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Sarasota News Leader July 4, 2013 OPINION Page 65 Meanwhile, the meter is running on the cost to local taxpayers. The expense of jail stays and emergency room visits runs into the millions of dollars, the city manager has estimated. He has asked a couple of volunteers to try to assemble a better number. Instead she and volunteers — homeless and housed — are starting to landscape the property, knocking back the weeds while other plans are developed. And she is starting a Friday morning prayer brunch at 11 a.m. However, city officials said the property is not zoned for that, and they have since set Code enforcement officers to act as watchdogs on the area. Guillory said, "I had to drop the tents for compliance." Last month, the Community Alliance of Sarasota County established a homeless committee chaired by former Sarasota Police Capt. Paul Sutton. City Manager Tom Barwin said that group, now recruiting members, will "It's all about faith. It starts with faith," she At the same time, city officials are keeping a said. "We're discussing what we'd like to see close eye on four acres near 10th Street that here. We're trying to hear from the community are on the verge of turning into a tent city for and the homeless what we want here." the homeless, a place to call their own. Mr. Quick proposed one idea that seemed PEEKING IN ON THE NON-TENT CITY to resonate within the small group. "How do we make the homeless a help to the city?" he On Monday morning, I went to visit Valerie asked. Guillory on 10th Street at her self-proclaimed "Sanctuary of Sarasota" for the homeless. It City staff, in combination with the Salvation was raining lightly. She has created a founda- Army, is already supporting the Street Team tion called Trinity Without Borders to support crews of homeless people in their Day-Glogreen T-shirts, picking up trash around town her outreach to the homeless. in the mornings. About half of the Street Team One Good Samaritan leased her nearly 4 acres members have accepted offers of employment on the western side of Washington Boulevard, while on the trash detail. where it crosses the railroad tracks behind an auto service center. She and others were MEANWHILE, MORE MEETINGS under a shady canopy, sheltering from the As we spoke in "the sanctuary," the Homeweather. less Strike Team was meeting at the SarasoHer original aim was described by Mr. Quick, ta County Health Department. And there is a as he identified himself: "She was trying to Homeless Focus Group that has met in the community for the past four years. create a safe haven for people to sleep."