'Housing, not handcuffs': Lake Worth Beach residents rally in support of the homeless
Community members are turning up the heat and putting pressure on Lake Worth Beach city leaders.
Several people gathered outside Lake Worth Beach City Hall Tuesday with posters and megaphones in hand to protest the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision supporting .
While it's now considered legal to ban people from sleeping on the streets, advocates argue it's cruel to punish those who have nowhere else to go. What they're asking for boils down to three words: housing, not handcuffs.
Steven "The Cowboy" McCullough has been living on the streets of Lake Worth Beach for 17 years.
"Somebody save me, me from myself. I've been so alone living in hell. And then I'd add to it, they're making us more in hell," McCullough said. "It's getting tougher on the homeless though out here. They're waking people up, they're throwing their clothes away."
He's talking about law enforcement. He said deputies are already enforcing the law that doesn't officially go into effect until October 1. Depending on the area, those caught camping out on sidewalks or in parks could be fined, ticketed, or even arrested.
"How are you going to put a mandate on me to go somewhere? I'm going to go to jail. I say get the bologna sandwiches ready and let's go. I'm off the street," McCullough said.
Former Lake Worth Beach City Commissioner Kim Stokes claims the city has nearly $4 million left in federal funding they can use on social issues. She's been advocating to use that money toward case management and housing vouchers.
"If you don't have a place to go, you don't have a shelter you don't have a bed. You have to you have to live somewhere you have to exist somewhere and I hope it's not a jail cell," Stokes said.
They're not going to evaporate into thin air, and, and this is a national ruling from Scotus. So, I can go from Lake Worth to Boynton Beach or from Boynton to Texas or wherever, but the problem is the same," Dr. McVoy said.
Earlier this year, Palm Beach County opened a $17 million housing . The 76-bed Central County facility provides meals, medical care, and job training to homeless men and women. But the waiting list is extensive. When our CBS12 News team covered the opening, there were already roughly 750 people on standby.
"I saw this older woman crawling out from under my steps. And I said oh my god, can I help you? And she sat there and put her head in her hands and said I never thought this would happen to me," said Susan Guiaux, a Lake Worth Beach resident.
The clock is ticking. Local municipalities have just three months to put together a plan for how they'll be housing the homeless.
