Church shuts out homeless people's drop-in center: Franklinton,

Tom Boland (wgcp@earthlink.net)
Sat, 24 Oct 1998 09:03:16 -0400 

http://www.dispatch.com/pan/news/nodealnws.html
FWD  The Columbus Dispatch

FRANKLINTON DROP-IN CENTER FOR HOMELESS PEOPLE IS SHUT OUT

                       The Holy Family Church backs out of a deal that
would have
                       provided a center for people with drug problems.

                       October 23, 1998

                       By Nancy J. Smeltzer
                       Dispatch Staff Reporter

With a lease nearly signed and $8,500 in renovations completed, the door
has slammed shut on Franklinton space that was to be used for a drop-in
center for homeless people.

Holy Family Church decided it wanted the rooms for its own programs.

"We simply opted out of a lease that wasn't signed,'' said the Rev. Kevin
F. Lutz, pastor of Holy Family Church on S. Grubb Street, which also
operates a soup kitchen there for homeless people.

The lease was being negotiated with Southeast Inc., an agency that provides
mental health care and would have run the drop-in center for people with
alcohol or other drug problems.

The struggle to find a home for the center points to how difficult it may
be to create 800 units of housing for the homeless in five years, as
recommended by the Scioto Peninsula Relocation Task Force.

"I certainly understand people's concern,'' Sandra Stephenson, executive
director of Southeast, said of neighborhood opposition. "But my primary
concern is finding a way to get the services to the people in need.''

Susan Weaver heads Community Housing Network, which received a $2.1 million
federal grant in 1994 to set up a drop-in center and shelters for homeless
people with addictions while they make decisions about their lives. Two
sets of apartments have been found. The FOLUKE Center, at 813 Bryden Rd.,
has space for five women, and renovations are under way to create 13
apartments for men on E. Broad Street in the former Jong Mea restaurant.
That program is to open next year.

The most difficult part has been finding a site for the drop-in center.
Negotiations have "broken down irretrievably'' with the parish, Weaver
said.

The original grant proposal called for putting the drop-in center and
housing in the same place, Weaver said, but she could not find one location
for both. The contract was amended.

As of June 30, Community Housing had spent $361,736 of the grant --
$153,769 for renovations and $207,967 for services. Two years still remain
on the three-year grant, Weaver said.

Lutz's decision not to lease the property came midsummer, about the time
Franklinton residents became vocal about getting the Open Shelter to move
out of Franklinton. Ohio's Center of Science and Industry is to open in the
West Side neighborhood next year, and the area is targeted for
redevelopment.

Lutz had heard grumbling from neighbors who wanted the homeless people to
move and said the Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus had received some
letters, but that wasn't the basis for his decision.

While the lease was being negotiated, "some of our own parish programs
began to expand,'' he said. "We were up to full use except for that area.
The decision was mine, not the diocese.''

Helping the homeless remains a mission of the church, Lutz said, referring
to remodeling in the soup kitchen.

Thinking it would get the lease, Community Housing spent $8,550 of the HUD
grant to renovate the rooms that were to house the drop-in center, but the
contractors who did the work didn't get the proper building permits, Weaver
said. She has notified HUD and expects to reimburse the federal agency.

Southeast had paid a deposit and one month's rent when the work started.
The deposit and rent have been returned to Southeast, said the facilities
manager for the Catholic diocese.

Now the issue for Weaver and others is to find a way to offer the drop-in
service that will be viewed more favorably. Community Housing Network has
spent little more than 17 percent of the grant but isn't discouraged.

END FORWARD
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