Time is running out for dozens of homeless people who have spent the past few months in Fort Lauderdale hotels due to the pandemic.
In an early effort to try stopping the spread of the coronavirus last May, the city put up 72 people without homes in the Rodeway in Dania Beach, as well as at another area hotel. At that time, city leaders said it was inhumane for people to live on streets as the world was dealing with a pandemic.
However, as South Florida has become the epicenter of the disease, Fort Lauderdale officials have reversed course, saying it is time for the homeless to leave those accommodations. The program has cost the city $530,000.
“I was so relieved being off the street,” Shauna Cartwright says. She adds that she felt like she mattered during that time.
