From: Interfaith Works
To: Eastside Neighborhood Association
Thank you very much for your letter of concern, in which you raised important issues that we’d like to address head on.
A number of those issues were discussed at the community forum held this past Wednesday. We are planning an additional community forum in the coming weeks, and would appreciate your participation at that time in order to answer these and other concerns with more depth and detail. We will send an invitation to the next forum as soon as we have the date set. We’re hopeful this will be held at St. Michael Parish and are awaiting the final scheduling of space there.
I want to start by assuring you that we are committed to an inclusive public process and that we need as much input from as many stakeholders as possible to be able to transform our community in the ways that we believe to be possible. We are in the midst of that public process. The forum on August 7th was our second public forum — we have also presented to the ODA, PBIA, CNA and many other community groups about the shelter project.
Representatives of Interfaith Works, with the assistance of private real estate professionals and staff from the City of Olympia and Thurston County, have been reviewing and evaluating a number of sites for approximately two months. We first reviewed the 10th Avenue site just 3 weeks ago as one of a number of possibilities, and had no assurance at the time that this unlisted, vacant property might actually be available. It only became clear in the first week in August after discussions with the property owner that it might in fact be available. Within a few days IW contacted the immediate neighbors, and within a week informed the press of a public forum to discuss the plans, details and possible locations. You should know that no lease has been signed and there is yet no certainty that we will be able to reach a lease agreement with the owner, even if that ends up being the preferred location.
I want to directly respond to specific concerns raised in your letter:
The Eastside Neighborhood has long been a supportive neighbor to a variety of social service programs – Bread & Roses, Sidewalk, the Salvation Army (two facilities, on 5th and 4th Avenues), First Baptist Sunday Dinners, several transitional and recovery facilities and soon the Family Support Center in the Smith Building. Additionally, Madison Elementary is both a Title 1 school and host to the “Welcome Room” for children in poverty. Our neighborhood hosts a larger number of social services for this population. We’re incredibly proud to host all these services but with the introduction of this new service, we hope the city will consider more fairly distributing these services citywide.
As you have noted, there are a number of social services hosted in or near the Eastside neighborhood, and you expressed some pride in this fact. Those of us who operate many of these services take similar pride in the fact that we have been able to do so with minimal complaints from the neighbors; we have tried in fact to improve the neighborhoods where we locate such services, often to the general applause of the immediate neighbors. Our SideWalk homeless advocacy office on 5th Avenue SE is a good case in point. When the location was proposed two years ago, several Eastside residents raised, formally and informally, many of the same concerns expressed in your current letter. With this input, we took a derelict building that had been a refuge for squatters and homeless campers, refurbished the building, landscaped, and as part of our advocacy services made certain that our clients treated the neighborhood with respect and care. Since opening, a small number of comments from neighbors have been responded to swiftly. Bread and Roses has had a similar experience.
In fact the location on 10th Avenue has also been a site for homeless squatters and campers in the 1 ½ years that it has been vacant. Similarly, adjacent neighboring businesses have had significant issues with unmanaged homelessness and people sleeping illegally on their properties. By staffing and controlling the site, we hope to improve it. It has the advantage of having no residential immediate neighbors, and is at the end of a cul de sac next to the City’s public works storage yard.
As described, this shelter will serve a high-risk population that we strongly feel is incompatible with it’s proximity to our neighborhood. The location is less than 100 yards from St. Michael’s Elementary and Pre-School, 4 blocks away from Avanti High School and Madison Elementary, and directly adjacent to our residential neighborhood.
St. Michael’s Parish has been a strong supporter and partner of The People’s House from its conception. As you may know, St. Michael’s has hosted a 12-bed cold weather men’s shelter each winter for the last 19+ years providing emergency shelter and meals from November-March. We have spoken with Father Jim Lee and he does not feel that our shelter would put the safety and well being of his Parish or the Elementary School at risk. They have a number of safety precautions already in place including the newly located entrance no longer on Eastside Street, along with fencing around the entire school property. We are committed to continuing conversations with the neighborhood and parents of students attending St. Mike’s. Dialogue with Madison and Avanti is of similar importance. Again, we are in the midst of that public process.
I have also spoken directly and at length with our community partners, the Family Support Center and Community Youth Services, who feel their shelter programs will not be jeopardized by the potential siting of The People’s House nearby. As a community we must recognize the fact that young, old, addicted, homeless, housed, ex-offenders both registered and not registered, victim/survivors and perpetrators of physical, mental, emotional and sexual violence are all already present in our community. They are in our families, places of work, faith institutions, neighborhoods, parks and public spaces. As a community we are experiencing unmanaged homelessness and we seek to create well managed programs to maintain maximum public safety. By providing shelter and day respite for those who otherwise fall through the cracks we can keep our community safer because we can know where they are, refer to appropriate treatment programs and work to prevent safety concerns.
