Barb L. wrote: First, Salvation Army has a big shelter and I don't think there is a church in there. How about People Serving People. I don't think there is a church in there. How do they qualify to have shelters.
I will find the code and cite it for you here as soon as I get the chance. The county contracts all of the beds at the Salvation Army, and have for years. I am not sure when the church/shelter zoning code was written, the Salvation Army may already have been open. However, it is possible for people to get a variance to get around the zoning code. When the business association on the West Bank was working to prevent a shelter from being opened at the Love Power Church, they contested the fact that Love Power was really a church and therefore a shelter should not be allowed to open there. I think when the code was originally written (and I will find the specific code I keep referring to)it was to prevent people from opening shelters without some sort of organization that was rooted in the community. Also, there is a large chapel in the Salvation Army Harbor Light. The Salvation Army is a religious organization. I am not sure if developing family shelter falls under the same restrictions as shelter for single adults. I will also check into that for you. Another example of a variance was the 100 bed Overflow Space which was located at 519 Portland, the Hyperbaric Chamber building of HCMC. Obviously that was not a church, however because it was opened by the county it didn't have to fall under the same restrictions that a non-profit who is trying to open a shelter would have to. Barb also said: Second, there are many many churches throughout Minneapolis that could be used to provide shelter care to the homeless. Some of them are very large with many wealthy contributors and great facilities. Why is it only the churches in a couple neighborhoods that get used? There are a few churches that have been interested in opening a shelter that have been in (in my estimation) non-impacted areas. However, either internally or because of neighborhood interference, it just didn't happen. If there are church leaders who read this list who are serious about opening a shelter for single men (currently there is adequate family and single women shelter) or have ideas about shelter for unaccompanied youth please contact me. When working with homeless people who often are carrying their belongings and do most of their traveling on foot, proximity to bus lines is always important. I would also like to point out that proximity to each other is also important due to the fact that often people are walking from shelter to shelter looking for empty beds. We have also developed an organization called Metro-wide Engagement for Shelter and Housing that works with suburban cities to address homelessness and lack of shelter/affordable housing in their communities. I hope this answers some of your questions, and I'll find the exact code for you Wednesday. Allysen Hoberg Audobon Park -----Original Message----- From: Barbara Lickness [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, December 02, 2003 5:00 PM To: Aaron Neumann; Allysen Hoberg Cc: gemgram; Barbara Lickness; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [Mpls] Re: SW Journal article on Affordable Housing Allysen Hoberg writes: "Keep in mind that city zoning code states that a shelter MUST be located in a church, so that may narrow the scope of your choices a little." Barb Lickness Whittier ===== "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." -- Margaret Mead REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
