TEAM EFFORT: How Charlotte County is tackling homelessness

CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla. — Charlotte County is continuing to use a proactive and collaborative approach to address homelessness, rather than penalizing people experiencing homelessness.

In October 2024, Florida banned public camping and sleeping (HB 1365). An additional provision to the ban took effect at the start of the new year that allows people to bring civil action against local governments who don’t enforce the ban.

In Charlotte County, unhoused people sleeping or setting up camps on public property is a rare occurrence, according to the sheriff’s office.

“We don’t have the same homeless problem that other parts of the state have because we have already been working on it for a number of years,” said Deputy First Class Lou Henyecz, with CCSO’s Community Policing Unit.

Henyecz said Charlotte County has a strong partnership of community service organizations, including the sheriff’s office, that work together to provide resources for people. More than 15 of those organizations work out of the Charlotte County Family Services Center in Port Charlotte which opened in 2021. There, the organizations can collaborate to effectively serve people in need.

“It’s a new vision and it has been working amazingly,” Henyecz explained. “I don't know if there is anything like this anywhere else to be honest and we do case work right from here. So, all the groups come together and speak about the individuals to find out what resources they can do to help them the best.”

Services offered go beyond housing, and can help people find rehabs, mental health counseling, employment opportunities and more. According to Henyecz, more than 800 people have been housed through the county partnerships since 2021.

The new law also states that when shelters in the area have reached capacity, local governments must designate areas where camping is allowed. Those areas must meet specific criteria including access to running water and security.

According to the county, there are no plans to designate such an area, despite the Charlotte Cares Center, the area’s sole shelter reaching capacity. Henyecz said the county’s largest encampment of homeless people (currently about 50 individuals) is on private property, just a few blocks from the shelter.

Henyecz said instead of focusing on penalizing people for sleeping outside, himself and his colleagues will continue to work together and find ways to more positively help the community.

“Hopefully one day we will be able to end homelessness in Charlotte County, that’s the ultimate goal,” said Henyecz.