SALT temporarily suspends mobile homeless assistance due to lack of funding

An Orlando organization that helps the homeless has had to make a difficult decision: Service and Love Together, better known as SALT, is temporarily suspending some of its direct services due to a massive drop in donations.

Eric Camarillo, SALT’s executive director, fought back tears as he spoke about it, shortly after telling his staff about the budget cuts and the shutdown of services. He said he was worried about the people who depend on those services every day.

“There are people here who just can’t take care of themselves and don’t have anyone to take care of them. People with disabilities, seniors, 70-80 year olds. There are families with children. It’s – it’s a lot. We have a big burden on our shoulders,” Camarillo said.

The grassroots organization had expected hundreds of thousands of dollars from various sources – but much of that money never arrived or was disbursed with significant delays, forcing the organization to scale back its donor-dependent mobile laundry and shower services downtown.

One of the biggest concerns, however, Camarillo said, is mail service. Many of the organization’s clients, who do not have their own mailing or residential addresses, receive their mail, including forms, paychecks, disability or Social Security payments, food stamp cards, Medicaid information, identification cards or other legal documents, at the SALT location.

“We shower 80 times a day and do 50 loads of laundry. We process mail for 400 different clients, we store people’s belongings going to interviews and work. We charge people’s phones and devices,” Camarillo said. “That’s a lot.”

Photo courtesy of Shane Murphy

The postal service is so important, Camarillo said, that the organization plans to keep at least one employee or volunteer on site, but it would have to be part-time.

SALT started with a budget of $90,000 to feed people in downtown Orlando. Today it is a $2.75 million operation. Donations to SALT have proven to be well spent on their work.

Since August 2020, SALT has helped nearly ten thousand people and provided over 300,000 services and resources. Last year, SALT’s case management team directly helped house 77 people, and this year the organization is on track to nearly double that number.

This has been possible in part thanks to federal grants and funding from Orlando and Orange County. However, the money they once received from local government sources has dried up, and the money used for direct services has dried up.

The organization is currently trying to stay afloat despite a $600,000 deficit in city and county funding.

“It’s not necessarily (Orlando and Orange County’s) fault. For the last four years, they have been assisted with COVID funds that have benefited us during this period,” Camarillo said.

While funding is declining, the number of people needing help continues to grow. The Homeless Services Network of Central Florida reported last month that the number of homeless people in the region has more than doubled in the last year.

“We were running short this year because we wanted to at least maintain services as the number of homeless in the area has doubled,” Camarillo said. “If the number of homeless doubles, you would logically think that our resources would have to double, right? Because we have to keep up with that need. But that’s not happening.”

Courtesy of Eric Camarillo

SALT’s Orlando offices are located in a building in the backyard of the Christian Service Center in Orlando. Executive Director Eric Gray said SALT is an “emerging powerhouse” in homeless services, so his absence will be felt, but he has full confidence in Camarillo and his staff.

“In this business of helping our community, these kinds of changes are not unusual. They will adapt, I have no doubt about that. This is just a minor hiccup. (Camarillo) and his staff are some of the most ambitious and energetic people we have ever worked with,” Gray said.

SALT is not the only local organization facing financial difficulties. Last month, Gray’s Christian Service Center called for more support from local government because religious and nonprofit organizations can no longer bear the brunt of the work alone.

In October, the Homeless Services Network of Central Florida, an agency funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, held its first fundraiser in 30 years.

According to Gray, this situation is due to the reduction in COVID-based funding, especially for a hygiene mission like SALT’s, as well as the rapid increase in homelessness in the region and poverty alleviation, for which there is a lack of social and government support.

“SALT has done a great job adapting to the end of the COVID era of funding, which other organizations have not had to do,” Gray said. “But this isn’t just about funding, it’s about social services, because the wealth gap in the U.S. is getting wider, housing is getting more scarce, and homelessness is increasing rapidly. There was just a 150% increase in homelessness in the last year. There is no business model that could handle a 150% change in any way – that’s unheard of.”

HSNCFL’s latest PIT count report shows an increase in unsheltered homelessness of nearly 157% since 2022 and about 86% over the last year.

CSC Operations Manager Carla Cox said the organization will do everything it can to support SALT in this difficult challenge.

“We are all overburdened. If we can do something, we will do it because we need them in our community. If they are not there, our job will be ten times more difficult because they are carrying a very heavy burden,” she said.

Camarillo said SALT plans to share the “heartbreaking” news with its clients on Sunday.

Shane Murphy

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Photo courtesy of Brevard Vanguard

Kathleem Jorge, the organization’s outreach director, said her main concerns are the safety and morale of the homeless community. She said clients are worried about a new law in Florida that prohibits overnight lodging or camping in public places.

Jorge said the loss of SALT’s services could force some clients to inadvertently break that law in order to survive.

“I think some of them will probably just say, ‘Wow, that’s another barrier, another hurdle I have to overcome.’ And many clients have already shared with us their fears about the law that will be passed in October that will basically criminalize homelessness,” she said. “They’ll just ask, ‘What are we supposed to do? Where are we supposed to go?'”

While Camarillo is still processing this change, he is not worried. SALT has experienced changes and challenges before, and he said they are adaptable and will get through it.

Currently, he said, the organization’s services for homeless youth and case management office are funded by grants and therefore not affected – while direct services to the public, with mobile showers and a laundry service in the city center, are based purely on donations.

In fact, Camarillo said, no one will lose their jobs. He will transfer his direct service employees to the Sanford office and the youth homeless center.

In his view, something good can come out of this. During the three months that direct services are suspended, staff can strengthen and better prepare their grant-funded services. Once these are strengthened, they hope to be able to reopen other services.

During the months when cell service is unavailable, the organization will focus on fundraising, Camarillo said, with the goal of raising at least $200,000.

Donations can be sent by texting the word “Summer Salt” to 44321. The text will link to the organization’s summer fundraiser or through their website.

Lillian Hernández Caraballo is a member of the Report for America Corps.

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