to take corrective action due to the amount of junk and trash on site.

An agent for the property owner in Jacksonville said over the phone that they've asked the city for an extension. They’re in the process of filing a trespass authorization form, as advised by the city.

A chain between two posts was recently placed along the easement of the main entry of the camp. A spokesperson for the city said the chain was supposed to be up the entire time so they just re-installed it.

However De Silva said this makes it harder to get around.

“Now the thing about it is that three times a week the church will come drive straight through there, open the back of the truck and deliver basic necessities,” De Silva said. “And now there is no way that they could come in anymore.”

Shawna Romkey a pastor for I Am Love Outreach & Ministry Inc. goes out into the camp to drop off water and food often. Romkey said the lack of resources in the county are to blame.

“There is no excuse to treat human lives this way. They could have solved this problem a long time ago,” Romkey said. “They could have converted one of these abandoned hotels into apartments.”

Having to pack up and move yet again without a final destination is the tough reality De Silva and her husband are facing.

“It’s heartbreaking but there’s nothing anybody can do,” De Silva added.