On Tuesday, the new law, HB 1635, goes in effect prohibiting municipalities to allow people to sleep or camp in public places.
Okeechobee County is bracing for the law’s impact, since their county lacks a homeless shelter.
WPTV’s Tyler Hatfield spoke to Larry Couch, who has been homeless in Okeechobee for nearly four months.
“All you need is a place to sleep,” said Couch “It’s hard. It’s mentally, physically hard.”
WPTVCouch told WPTV that he thinks this new law is unfair without a local shelter to take people in.
“[It’s} a public place, public sidewalk, public park,” said Couch. “We don’t want to be out in public, but you gotta do what you gotta do.”
I spent the day at RiteLife Services in Okeechobee, where they serve lunch daily to homeless individuals and provide recovery services, to people like Couch.
Serrina Snyder, with RiteLife Services, said the new law will make their job more difficult.