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Sometimes people don’t want help right away, but it’s important to let them know that help is there. When Deputy Anthony Borbonio makes contact with homeless people at dawn, he doesn’t expect them to jump on his offer of a ride to Safe Harbor, the homeless shelter and jail diversion program run by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO).
“I’ve been doing this a year,” Deputy Borbonio said, “and they might not want to go to Safe Harbor right then, but they show up later all the time. A day later, a week later, most of them show up eventually.”
Once the sun comes up, street outreach has more successes bringing people to Safe Harbor for shelter and Turning Point or Eleos for treatment, many times alleviating the need to arrest someone. “From January through June of 2025, PCSO Street Outreach has encountered 424 homeless individuals,” said Lieutenant Zachary Haisch. “Of those, 96 (23 percent) resulted in placement at shelters like Safe Harbor and Pinellas Hope or substance abuse treatment at Westcare’s Turning Point or mental health treatment at Eleos or Windmoor." That's up from only 16 percent in 2024. Positive interactions and consistent engagement are paying off. "The PCSO Street Outreach Teams approach homelessness with the mindset of education and assistance, not enforcement.”
Whether they decide now or later, many homeless people eventually decide to take advantage of the many services that Safe Harbor offers, from three meals a day and a secure place to sleep and shower, to help with addiction and mental health. “There are so many things they can do through Safe Harbor, and a lot of them don’t know.” Deputy Borbonio, social worker Jesus Nunez, and other people who are part of PCSO’s homeless outreach do their best to make sure they have every opportunity to improve their lives.
“We’ll find out what got them into the situation – is it addiction, mental illness – and then go from there,” Nunez said. “We have licensed mental health counselors. We have both sheriff’s office staff, and many other entities that help us out, like Eleos and Boley for mental health, or Turning Point or Operation Par for addiction.”
“They offer things at Safe Harbor that you would never imagine,” Deputy Borbonio said. “If you’re homeless and get an ordinance violation, Safe Harbor has a social worker from the Public Defender's Office who helps you through your case.” They help them make court dates, and might be able to help them get community service instead of fines that can dig them even deeper into the pit of economic hardship.
People come to Safe Harbor in several different ways. They may be homeless and go there themselves to seek services. Or they may be homeless and have committed a misdemeanor or ordinance violation such as trespass or open container, and be given the option to go to Safe Harbor instead of jail. The lion’s share of Safe Harbor clients are people who were released from jail or prison and have no place to go. Safe Harbor offers an alternative to incarceration, or a transition to help people as they get back on their feet.
Deputy Borbonio is the Community Policing Deputy for the Highpoint area, but four mornings a week he heads out in the pre-dawn hours to look for homeless people just waking up. His outreach beat encompasses all of PCSO’s jurisdiction, which includes unincorporated areas and 13 contract cities. The people he finds might be camped in the woods, or on a park bench wrapped in blankets. On a recent morning, the first person he found was set up in a parking space set off by bushes that barely muffled the sounds from the nearby busy street. The man said he came down to Florida and fell on hard times, but he had a plane ticket back north. Nunez and Borbonio made sure he knew how to get a place to stay in the meantime.
It's a common story. Florida attracts people looking for opportunities, as well as homeless people who don’t want to suffer through another Michigan winter sleeping on the street. But when things don’t work out here, they’re stuck in a place far from family and friends who might otherwise assist them. Borbonio said they can help with that.
“If they have someone on the other end who can help them, we can work with partnering agencies who have funding to get them a bus ticket or a plane ticket back home.” It’s not about moving a problem somewhere else, but rather solving a problem by getting someone in the environment where they can get the best help, and often that means being closer to family.
Later that morning they found evidence of a camp next to a tiny sparkling creek in a wooded area between businesses, and another behind a shuttered restaurant with a for sale sign. They left brochures about Safe Harbor and made a note to check the locations another day.
One woman was by a curb with her backpack for a pillow and her few possessions arranged around her. She said she had been staying in a tent pitched out of the way on undeveloped property, but a nearby couple’s loud squabbles kept her from sleeping. She said she got a better night’s sleep on the pavement in the parking lot.
“We can do a little better for you,” Nunez told her as he explained about Safe Harbor and Pinellas Hope. Safe Harbor offers a lot of services, but there are rules. Staffed by deputies, contracted security, social workers, and civilian technicians, Safe Harbor doesn’t allow drugs or alcohol, and there is an 8:00 p.m. curfew (although they can stay out later if they have proof they’re at a job.) They run a tight – but compassionate – ship.
Most shelters won’t take people with a history or violence, gang affiliation, or a serious criminal history, but Safe Harbor will take almost everyone. The only exceptions are people who have have medical needs so significant that they need to be housed or treated in a medical facility. Other than that, Borbonio said, “We can take the people no one else will take.”
Once they’re at Safe Harbor they can get a referral to the next step up out of homelessness, a place like Pinellas Hope. Every Tuesday morning Safe Harbor drives people to Pinellas Hope. They’ve already been pre-screened, with background checks. On this morning, there’s room for everyone with a referral, and the hopeful group goes through orientation before getting assigned to their own tent. It’s private, safe, and on a raised platform – a place to stay for weeks or months as they try to get on their feet. At Safe Harbor and Pinellas Hope, clients work with social workers to identify permanent and transitional housing opportunities. If they can find a job or have income from social security, disability, or veterans’ benefits, they can be connected to a path to self-sufficiency. On many occasions, homeless clients can be connected to local assistance providers that will help with move in costs. “I know two or three people who have gone through the whole process, from homelessness to having an apartment,” Deputy Borbonio said.
Not every homeless person is literally sleeping on the street. “I kept seeing a woman parked at a convenience store. She’d get out of her back seat and go in to use the restroom, so I thought she might be living out of her car,” Deputy Borbonio said. “I made contact with her, and she had a good job, but she lost her apartment and she’s been living in her car for weeks.”
He noted that it can sometimes be awkward to approach someone and ask if they are homeless. Is that scruffy looking person in the oversized sweatshirt shuffling along at 5:00 a.m. unhoused, or just on their way to the gym before their first cup of coffee? He’s learned how to approach with sensitivity and offer help where needed.
Deputy Borbonio and Nunez help as many people as they can, but for those seeking services a first step is often a call to 211. Run by First Contact (formerly 211 Tampa Bay Cares) this is a first point of contact for people in need. It offers crisis intervention, family support, and referral services to a wide variety of programs.
If you or someone you know needs help – or if you are looking for a place to volunteer or donate to – take a look at the Pinellas County Homeless Resource Guide. It contains a wealth of resources for the homeless, everything from housing and food to showers, laundry, legal help, dentists, mental health and substance use services, and more. They have places that help homeless youth, and resources for homeless seniors.
Some people become homeless because of mental health or addiction issues, but there are many who lose their home from one setback and never recover. Job loss, illness, or one big bill can wipe their savings. Last year’s hurricanes also displaced many people. “There’s a segment of the homeless population who are trying really hard, working full time, and they just can’t afford an apartment,” Nunez said. PCSO works with the community to help everyone escape homelessness.
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