On 2/18/04 12:05 PM, "Michael Hohmann" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> I agree that faith-based organizations hold potential as shelters. However, > I'd suspect that adequate staffing, security and liability issues, along > with insurance represent significant barriers for many of them to overcome > in any such effort. In terms of government efforts, Hennepin County with > it's social service-related programs (with fed/state/local funds) should be > the main provider of shelter facilities, not Minneapolis with it's more > meager stream of property tax revenue. And, as Barb suggests, there's no > reason the city and County can't work together, possibly hand-in-hand with > some faith-based groups. As for the topic thread title above, all efforts > like this begin and end with individual efforts. Hopefully we've seen the > last of the severely cold weather for this heating season. I think Mike raises some good points about why some churches might not enter the shelter business, but there are churches in Minneapolis that have figured out how to do this and are even doing the partnerships that Barb and Mike have suggested, so I don't think any of these are insurmountable challenges to an organization that really wants to help the homeless. I know there was some talk last year of establishing a homeless shelter up near my neighborhood and predictably, there were some NIMBY-types that came out of the woodwork to decry any such thing that might attract "those" people to the area. Can anyone share ideas or experiences on how to overcome this far more treacherous obstacle? I know folks in some neighborhoods like Whittier or Ventura Village would say that neighborhoods like mine need to suck it up and take on some of the load, but I don't think that kind of argument is going to fly very well with NIMBYs or folks leaning that way. What kinds of strategies might there be for either opening NIMBY minds or at least, getting other members of the neighborhood to look past the NIMBY ranting? Mark Snyder Windom Park 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
