The proposal to open a large homeless shelter in Orlando’s SoDo district continues to engender intense criticism.

Martha Are, CEO of Homeless Service Network of Central Florida, says they submitted HUD Award applications for federal money used to pay renewals for projects, services, and programs for the homeless community in November.

Faced with fast-rising homelessness and a shortage of shelter beds, Orlando officials are eyeing a mobile solution. They’re considering buying two former Greyhound buses, with bunkbeds replacing seats to house up to 20 people in each. The buses go for $175,000 each, with operations expected to cost about $1 million annually.

In a significant move to address homelessness in the region, the Orlando City Council has approved plans for the expansion of the Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida shelter. This expansion will include a new 9,000-square-foot facility dedicated to providing more resources for unhoused women and children.

Orlando arrested more than two dozen people for camping violations in January, according to an Orlando Sentinel tally of court records for the first month of a tough new law that many feared would lead to criminalizing the unsheltered.

The Christian Service Center hosted a watch party for the unhoused community, giving out hotdogs, burgers, drinks, and snacks to dozens.

Volusia County on Tuesday became the latest Central Florida jurisdiction to ban camping in public. With a 7-0 vote, the council unanimously approved an ordinance that mirrors the new state law, better known as “Florida’s Camping Ban.”

Law enforcement leaders, mental and physical health officials, homeless advocates and legal experts convened Friday for the first in a series of meetings to look into the increase in the inmate population at the Orange County Jail.

Winter Park will launch a new program on Monday supported by a federal grant aimed at helping its police department connect homeless people with resources to find housing and other services.

With Congressman Maxwell Frost (D) by their side, representatives of local organizations held a press conference in downtown Orlando Wednesday to celebrate a judge's ruling to block President Donald Trump's efforts to pause federal funding, which was followed hours later by the administration rescinding a memorandum from the Office of Budget and Management that had produced more confusion and anxiety about which programs would be impacted by such a freeze.

There’s new pressure to replace a soup kitchen and start building apartments for the homeless. In Melbourne, where helping the homeless has become a big issue in recent years, the city council is calling on the Daily Bread outreach center to close within months, not two years, as previously expected.

Over the next three days, volunteers with the Homeless Services Network of Central Florida will be going out to count how many people are experiencing homelessness.

A federal judge has temporarily blocked a push from President Donald Trump to pause federal funding while his administration conducts an across-the-board ideological review to uproot progressive initiatives.

Ashley Hildebrandt, who has been homeless for eight years, tells News 6 that this week's bitter temps have gotten to her.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is awarding a $1.4 million grant to the 13 homeless projects and services in the county.

The Homeless Services Network of Central Florida organizes the annual Point-in-Time Count for Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties. Over Jan. 28-30, volunteers find people experiencing homelessness and ask them to take a survey. The agency says they need more help.

Snow is breaking records in Florida and a new t-shirt commemorates the weird weather and raises money for people experiencing homelessness in Florida. And if it's too cold to get a t-shirt, warmer options are available too.

HB 1365 does allow counties or cities to designate an area for public camping, but so far, no Central Florida government has designated an area for camping. So if people experiencing homelessness can’t sleep or camp outside, where should they go? In Seminole County, there’s only one homeless shelter: The Rescue Outreach Mission.

This story is part of a collaborative initiative of independent local news outlets working towards a more informed and engaged Central Florida.

It’s been a problem some say has gotten worse in recent years, now once again, Melbourne is talking about what to do about the homeless population.

A new state law restricting individuals from sleeping on public property is shaking up communities across Florida but has also inspired an unprecedented journalism collaboration uniting 10 news outlets to tell the complex stories behind the issue.

WKMG News 6 is joining 9 other local news outlets in a regional collaboration to report on the local impact of Florida’s new Unauthorized Public Camping and Public Sleeping bill (House Bill 1365), set to be enforced on Jan. 1.

Central Florida faces a stark “math problem” when it comes to addressing homelessness. Available resources simply don’t add up to meet the demand. The challenge has been further complicated by new legislation known as the Florida Homelessness Reduction Act, which went into effect last October.

Florida’s new homeless law gets added teeth on Jan. 1, with residents and businesses allowed to sue cities to enforce camping bans.

The Homeless Services Network of Central Florida says the number of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness in Orange, Seminole and Osceola counties rose 86% from 2023 to 2024.

A controversial law designed to prevent homeless people from sleeping in public places soon goes into effect in Florida.

Mayor Paul Alfrey announced that the debris had been removed from a “homeless camp” under the Apollo Boulevard bridge near Eau Gallie High School.

A pilot program to beef up security in downtown Daytona Beach is going to stick around. The city first added security guards in the pilot to its Beach Street after seeing an increase in crime and issues with the homeless.

Eric Camarillo with SALT Outreach says the homeless population in Orlando has doubled year over year. Since they started operating at the Christian Service Center in Downtown Orlando in 2020, they’ve received COVID funding from the government, which helped them keep up with the demand. Unfortunately, that is no longer available, leaving them with a $600,000 deficit.

