Melbourne meeting Tuesday could finalize Daily Bread closure, affordable housing plan

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This story was originally published by WKMG News 6.

MELBOURNE, Fla. – The Daily Bread, a homeless outreach center that served hundreds of people in the Melbourne area, is set to close in a matter of weeks, and a meeting Tuesday could finalize the next step.

Melbourne Vice Mayor David Neuman posted 31 pages on social media this Friday afternoon, outlining the agreement to close the current Daily Bread Outreach Center and begin creating the new affordable housing development, Providence Place.

“To be specific, this area was near our downtown, near residential neighborhoods,” Neuman said. “This unfortunately caused a lot of trespassing overnight, a lot of potential violence. There is drug activity in this neighborhood, all near this area of the downtown neighborhood. We cannot have it.

Neuman says that the current homeless outreach center is a failed model that needed to close.

“That only provided a soup kitchen,” Neuman said. “It did not provide any sort of technical training. It did not provide any sort of housing. It only provided food and then occasionally wasn’t enough.”

He mentioned that he posted this agreement online to show people they’re creating a better solution to help homeless people and also protect the safety of citizens downtown.

“We’re also looking at making sure that these facilities are used strictly in the affordable housing. It’s my understanding there is a 50-year agreement for that property if they were to sell it or anything of that nature that it would still be made for affordable housing,” said Neuman.

According to the agreement, Providence Place will feature at least 70 multifamily units for families making 80% below the median income. It will also feature on-site security and help the city comply with the state’s no-camping law.

“The purpose of the facility is to take care of anybody that is homeless or on the verge of homelessness. They can go to this facility and they will have a caseworker and they will be able to get some of those medical needs that will help them in their family,” said Neuman.

This development comes a little over a month after the city announced plans to shorten Daily Bread’s closing date from two years to just 60 days. Neuman says they have to rush the closure to get this new facility up and running by 2027.

“They have a two-year deadline to get this thing going and that’s one of the big pieces as well. There’s $3 million in city funds on the line. They will not receive the money until the project is complete and must be completed by that point,” Neuman explained.

City leaders are set to vote on the agreement on Tuesday.

Neuman says while the facility is being built, he will be working with local nonprofits to help meet the need. Daily Bread will still continue to provide homeless people with mobile food services in Melbourne.

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