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Fruitless fight to stop homeless shelter
Gazette Staff/SourceMedia
Jul. 11, 2009 11:36 am
It is time for residents near the site of a new Iowa City homeless shelter to give up their fight and welcome the Shelter House as neighbors.
The Shelter House's new site, at 429 Southgate Ave. in Iowa City, will allow for a much-needed expansion of services to the city's homeless population.
For five years, owners and residents of the nearby Hilltop Mobile Home Court have fought construction of the proposed two-story, 70-bed facility.
They've taken their case to the courts, to the city council and to the public, but have failed at every turn to stop the project.
Most recently, they tried to argue the shelter violated new laws prohibiting sex offenders from living or loitering near places where children gather. Those protesters showed up for the shelter's groundbreaking earlier this month, even though the Iowa City attorney's office says the center's location does not violate that Iowa law.
Enough.
The shelter's current location, at 331 N. Gilbert St., is inadequate to serve Iowa City's needs for services. It has only 29 beds when you count the couches and sleeping mats that serve in a pinch. Even then, there is not enough room.
For years, the Consultation of Religious Communities has rallied to help house the shelter's overflow during cold winter months. But that labor-intensive overflow program is not a permanent solution.
The new shelter will have other features to help serve area homeless, such as more space for training and activities, a cafeteria, gender-separate bathrooms and sleeping quarters and play space for children.
As 4C's Home Ties Child Care Center director Jan Koch wrote in a recent letter to The Gazette, the new site will actually improve the well-being of the children who stay at the shelter - close to a Head Start center, near stores and services, with access to public transportation.
The Shelter House will not pose any special threat to the neighborhood or its children. The shelter doesn't house registered sex offenders; it only allows them to use the facility during the day for taking care of basic needs like bathing, laundering and receiving mail.
Opponents have had plenty of opportunity to register their dissatisfaction. If they aren't willing to welcome the shelter to their neighborhood, they should at least accept it.
The Shelter House continues to raise funds for the $4 million project. More delays would likely mean forfeiting some grant funding they've already secured.
Shelter House Executive Director Chrissy Canganelli told a Gazette reporter earlier this spring that she's confident they'll meet their fundraising goals. "But it's gotten to the point that this has dragged on for so long and now we're up against a wall."
Neighbors should stop trying to build that wall.
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