MEL TOADVINE Joseph Skillman 39, a homeless man who lived in the woods off of Beth Stacey Boulevard, waits to be taken to the Bob Janes Triage Center in Fort Myers.

Several volunteers and members of different agencies converged last week on a homeless camp off of Beth Stacey Boulevard, not far from the round-about to clear out litter and debris. It was spearheaded by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office in cooperation with the Salvation Army in Fort Myers.

Two from the Sheriff’s Office included Andrea Adams, a community coordination who works at the Lehigh substation, and Sgt. Gus Vallejo from Fort Myers. Working with them was Jeremy Porter, a homeless case manager with the Salvation Army. They removed a homeless man and took him to Fort Myers to get help from the Salvation Army.

He was Joseph Skillman, 39, who sat in the shade along Beth Stacey Boulevard with his head buried in his arms while bags and bags of trash were removed from his camp site.

That is why the Salvation Army has come in to help in Lehigh to provide services for the homeless, according to Sarah Clarke, an official with the Salvation Army in Fort Myers.

She said a lot of people only think of people who live in the woods as homeless but the county ‘s homeless coalition takes into account the people who live in their vehicles, in different homes with friends and families who are also homeless and many face the same programs of personal hygiene, food, and places to sleep at night.

MEL TOADVINE Volunteers worked to clean up trash at a homeless camp site in the woods off of Beth Stacey Blvd.

At last Thursday cleanup of the area 50 feet into the woods from Beth Stacey Boulevard, the area was covered so much with debris that one volunteer, Darnell Jordan said he couldn’t see the pine needles on the ground because there was so much debris that included almost anything you could think of, old food containers, beer cans and bottles, a chair, a shopping cart and much more. There were even spots where human excrement was discovered.

A large pile of bags of debris were removed from the site and piled along the side of Beth Stacey Boulevard. TV cameras and press from Fort Myers converged on the scene with local media.

Sgt. Vallejo, who is also a member of the Sheriff’s Office K9 unit, said this would become an ongoing project with the Sheriff’s Office working closely with the Salvation Army probably on a monthly basis.

When asked why there were such camps that are full of clutter and trash, he said there “just aren’t enough deputies assigned to Lehigh” to monitor all of the camp sites in the woods in and around Lehigh.

Many areas where homeless people – some with children live – are posted with no trespassing signs, but still there are homeless people who congregate in different areas.

MEL TOADVINE Darnell Jordan, a volunteer, was on hand last week when a homeless camp was cleared of trash and litter. He began working, the area was so covered with trash that he could not see the pine needles on the ground.

Jeremy Porter, the case manager for the homeless, from the Salvation Army, said many of those who are homeless are from Fort Myers and not necessarily from Lehigh, reason being because of the wooded areas that are so close to the business area of Lehigh.

While volunteers of several agencies worked diligently from 8:30 a.m. to around 2 p.m. or so, Skillman who lived at the site was brought out and asked to sit on the grass because there would be help made available to him by the Salvation Army.

The debris didn’t necessarily represent what he has left, but trash and debris from others who have also used the site.

The probe into the site came when a resident on Beth Stacey Boulevard complained to the Sheriff’s Office in Lehigh about a homeless camp just down the road, not far from the roundabout, according to Sgt. Vallejo.

“We have found people in dire situations in homeless camps,” he said. “We often deal with addiction problems with many, if not the majority of those who find themselves homeless.”

MEL TOADVINE Andrea Adams, a community relations coordinator with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, one of the two coordinators helping to clear out homeless camps, is shown with Joseph Skillman, 39, a homeless man at the site. She helped him to a car where he was taken to a site where the Salvation Army in Fort Myers could attend to his needs and offer counseling.

“Some are families and some have children and we believe that with the help of the Salvation Army, we can begin to relive these problems and that is why we will attempt to do this about once a month.”

Vallejo said that last week that he, along with deputies and members of the Salvation Army, spent nearly five hours walking through wooded areas where noted homeless camps have been set up. He said they were “frankly surprised” at how dirty the areas were.

“It is our plan to help these people and that is where the Salvation Army has stepped in,” he said.

The Salvation Army is opening an office in Lehigh within the next few weeks.

Clarke, who works out of the Fort Myers Office, said the Salvation Army is coming to Lehigh to provide the services that are not being tended to here.

MEL TOADVINE Andrea Adams, a community relations coordinator with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, escorts Joseph Skillman to a vehicle where he was taken to get help from the Salvation Army in Fort Myers.

“We’re not here to duplicate services, but to find out in Lehigh where we are needed and we have found that the plight of the homeless is one area we can try to help,” Clarke said.

The homeless man who was at the camp on Beth Stacey Boulevard was talked to by Andrea Adams, a community relations specialist with the Lehigh Sheriff’s substation. She escorted the man to a sheriff’s car where he was taken to the Bob Janes Triage Center run by the Salvation Army on Ortiz Boulevard in Fort Myers, where he would be given the opportunity to shower and clean up and provided food and then to begin counseling.

In the past, Skillman said he has gotten food from dumpsters and has bathed wherever he could find water.

“I have had no place to go for several years now,” he said.

“I feel better this morning because someone said I would be getting help. Before I didn’t know where to get help and I couldn’t find a job and I had no place to go but the woods.”

Joseph is only one homeless person in Lehigh. Just how many homeless people are in Lehigh is not known. Sgt. Vallejo said there may be as many as 75 students in more than six camps that he has been able to identify. He said some are women and most are men.

Andrea Adams from the Lehigh substation, who helped oversee the project, the first of its kind for the Salvation Army in Lee County, brought her children who helped because it was Spring Break for the schools last week.

The Salvation Army will provide resources for those in need. Clarke said from 80 to 120 people are provided meals every night in Fort Myers at 2476 Edison Ave.

She said no questions are asked of those who come to eat.

“If people are hungry, we will feed them and if they need a place to stay, we will provide a bed for them,” she said.

But the issue with Lehigh, she noted, is that Fort Myers is too far for the homeless here to go to find a hot meal each day

Clarke, who is director of development with the Salvation Army, said again that her agency is moving to Lehigh with one purpose, to help those in need.

That need, she admits, may be getting homeless people relocated and out of the woods of Lehigh.

“We can provide the resources that they are not getting,” she said.

Adams said a second cleanup was to take place Friday from 8:30 a.m. until around 2 p.m. Those participating in the cleanups include the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, the Salvation Army, the Lee County Homeless Coalition, Bob Jane’s Triage Center, Department of Juvenile Justice, Department of Transportation and East Lee County Water District, along with community volunteers.

Adams said the homeless camps are sprinkled in large, developed areas surrounded by local businesses, day cares, Lehigh Regional Medical Center and many neighborhoods along Lee Boulevard and Beth Stacey Blvd.