Though they may have different opinions, members of the newly formed Homelessness Working Group are saying, at the very least, one thing with one voice—they are not part of a debating society.
“We are not here to just talk about homelessness,” said Barry Runyon, a local businessman and member of New London Main Street. “We’re here to get something done.”
The Homelessness Working Group (HWG) held its first meeting last week as an ad-hoc committee that will gather facts and views from those all over the region on New London’s homeless question, and by Sept. 30 present a report to the City Council.
The nine-person group drew members from the City Council, homeless advocacy organizations, parishioners at St. James Church, and the local business community.
“It’s a really good group of people,” said HWG member Reid Burdick, a former city councilor. “It runs the gamut of opinion, and they are all reasonable people.”
The group, chaired by City Councilor Adam Sprecace, includes fellow councilors Wade Hyslop and Margaret Curtin; Catherine Zall of the Homeless Hospitality Center; Milton Cook, the board chair of the New London Community Meal Center; Alma Peterson of St. James Episcopal Church; Carl Lee, a member of the neighborhood watch group Citizens on Patrol; and Runyon and Burdick.
“People seem comfortable speaking their minds,” Sprecace said, “and we are hopefully going to keep it that way.”
Burdick, after just one meeting, was impressed with the group members’ candor.
“It wasn’t the warmest, fuzziest meeting, I’ll tell you that,” he said, “but people said what they thought.”
Cook called the first session “a good meeting because there are a lot of myths and innuendos about the homeless.”
“We’ve come to the conclusion that we need to put it all out on the table,” he added.
And it is, for that matter, a pretty full table.
The homeless question has become, as Sprecace put it, “the hot issue in New London.”
While the issue has lingered in New London for many years, it leapt to the front pages in late June when Councilor John Maynard inquired at a meeting why the emergency homeless shelter at St. James—which has been a shelter of last resort during the winter months for three years—was still open.
Under a directive from the City Council, which employed its “police power,” the shelter was supposed to close at the end of April.
On July 7 the council voted to keep the emergency shelter open through April 2009 but handed down the dictum that the shelter be closed to those who are intoxicated.
On the same night, the council authorized the formation of the working group.
In interviews, the group’s focus is on three issues: the location of the emergency shelter; the role neighboring towns and the state are to play in curbing the problem; and the wet/dry conundrum.
But Where?
The city of New London’s zoning laws do not allow for an overnight homeless shelter, but in the name of public safety the council may allow shelters to operate, as the St. James shelter now does.
Over the course of the last several years, the emergency homeless shelter was bounced around from church to church in the city, before it opened at St. James Church in 2005.
Separate attempts to move the shelter to locations on Jefferson Avenue and Federal Street were opposed by neighborhood groups.
For a while, the shelter was located on the third floor of the church’s community center.
Peterson said the setting up of the nightly shelter would often conflict with church events, such as community meals.
The shelter has since been moved to the center’s basement, and features bunk beds for 49 people, where Peterson said it makes more sense.
“They’ve added security cameras and alarms,” Peterson said. “We hope that will help.”
But Peterson is not convinced the shelter belongs at the church.
“It might not be the best place for the shelter,” she said. “For instance, it is a long walk to the soup kitchen [on Montauk Avenue].”
Runyon stressed the need for compromise between the continued economic development of downtown and compassion for the homeless.
“It does affect the way New London is viewed,” he said.
Burdick expressed concerns that the shelter is in proximity to two schools, the Multicultural Magnet School and the ISAAC school.
“I also think the people who go to the shelter would like a better space,” he said.
‘A Regional Problem’
Burdick also offered a suggestion for a new homeless shelter.
“How about the old Uncas-on-Thames Hospital site in Norwich?” he inquired.
Others have suggested the former Big Y supermarket on Boston Post Road in Waterford would make sense, and a former sports bar on Willetts Avenue.
Curtin said she will be inviting mayors and first selectmen from the surrounding towns to the HWG meetings.
“This is a regional problem,” she said. “We’ll see what they can do to help us.”
Many in the city have expressed consternation at the fact that New London has been bearing the brunt of the homelessness issue.
“New London has been doing a heck of a job,” Cook said, “but the other communities need to understand the fact that homelessness is not going away.”
Curtin noted that many of the homeless population in the city are here because it is a hub of transportation and services, such as the Homeless Hospitality Center on Jay Street, where people can go to shower and receive pamphlets on services.
Peterson pointed out that while the surrounding governments do not contribute money to the shelter—for that matter, neither does the city—many individuals from neighboring towns do work with the area’s homeless.
Runyon noted, “There are plenty of good people out there.”
Lee suggested the state become more involved.
Sticking Point
Maynard’s “dry only” amendment for the St. James shelter, which goes into effect Aug. 1, is, according to Sprecace, not going to change for the time being.
“No action has been taken to change what has been done,” he said.
But Sprecace said the HWG will debate the controversial measure.
Curtin and Hyslop voted against the measure, while Sprecace voted for it; the amendment passed 4-3, but there are a variety of views on the working group.
“We might have two shelters, wet and dry,” Cook said.
Lee said he favors a dry shelter, but “there are pros and cons to both.”
Burdick favored a wet shelter.
The HWG plans on meeting in the City Council Antechamber every Monday at 5 p.m. in August, then twice in September.
By Stephen Chupaska
Senior Staff Writer