News

Homeless shelter opens

By Patricia Kasten
Compass Associate Editor

Related articles this week: • Front-page photo: Shack-a-Thon at St. Norbert College • Hunger, homelessness in spotlight     National Hunger, Homelessness Awareness Week     is Nov. 11-17 • Come to the feast: Free Thanksgiving meals     Area groups offer turkey feasts for anyone who wants     to come on the holiday Past articles: from October 26, 2007 issue: • On Nov. 1, where will Green Bay homeless go?     City plan for most marginalized may not happen,     but church hospitality center ready from September 28, 2007 issue: • Alternative to COTS homeless shelter in works     Green Bay's New Community Shelter in mix,     advises patience from August 31, 2007 issue: • Green Bay nixes winter shelter at church     COTS offered a place to sleep to people     who couldn't go to city's other shelters • Bridging the Gap by Bishop David Zubik --     A scraped knee and beyond     Emergency shelter in downtown     is all about caring for each other

GREEN BAY -- What everyone hoped to avoid came to pass.

Nov. 1 came and went, with no shelter opening for the chronically homeless of the Green Bay area. And so the church has stepped in.

Despite the best efforts on all sides, a Nov. 1 opening of an overnight haven for those who cannot meet the requirements of the city's other shelters - including the mentally ill, addicts and alcoholics - could not happen.

On Nov. 2, the Diocese of Green Bay announced its support and plans for a collaboration that would establish such a shelter at St. John the Evangelist Parish at 411 Saint John St. That shelter was scheduled to open at 6 p.m. on Nov. 6.

Between Nov. 2 and Nov. 6, a great deal of work went on.

"We feel very good about the opportunity to be where we are, especially with what the temperatures is predicted to be," Deacon Tim Reilly, diocesan director of administration, said on Nov. 6. Temperatures that night were expected to drop into the 20s.

The new shelter, St. John the Evangelist Homeless Shelter, is housed in the parish's former school gym. It is the same site where a similar shelter for the chronically homeless had been run for the past two winters by Brown County Churches Offering Temporary Shelter (COTS). (That group's advisory committee has been active in the efforts to open the St. John Shelter.)

Deacon Reilly, with the authorization of Archbishop Timothy Dolan of Milwaukee, apostolic administrator of the Green Bay Diocese, announced the decision to work to get a shelter open as soon as possible at a Nov. 2 press conference.

"The Catholic Church by virtue of our faith and tradition," said Deacon Reilly, "has a moral imperative to care for the poor and the homeless. ... Because the temperatures are dropping in Brown County and because there is no safe haven for the chronically homeless at this time, the Catholic Church believes that it must act on behalf of the homeless."

The shelter will be run by St. John Parish and its pastor, Sacred Heart Fr. Guy Blair, with support and assistance from the Diocese of Green Bay.

"St. John Evangelist Parish is the parish entity that has responsibility for this ministry," Deacon Reilly told The Compass. "It's a ministry of the parish. We are approaching this in a collaborative fashion, so that we have parish leadership involved, diocesan leadership involved and community leadership involved. Because of the population we're serving and the impact on the community, it's important to have all three groups represented, relative to the oversight of the program."

Deacon Reilly said this collaboration will be reflected in a three-part governance structure being set up to handle the shelter, which would include efforts by:

• St. John Parish, with its pastor, Fr. Guy Blair, its parish staff and trustees;
  
  
• Diocesan personnel, including a liaison from the Chancery to the shelter; and
  
  
• Other interested parties in the community, including other churches of all denominations, JOSHUA and social service agencies.

For the last two winters, the COTS shelter at St. John's site took in as many as 25 people a night, offering food, bathroom and shower facilities and a mattress on its gym floor. The effort was evolving each year, and the gymnasium was being upgraded to meet those needs.

The first year, the City of Green Bay was aware of the shelter, which did not meet zoning codes. However, since there were few if any complaints, the city allowed the shelter to operate. Last year, the Green Bay City Council issued a temporary permit to COTS to operate from November through March. However, this year, on Aug. 21, the permit was denied.

Instead, Mayor Jim Schmitt's Chronic Homeless Task Force hoped to see a similar shelter open near the New Community Shelter on the city's west side. New Community would have provided staff and management to direct the shelter's clients to other area services. However, on Oct. 23, the Green Bay City Council refused to approve a zoning change to allow that shelter to open.

That left no viable options, with Nov. 1 fast approaching. This is why the diocese, at the direction of Archbishop Dolan, acted.

"The archbishop instructed me, Nov. 2, to take measures to make sure the homeless are cared for," Deacon Reilly said. Those measures have involved "a lot of people working really hard, and focused in the right direction," he added.

The diocesan offices have helped screen applicants for personnel to supervise the shelter, both as volunteers and paid staff, set up a financial chart of accounts for shelter, and worked with a local yet-unnamed local social service agency to handle daily oversight of the shelter.

However, Deacon Reilly said, if that social service agency cannot provide service, "we will take over that responsibility ourselves. We feel confident in our trained staff and our Catholic Charities staff."

Another key piece in the long-term success of St. John's shelter is the city government.

The scheduled Nov. 6 opening of the shelter violated Green Bay's zoning code, something that could lead to fines of $600 or more a day. However, Mayor Schmitt, has indicated to the diocese that if efforts continue to comply with zoning codes and work with his office, he would support the new shelter.

Deacon Reilly met with the mayor on the morning of Nov. 6 and said Schmitt was very supportive. The mayor promised to call an emergency meeting of the city council on Nov. 8 to review the shelter's application for a zoning variance. If granted on Nov. 8, it can be brought to the City Council's regular monthly meeting on Nov. 15, where a zoning variance could then be issued.

"The big thing to say is that we are not purposely trying to defy city or county government," Deacon Reilly said. "But our whole focus is on providing for the safety and well-being of the chronically homeless, and we want to work collaboratively and cooperatively with anyone involved."

To get that approval, a few upgrades to the facility at St. John's were still needed as of Nov. 6: these included installation of fire doors and strobe fire alarms, which had already been purchased, and the removal of a shower stall lip to allow wheelchair access.

Also, as a part of the variance application, the diocese and shelter have agreed to regular quarterly meetings with the residents and businesses of the Navarino Neighborhood Association. Deacon Reilly said that more frequent meetings will be welcomed, to provide "a robust response as issues arise, so they can be addressed and we can take the appropriate response to resolve those issues."

St. John's shelter will be able to handle up to 30 people a night - and has separate sleeping facilities for men and women. However, it will not take children. Instead, through the shelter's nightly intake process, families will be directed to other shelters or given a voucher for an area motel.

In his Nov. 2 letter to Mayor Schmitt, where he announced the diocesan collaboration with St. John's (see letter on page 4 [of print edition]), Archbishop Dolan cited the church's "moral imperative to serve those who are in need." He also referred to the church's First Amendment rights "to fulfill its essential ministry" to the poor. The archbishop gave, as legal precedence, the court case, Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church v. the City of New York, where a New York church had allowed the city's homeless to sleep on the church steps overnight. The U.S. Second District Court ruled in the church's favor in 2004. The case is being appealed.

When asked why the archbishop had cited a legal case, Deacon Reilly said that the intent was to let people know that this move by the Green Bay Diocese is not "a brand-new First Amendment Constitutional issue."

"I think the reason that it was in the letter," he said, "was to let people know that we have at least looked at that issue. We still believe this is our First Amendment right, to exercise our religion."

He added that such First Amendment rights are granted to the Catholic Church because of its institutional structure.