Bed bugs close Salvation Army homeless shelter

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Just as overnight temperatures are forecast to drop into the 30s,
the Salvation Army men's shelter in Orlando has
been forced to shutter its doors temporarily, the charity
announced Thursday.

The culprit? An infestation of bed bugs.

The closure, expected to last up to a week, left the agency
scrambling to find accommodations for about 75 homeless men.
Another 50 men, enrolled in the Salvation Army's long-term
transitional program, will be housed in a gymnasium on the
property until the shelter reopens.

The charity hopes that local residents will pitch in to help
cover the estimated $15,000 cost of tenting the building for
treatment.

"It's a lot of money," said public relations coordinator Vicki
Hastings. "We do have some funds available for an emergency, but
then that's money we can't spend on other needs."

The incident also comes as shelters in general are struggling
to keep pace with Central Florida's ballooning number of
homeless men, women and children.

"We know the strain our closure, even for these few days, puts
on the homeless population and its already overstretched
providers," said Major Andrew Kelly, the Salvation Army's
Orlando Area Commander. "So we are working quickly to be able
to … operate at full capacity."

The Coalition for the Homeless, just over a mile away, is
expected to take many of the men, though its emergency shelter
has no mattresses to sleep on, only floor space.

"We can accommodate all of them at this point," said
spokeswoman Muffet Robinson.

But those shelters with actual beds report none to spare.

"The majority of the emergency beds are full every night
anyway," said Cathy Jackson, executive director of the Homeless
Services Network of Central Florida. "And there's already no
room at the inn for the 150 to 200 folks who are sleeping
outside or in abandoned buildings or carefully concealed
tents."

At the Orlando Union Rescue Mission, which has 60
emergency-shelter beds, president and CEO Allen Harden said
there's typically competition for a spot.

"We've got guys that stand in line for hours trying to get a
bed," he said. "We keep talking to the powers that be, trying
to expand. We're sitting right there in the shadow of the new
gazillion-dollar arena and we're saying, 'Come on, throw us
some crumbs.' "

Bed bugs have become a scourge of the developed world over the
past 15 years, affecting everything from five-star hotels to
mom-and-pop motels to individual homes. They can be carried by
humans and pets, and hitchhike on clothing and luggage. Though
their bite itself is painless, it can lead to severe itching
and subsequent skin infections.

While other shelters in Orlando report periodic problems with
the pests, operators said this was the first time an entire
building would be closed. The Salvation Army's shelter for
women and shelter, housed in a different building, remains
open.

ksantich@tribune.com or
407-420-5503