HighlandersForResponsibleGrowth.com
a website of the Original Highlands Neighborhood Association,
sub-committee tasked with resisting Wayside's relocation of a
mega-shelter into the Original Highlands.
The homeless deserve our support and
neighborhood families deserve stability
Our mission is to oppose Wayside Christian Mission's relocation of their mega-shelter into the Original Highlands. Wayside Christian Mission's Chief Operating Officer indicated during the first neighborhood meeting on this subject that they would be willing to cap the number of homeless residents at 300 individuals (with the caveat of Wayside Christian Mission's board of directors approving such a number). In a small, densely residential neighborhood of just 1,000 homes today, suggesting that 300+ new, homeless residents will have a manageable impact is nothing less than sheer folly. Our homeless residents are disproportionately afflicted by alcoholism, substance abuse and mental health issues. Asking a small residential neighborhood, already under tremendous pressures, to absorb this much foot-traffic from so many homeless residents is simply callous to the needs of the families that live here today. Everything has an impact, and while we're glad to carry our fair share, we're not inspired by groups that are not interested in the well being of our neighborhoods. This number is entirely out of proportion by about ten-fold for this neighborhood.
Consider this... the vast majority of regulations in U.S. cities deal with this issue by simply NOT allowing mega shelters in residential zones. In the same way that placing a 300 bed hotel next to your single family house would be inappropriate, placing a 300 bed homeless shelter on your residential street would also be out of the question. The impact of this much transient traffic would destroy the residential nature of your neighborhood.
While we appreciate Wayside's mission and the mission of all shelters in general, we cannot in good conscience support a mega-shelter in this location. Indeed, we don't believe mega-shelters are the right answer at all. The national movement since the mid 90's is to do away with the outdated notion of warehousing homeless individuals and tightly concentrating poverty in one spot. Small, appropriately-sized shelters provide the attention and care that is so sorely needed by the homeless. Issues such as alcoholism, domestic abuse, poverty and mental health issues can only be addressed well in an environment of personal care and attention. Warehousing hundreds of individuals with the same problems under one roof only serves to exacerbate the issues. Additionally, appropriately sized shelters allow homeless residents the opportunity to easily integrate into the fabric of our community, while mega-shelters, by their very nature (SIZE), make this impossible.
Is this NIMBY...? Absolutely not. The Original Highlands is composed of many caring individuals. Indeed, we peacefully live side by side with a number of boarding facilities on East Broadway for alcoholics, schizophrenics and pregnant teens. The school for youth in crisis is just adjacent to the old Mercy Campus. A methadone clinic sits at the corner of Barret and Winter. Low income housing sits at the corner of Baxter and Payne as well as another development just north of East Broadway on Rubel. We support and are home to numerous community outreach programs and clinics, such as those housed at the Urban Government Center on Barret, as well as our churches, charitable and fundraising groups. Anyone claiming that this neighborhood is not willing to carry its fair share is either ignorant of what is here today, or is simply ignoring the truth of the matter.
We are a very small neighborhood, and we are densely residential. We are today struggling greatly with an inordinate amount of crime, litter, parking, noise and panhandling problems. We take all of this in stride as being part of an exciting, growing urban neighborhood, but adding 300+ homeless individuals to our neighborhood at this time is simply too much. We ask that Wayside Christian Mission please re-consider this ill-advised move. Should they wish to work with us and add a smaller, appropriately sized shelter to the number of groups that we already have here today, they will find us with open arms.
FOLLOW THE LATEST NEWS
Wayside rejects BOZA's previous rulings on the subject and sues in circuit court to be allowed to move into the old Mercy campus. The Coalition for the Homeless has joined the appeal with claims of discrimination, which is both offensive to us and patently ridiculous. Wayside and the Coalition need to stop their posturing and acknowledge the real issues here. This is a debate about size, density and appropriate use.
WE ARE... in favor of appropriately sized shelters that allow our homeless residents to easily integrate into the fabric of our neighborhoods, and provides stability for all who live here
WE ARE NOT... inspired by the outdated idea of Mega-Shelters, which are TOO BIG to fit well anywhere, and are absolutely TOO BIG to fit into a small, residential neighborhood
WE ARE... in favor of appropriately sized shelters that provide our residents with personal care and attention
WE ARE NOT... interested in warehousing hundreds of the homeless under one roof, and concentrating poverty, alcoholism and mental health issues in narrowly defined areas
WE ARE... Caring individuals, and a caring neighborhood. We live side-by-side with numerous facilities and community outreach programs today, including boarding programs for alcoholics, schizophrenics and troubled youth
WE ARE NOT... going to be shamed by organizations that are only interested in being BIG outside of all sense of balance and proportion of the neighborhoods in which they operate
WE ARE... the Original Highlands, a densely RESIDENTIAL neighborhood
WE ARE NOT... comparable to East Market, a densely COMMERICAL area
WE ARE... a neighborhood that has a very high concentration of bars and pubs and serious struggles with panhandling, parking and crime
WE DO NOT... believe that quickly adding 300+ new homeless women, men and children under one roof, many of whom struggle with alcohol and substance abuse, is a good idea for our neighborhood or the people Wayside claims to serve
WE RECOMMEND... that any noble and worthy organization that repeatedly finds itself in the position of being an unwanted neighbor, time and time again, needs to turn its gaze inward, instead of outward, and consider why. If you wish to be good neighbors and good stewards, consider how your organization can solve the problems it has with co-existence once and for all. There is an answer. And together, with everyone's involvement and leadership, we can find a way that is safe, beneficial and effective for everyone. To Wayside Christian Mission, we beg you to reconsider this move.
(click above to download a PDF door/window sign)
Neighborhood Maps: Alcohol Sales & Social Services
(click above to view lists and maps)
