There are nearly 500 homeless people in Indian River County, according to a HUD survey taken this year. If one Vero Beach charitable organization gets its way, a proposed shelter will get 100 of those people off the streets, while also helping them gain job skills and employment – but the endeavor faces zoning hurdles.
The Source, a Vero Beach-based Christian ministry that provides cold night shelters, emergency hunger relief, counseling and benefit referrals to the county’s growing homeless population, is proposing an overnight shelter at its former 4,000-square-foot thrift store located at 1239 16th Street.
The shelter would house 100 homeless individuals enrolled in job training programs and is conveniently located near a bus hub where occupants could catch a ride to workforce training offsite, said Anthony Zorbaugh, the organization’s executive director. The vocational housing program would provide aid to individuals determined to become taxpayers, Zorbaugh said.
“We want people to be lifted up and get on their feet,” Zorbaugh said, adding he’s not seeking money from the city for the venture. “Food, shelter and housing should be a basic right.”
Zorbaugh expects renovations to the defunct thrift store to cost around $30,000. Some occupants likely will be enrolled in The Source’s own culinary training program, launched nearly three years ago. Last year, 49 out of 55 culinary program participants found permanent work, while 36 out of the 49 also found housing, Zorbaugh said.
The proposed shelter, however, faces some governmental hurdles. The Source must request an amendment to Vero’s zoning code to allow for residential use in the industrial zone where the former thrift shop, which closed two years ago, is located. The Planning and Zoning Board must first review the application and make a recommendation to the City Council, which will render a final decision, city officials said.
Zorbaugh expects the council to consider the shelter sometime in August. If the zoning amendment is approved, Zorbaugh hopes to open in late September or early October, he said.
Mayor Val Zudans, who has met with The Source about the proposed shelter, applauds the organization’s effort to help homeless individuals striving to end their plight, he said.
“The idea of housing for people who are enrolled in programs to get out of homelessness sounds a whole lot better than a homeless shelter,” Zudans said.
The “Point in Time” survey by the Department of Housing and Urban Development released earlier this year revealed 1,499 individuals – 1,042 adults and 457 children – were documented as homeless in Indian River, Martin and St. Lucie counties. That was a decrease of three percent in overall homelessness over the past year according to the survey, which was conducted on Jan. 29, but Indian River County saw an increase.
In the county, 486 people were documented at feeding sites, shelters or living on the streets. That figure is an increase of 39 in the past year, the survey found. Of the 486, 86 were living in shelters while the remaining 400 lived on the streets.