The 4,000-square-foot home is the latest project being built by Villagers For Veterans. Ashley’s House will be a transition home for women veterans who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.

The Orlando Union Rescue Mission, which is one of Central Florida's largest service providers to the homeless, wants to do something about the housing shortage.

It's the first arrangement of its kind in the state, according to the New Smyrna Beach Police Department: A department pairing an officer with a counselor to go into the woods and visit the homeless regularly, even daily.

The Homeless Services Network released its annual Point-in-Time count for 2024 for Orange, Osceola and Seminole Counties.

Light Orlando along with dozens of volunteers came together to help get results for people in our community who need it most.

Since December, if you've walked around downtown Melbourne maybe you've noticed there aren't any benches on the sidewalk anymore.

The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments regarding homelessness encampment bans that went into effect in Central Florida and across the country.

New York City ranked at No. 1, and the bulk of the list featured cities from California. However, one Florida city made its way onto the list.

There could be more government-sponsored homeless camps coming to Florida because of a new law that could force some cities and counties to create their own spots like this.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis held a news conference Wednesday morning in Miami Beach, where he signed a bill to ban counties and municipalities from allowing people to sleep on public property.

A Central Florida nonprofit owner just opened a transitional home in Pine Hills, working to be a beacon of hope for men experiencing homelessness.

Apopka residents said that recently, they have seen more people experiencing homelessness in their neighborhoods.

Driving or walking around the 32825 ZIP code in the Orlando area, it doesn’t take long to find people who have taken to sleeping in tents or doorways.

Legislation backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis that seeks to prevent homeless people from sleeping in public places is ready to go to the full Senate and House.

City leaders signed off on a series of measures to address the growing population of people experiencing homelessness in DeLand.

One week after a fire at the Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida, more than 200 men experiencing homelessness are still displaced.

A fire at a homeless shelter in Orlando has left 237 men displaced as the building is currently not usable.

New York City ranked at No. 1, and the bulk of the list featured cities from California. However, one Florida city made its way onto the list.

Central Florida is known as a top tourist destination in the world, but if you pull back the curtains and look a little closer, you'll also find one of the worst affordable housing crises in the country.

Every week, without fail, employees from BFARR Contractors have been volunteering with the Salvation Army’s Brian Smith Urban Outreach project.

If you live, work or visit Orlando's Parramore neighborhood, you will likely see multiple tents with homeless people lining the streets.

A few dozen young men in an Orlando mentorship program spent their morning packing food for the homeless.

It’s no secret that many people have faced financial struggles over the last few years amid rising costs for simple necessities: groceries, utilities and rent, to name just a few.

This week’s Getting Results Award winner told News 6 that he understands the challenges of getting people off the streets, and because of that, he’s put a new spin on homeless outreach.

Corie Murray interviews AJ Vassar

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer joined workers cleaning up litter and debris Thursday to highlight a partnership that’s helping people work out of homelessness.

Central Florida volunteers are working to combat homelessness by gathering data that will help allocate federal resources, understand local trends and inform policy change.

With approximately $3 million in federal funding administered through the HUD Home American Rescue Plan Act, the county is now asking for the public’s input on best to use the money locally.

President Joe Biden's administration is making a new push to reduce homelessness.

The Orlando VA Healthcare System announced its “Home for the Holidays” campaign with the goal of finding housing for 100 homeless veterans across Orange, Seminole, Osceola, Volusia and Brevard counties.

Cilphonose Salomon is a pastor at Eglise De Dieu D’operation De La Benediction. For two decades, he has donated food to those in need.

Hannah Durocher and Briana Revita are continuing to panhandle in the face of homelessness, despite Melbourne Mayor Paul Alfrey's attempt to stop this practice.

The city of Orlando is combatting homelessness by investing more than $100, 000 in funds to a transportation and staffing agency that will help people get to work.

Russ Beymer knew it would be a challenge to start the newest chapter of HomeAid America in Orlando. That was before a worldwide pandemic changed everything.

A local water park partnered up with Pathway Homes of Florida to help the fight to end homelessness in Central Florida.

But counties say that with some federal relief funding expiring soon or its status uncertain, it's time to transition residents from expensive hotel rooms to cheaper, more stable housing. California is one of several states, including Washington, that turned to hotels to shelter homeless people as the virus took hold. The department has said it plans to move homeless people out of all 29 hotels by June. Russ Heimerich, spokesman with the state's Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency, says counties have resources to continue housing homeless people in hotels. They say hotel residents have flourished with regular checkups and meals.

ORLANDO, Fla. – A local coalition fighting homelessness in Central Florida is preparing more resources as Gov. DeSantis' order on certain real estate evictions lifts Thursday, meaning more people could potentially face homelessness. There aren’t enough of them for all of the homeless folks in the community,” Krall said. They also provide resources for about 25 children who need a place to connect for online schooling. At the moment, the coalition is taking in individual volunteers but not group volunteers.