Orlando’s “dignity bus” pilot placed 169 people into permanent housing in its first year

# Overview

Orlando's 407 Connect "dignity bus" pilot began in August 2025 as a short-term alternative to building new brick-and-mortar shelters. The city partnered with the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) and the Christian Service Center to retrofit two former Greyhound buses into overnight sleeping spaces and a delivery point for case management and housing services.

# How the buses work

Each bus was stripped of seats and fitted with 42 individual bunk areas. Every bunk has a charging outlet, personal storage and a privacy curtain. There is a restroom onboard and a security guard rides up front overnight. The buses are parked on Christian Service Center property each night.

Access is not open to everyone who shows up. Local homeless service partners and the city identify individuals and families who they believe can move toward stable housing with support. The program targets people for whom a clear path to self-sufficiency can be identified—those who might hold part- or full-time work but still cannot meet high local rents.

# Funding and program design

407 Connect is a three-year pilot with a $3 million budget funded by the city and the CRA. About two-thirds of the funding is allocated to operational and staffing costs. The rest is set aside for rental assistance, move-in costs, family reunifications and other wraparound services that help participants obtain and sustain permanent housing.

# Outcomes so far

Since launch the program has provided overnight shelter, case management and support services to 260 men, women and children, and helped 169 people move into permanent housing. City officials framed the program as one piece of a larger strategy to reduce street homelessness and connect people to services that lead to housing.

# Local context and need

A January point-in-time count across Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties recorded just over 2,700 people experiencing homelessness in shelters or unsheltered, with nearly three-quarters concentrated in Orange County. More than 40% of that population were children or adults aged 55 and older.

Local advocates and officials also cite a shortage of hundreds of shelter beds, and community resistance has complicated proposals for new permanent brick-and-mortar shelters. The bus pilot was modeled after a similar program in Vero Beach and launched in Orlando to expand short-term shelter capacity while coupling it to housing assistance.

# Practical limits and selection

Because the program screens for people with identifiable housing pathways, it does not serve everyone experiencing homelessness. Program staff and partners focus resources on cases where rental assistance, move-in funds and case management can reasonably be expected to result in stable, permanent housing.

# What's next