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Has the Venice Hospital evacuation center turned into an unsafe homeless encampment?
Francesco Abbruzzino, The Uncensored Report, LLC
I have received a few communications regarding the Venice Hospital evacuation center. Emails of concerning issues that have been taking place at the location. So, I drove by and talked to an individual to get the scoop.
Basically, people were moved there from Venice High. It was going to be an upgrade for the evacuees providing them privacy with their own rooms and television.
Essentially the communications to me are all echoing the same thing, that the hospital is not completely being used for evacuees and that the hospital is being used by many individuals that were homeless prior to the hurricane. There have been issues with drugs and alcohol, with a few of the evacuees. One individual wrote me alleging that an individual’s stuff that was allegedly stolen, along with the cremains of her loved one. The cremains have not been found. The situation has many of the true evacuees on edge with concerns for their safety.
Like I said, I talked to an individual on Sunday. He is a volunteer that came from up north to help via the Red Cross. The individual has heard the same stories about alcohol and drugs, but states that he has not seen anything like that while he is on location. He had not heard about cremains being stolen. He said life can be difficult in the center because so many are without a home, and no job, so many appear to be depressed. Factor in the fact that these individuals are staying in an evacuation center and one can only imagine the impact all of this will have on an individual and their family. He did tell me that the Red Cross has a plan for getting the individual housing, jobs, and other resources. When he started, they were at full capacity and the number of evacuees has dropped. He did not know the number but said there are over 100 still on location. I asked him if there were a lot of evacuees that were homeless prior to Ian and he said that he was not sure, but the bottom line is that they are all homeless now. I will note that I believe the Red Cross can’t turn away the homeless because that may jeopardize their federal funding. Keep in mind that he is a volunteer, and his perspective may be different than an evacuee that lives within the evacuation center.
I am not sure how much longer the facility will remain an evacuation center. I am sure at some point we must start to transition the individuals back into homes, jobs, and the lifestyle the had prior to Ian. When is that? I do not know, and I am assuming the individuals at the Red Cross, Emergency Management, FEMA and other organizations are working on a plan to reach that objective. Hopefully it will be sooner than later, or steps will be taken to step up services that address some safety concerns that are taking place. I have been told the VPD have been very attentive to the issues taking place there. There was a VPD vehicle on location when I stopped by there yesterday.
So, to answer the question in my headline. According to the volunteer, no it is not a dangerous homeless encampment. However, this does conflict with the communications sent to me by individuals that state they have been talking to evacuees within the hospital. Unfortunately, the evacuees involved do not want to go public over fear of being kicked out of the facility. So, I am left wondering where the truth lies.
Thoughts?