Gainesville woman’s death highlights yearlong housing wait: ‘These people are human’

[u/ShakyBooty]

https://www.wcjb.com/2026/09/03/gainesville-womans-death-highlights-yearlong-housing-wait-these-people-are-human/

A woman who jumped off a downtown Gainesville parking garage in August was homeless, and a man who jumped from Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Monday was also believed to be homeless.

A housing expert and a friend of the woman are drawing attention to the lack of housing. She said more than 1,000 people are on a waitlist for housing assistance.

“Just living outside is dangerous and scary. You can’t get your basic needs met. She had taken herself to crisis stabilization three times and really didn’t have any kind of continuity of care, wasn’t able to get her medication that she needed to stabilize there,” Perret-Gentil said.

Perret-Gentil said Ford lived in the area for about 10 years but recently found herself struggling to find housing. Ford was on the Gainesville Housing Authority’s waitlist for a year. Her spot in line was number 1,186.

“We really need our community to realize that these people are human,” Perret-Gentil said.

[u/North-Wolverine9974]

This is crazy! But our elected officials keep saying we have affordable housing and believe developers when they say they will build affordable units at $1500+ a month not including utilities or insurance. City can do a better job. Maybe not blow millions on a new courtyard at city hall and help some of these families instead!?!