Monday morning was the last chance for local homeless and housing service workers to keep hundreds of displaced residents from facing homelessness, after the city of Orlando condemned a hotel that was being used as long-term housing.
More than 60 housing-insecure units at the Howard Johnson by Wyndham off International drive were occupied by families with children, people with disabilities, felons, those with past evictions, and older adults on low, fixed incomes who had been renting the rooms, paying by the week. The residents found out Wednesday they had to vacate, even though their rent was paid up, and City of Orlando workers showed up Thursday to deliver the Notice to Vacate – and offer support.
Trinette Nation with the Coalition for the Homeless was there with the organization’s outreach teams since the notice to vacate, offering resources and working to connect as many residents as possible to housing. In that time, Nation said her teams were able to place five families with children in bridge housing right away, four of which will go straight into their own permanent apartments…