- April 14, 2025
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On March 12, the Ormond Beach City Commission were all copied on an email from Halifax Urban Ministries' interim executive director Donna Dooley.
Dooley thanked Mayor Jason Leslie for visiting the faith-based nonprofit's Barracks of Hope, a homeless shelter for veterans in Daytona Beach. She also mentioned that the shelter's program manager "noted the possibility of available funds from the city of Ormond."
"Could you please advise us on the next steps? We are very interested in continuing our partnership with Ormond Beach," Dooley wrote.
City Commissioner Travis Sargent brought the email up at the commission's meeting on April 1, asking the mayor to elaborate on what was discussed during his tour.
"I don't know that we have available funds to donate to anyone," Sargent said.
Leslie expressed surprise when he first read the email, responding to Sargent at the meeting that funds were never discussed. As the commission's representation on the First Step Shelter board, he was prompted to tour Barracks of Hope to see the work they do with homeless veterans.
"But as you know, with these nonprofit organizations, they think that because I'm going there to tour, that we're giving them a check," Leslie said. "I made it very clear to the director that we're not giving a check. I'm just here to look at it because I thought maybe it would be something that we can recommend, at least our officers and people that do our outreach, to any homeless vets out there in our community that can go there."
He said the city isn't required to provide any funds in order to participate in the Barracks of Hope program, which opened a new facility in 2023.
If the commission was in agreement, Leslie suggested they direct staff to bring them information on the program as another option to reduce homelessness.
In an email to the Observer, Dooley said that the mayor stopped by Barracks of Hope and asked for a tour, which was provided by the program manager. Dooley and Leslie didn't meet, and was told about the tour later and given his card.
"It was reported by the manager that he stated he loved our program and there may be funds available from the City of Ormond," Dooley said. "I did send correspondence to him on March 12, 2025, thanking him for stopping by and the compliments that he voiced while there. I also invited him to our Emergency Housing Program on Wright Street. To date, he has not responded to the correspondence."
The mayor declined to comment on this story, saying he'd rather focus on the overall issue of solving homelessness in the community.
At the April 1 meeting, Sargent mentioned that the city already donates $85,000 a year to First Step and he wasn't willing to use taxpayer dollars to help fund another program.
"I'm a disabled veteran myself," Sargent said. "I think they do great services there, but if the residents want to donate their money and get a tax write-off, that's what they should be able to do. We should not be doing that with taxpayer money."
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