‘No immediate plans’ to move homeless shelter

At least two hurdles would have to be cleared if Middletown’s homeless shelter wanted to move from its location on South Main Street, said Carla Messer, board president.

She said for Hope House Center for Men to move, as the women’s shelter, Hope House Center for Women and Children did three years ago, another downtown building would have to be acquired and funds secured to remodel the building.

Right now, Messer said, there is no building, no extra money.

So, she said, Hope House has “no immediate plans to move.”

There have been rumblings for years that Hope House was going to move to another location, and that talk resurfaced in September when the roof of the former Rose Furniture building, which is located next door to Hope House, collapsed. Initially, after the building was inspected, it appeared Rose Furniture would be demolished, and Sandra Snyder, director of community relations, said that may accelerate a possible move.

But when investors of the Rose Furniture building, Stephen Coon and Mike Robinette, partners in Historic Rose Furniture LLC, said they were going to renovate the property instead of demolishing it, that meant that Hope House didn’t need to relocate, Snyder said.

There are those who privately say that if Middletown wants to continue revitalizing its downtown — where thousands of dollars have been spent on economic development — Hope House must relocate in the city. They say Hope House, because it’s located in the heart of downtown, is derailing the city’s progress.

Middletown Mayor Larry Mulligan, a former Hope House board member, has heard the same whispers, but because of some of the city’s recent progress — he pointed toward the opening of Cincinnati State across the street from the center — he doesn’t believe that philosophy.

Another downtown nonprofit agency that deals with the less fortunate moved out of the downtown three years ago. Family Service of Middletown, which provides food and support to low-income residents, moved its operations off Central Avenue to Columbia Avenue. There were those in the city who said they didn’t want visitors to see shopping carts along a major thoroughfare.

Now the agency is located in a larger building and basically out of sight.

Maurice Maxwell, executive director of the agency, said most of his clients, and those at Hope House, are “landlocked” because they lack adequate transportation and they need to be located near where the social services are located. That’s why he believes Hope House’s current location, near the Mid-Pointe Library, where the homeless can use computers to “better themselves,” is a good fit.

“We have to get them out of the condition they’re in,” he said of the homeless. “Make them more productive.”

Maxwell also understands why the city, which has funneled thousands of dollars into economic development, would want the homeless shelter relocated. He said some officials and businesses may think homeless people are “not suitable” for what the city envisions for its downtown.

Anita Carroll, director of the library, said those from the homeless shelter are always welcome in the library and they frequently use its resources. Residents must be out of the homeless shelter by 7 a.m., and some of them spend most of the day in the library and on the computers.

Even if the homeless shelter moves, Carroll said the library will provide the residents “as much service” as possible.

If a suitable location is located downtown and on the city’s bus line, the homeless shelter may lack the necessary funds to renovate the property, Messer said.

She said the mission’s non-capital campaign revenue has increased slightly every year since 2009. However, that increase has not kept pace with the 50 percent in increased operating expenses it faced after the Center for Women and Children (CWC) opened in November 2010. The center’s operating expenses at that time increased by $150,000 per year, a 50 percent increase, Snyder said.

During that same time, government funding declined nearly 23 percent from 2010 to 2012, Snyder said. Private funding and foundations also declined until last year, she said. She said funding from the United Way has remained fairly consistent, but is expected to drop next year.

“That’s serious,” Messer said of the declining revenue.

She said Hope House, which was founded in 1989, operated in the black until 2011.

Snyder said due to “extensive and thorough treatment” clients receive at the center, the rate for repeat guests has dropped 61 percent over the last five years. In 2012, she said, 19 percent of residents in the shelter for more than 10 days became employed; 44 percent of residents moved into a positive housing arrangement; and 20 residents pursued and received their GED.

Messer said she believes there’s a “mixed bag” of perception of the homeless shelter. She said there’s a mentality that the center is needed, but “not in my backyard.”

Then she added: “That’s par for the course.”

Messer said there’s “an enormous need” for the shelter in Middletown.

The men’s center has 40 beds and the women’s and children center has 50 beds, and both shelters typically are at 95 percent capacity, Snyder said.

Kathy Becker, chief executive director of Transitional Living Inc., which provides outpatient behavioral healthcare services throughout the county, said Middletown “very much” needs a homeless shelter that focuses on Middletown residents.

And she believes Hope House should move because of the condition of the former US Hotel, 34 S. Main St., which is 182 years old. She said there are health and safety issues with the building. If and when the shelter moves, Becker said, it must be located along a bus line so residents have transportation to medical and job appointments, otherwise, the residents are “going to fail.”

When asked why some people are reluctant to associate with the homeless, Becker said: “They just don’t understand them. They don’t have an open mind. It’s very easy to be prejudice and make assumptions. It’s all about education. When you don’t know them, it’s easy to make a judgement call.”

Becker said Hamilton’s government has been “very proactive” dealing with its homeless population. She said a grant helped renovate one of the city’s homeless shelters, CHOSEN, making its facility on East Avenue handicap accessible. Also, she said, Hamilton’s vice mayor, Carla Fiehrer, is establishing a homeless task force and a group of church leaders are going to take turns opening their facilities to the homeless this winter.

This program will copy one that has operated in Middletown for years. SHALOM (Serving Homeless with Alternate Lodging Of Middletown) opens every winter and allows the homeless to spend the night in a local church manned by volunteers. SHALOM provides transportation, job assistance and the church provides a place to sleep and meals.

Adriane Scherrer, who owns a downtown consulting business, said those who reside at Hope House should be treated with more respect and given another opportunity to succeed. When Scherrer sees someone who is homeless downtown, she will offer to pay them to perform chores, whether that’s shoveling snow, washing windows, taking out trash.

“I try to help them, what’s the word I’m looking for, get more pride,” she said. “They need a hand up, not a hand out. If more people took that attitude, those people would be better off.”

Scherrer laughed when she recalled a conversation she had with another downtown business owner. They were upset that a homeless man was eating lunch and sleeping at Governor’s Square.

“That’s what public parks are for,” Scherrer told them.

Scherrer said people need to understand that the homeless population is part of the Middletown community.

“We can’t sit here and think, ‘We don’t have poor and homeless people here,’” she said. “We aren’t Indian Hill or Pickerington. We are Middletown.”