Pensacola looking to hire "housing first" homelessness consultant

Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves said Tuesday the city is hiring an homelessness consultant who pioneered a "housing first" approach in Alachua County to advise the city on setting up a low-barrier shelter in Pensacola.

Reeves said the city is in the process of finalizing a contract with Jon DeCarmine, executive director of GRACE Marketplace in Gainesville, to work as a consultant for the city on homelessness issues.

GRACE Marketplace is a low-barrier shelter and support services center that works to help people experiencing homelessness find a permanent place to live.

"We're going to hire him, bring him on at the city to give us that roadmap to what an opportunity center would look like," Reeves said.

In November, Reeves said he believed a low-barrier shelter was needed to truly address the issues of homelessness in Escambia County and that the city would look into what it takes to set one up.

Last week, the Florida Legislature approved a bill that bans cities and counties from allowing people to sleep in public spaces and requires local governments to create designated homeless camps, with security, sanitation and access to mental health services.

The bill is still pending Gov. Ron DeSantis' signature, but if it becomes law, Reeves said he'd look to partner with the county to be able to comply with it and would like he wants to partner with the county to set up a low-barrier shelter.

"As I've maintained now, for many months, this is going to have to be a one-two punch of the city and county, and I think this new legislation is a microcosm of that," Reeves said. "How we also adhere to this new legislation is going to have to be a collective effort between us in the county, but we're not going to be able to do that alone."

As far as DeCarmine's contract with the city, Reeves said the city's purchasing office is still working on the details, but he hopes the contract will be finalized soon and DeCarmine can meet with city officials in May.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola looking to hire "housing first" homelessness consultant