The “low barrier” aspects are of special concern to to us. What safeguards will the supporting agencies have to protect nearby residents, workers, and especially children? If the program managers are going to eliminate safeguards at the client level, what safeguards and procedures will they introduce to compensate for that protection?
We certainly understand the concern of the ENA that those with mental illness, ex-offenders including sex offenders, and those with substance abuse problems will not be excluded from the planned shelter. Homeless people from many backgrounds experience a huge number of barriers to receiving services. As an agency we have spent a great deal of time, effort and mature reflection on the security aspects of such a “low barrier” policy, not only as they affect the neighboring properties but on our own guests, staff and volunteers. You and community members are entitled to some specifics. Here are the high points:
We hope this represents, as we sincerely intend it to be, an initial good faith response to your letter, and that it provides a useful framework for forthcoming discussions. We hope you will be able to share this response widely among your members and other recipients of your letter. We welcome your concerns, questions and life experiences, which will add much to community dialogue and will help shape the development and implementation of our program wherever it is sited.
Thank you so much for this opportunity to begin a discussion. All of us at Interfaith Works – staff, leaders and congregations — look forward to working productively together on this issue.
Sincerely,
Meg Martin, MSW
Interfaith Works Shelter Coordinator
To:
Interfaith Works
Thurston County Home Consortium
Olympia City Council
Coalition of Neighborhood Associations
Thurston County Commissioners
The Olympian Editorial Board
To Those Concerned,
The Eastside Neighborhood Association (ENA) Board was deeply concerned to first learn about the proposed location for a “low barrier” shelter at 1011 10th Avenue from an article in The Olympian on Wednesday, August 7th.
The Eastside Neighborhood has long been a supportive neighbor to a variety of social service programs – Bread & Roses, Sidewalk, the Salvation Army (two facilities, on 5th and 4th Avenues), First Baptist Sunday Dinners, several transitional and recovery facilities and soon the Family Support Center in the Smith Building. Additionally, Madison Elementary is both a Title 1 school and host to the “Welcome Room” for children in poverty. Our neighborhood hosts a larger number of social services for this population. We’re incredibly proud to host all these services but with the introduction of this new service, we hope the city will consider more fairly distributing these services citywide.
As described, this shelter will serve a high-risk population that we strongly feel is incompatible with it’s proximity to our neighborhood. The location is less than 100 yards from St. Michael’s Elementary and Pre-School, 4 blocks away from Avanti High School and Madison Elementary, and directly adjacent to our residential neighborhood.
The “low barrier” aspects are of special concern to to us. What safeguards will the supporting agencies have to protect nearby residents, workers, and especially children? If the program managers are going to eliminate safeguards at the client level, what safeguards and procedures will they introduce to compensate for that protection?
As a neighborhood of young working families, retirees and everyone in-between, we feel that the identified location for the shelter is based not on where it would be best located but where business interests feel it would be the least objectionable. We would like to see the program placed where it can best serve the population it’s designed to serve and integrate well with the neighborhood it’s placed within.
The ENA suggests the city present a comprehensive strategy for siting homeless shelters in Olympia. It feels as if we are considering each new shelter independently rather than looking at the system and services as a whole. If we do have a plan, how does it fit the demographics of our homeless population? A detailed city map of shelters, problem areas and procedures for placement of new proposed shelters need to be published and discussed at public meetings to allow for an equitable distribution of these services across Olympia and perhaps Thurston County as a whole.
We urge Interfaith Works and the Olympia City Council to find a new location for this high risk shelter, or rethink the concept altogether. We also hope that you will actively present your plans to the affected neighborhood associations in the future in order to secure our support and engagement in the process.
We look forward to your response,
Eastside Neighborhood Association Board of Directors & Concerned Neighborhood Residents
The Eastside Neighborhood Association represents more than 1100 residences bordered by Eastside Street, 4th Avenue, Chambers Street and I-5.
CONTACT:
Luke Bowerman, President
Eastside Neighborhood Association
pr*******@**************ia.org
http://eastside-olympia.org
(360) 818-4373
Monthly Board meeting of the Eastside Neighborhood Association.
Please send Luke Bowerman, ENA President, any items you have that you would like to discuss.
]]>Friday, April 26, 2013, 9:30AM until 12:00PM at Lion’s Park
Park Stewardship is looking for volunteers of all ages to put their hands together and contribute to spreading fibar on the playground at Lions Park. Not only will this help to maintain the beauty of the park, but most importantly, it will keep our children safe while they play in this public space.
With enough hands, we can efficiently complete the work and have fun at the same time! Please alert volunteers to dress for the weather and wear sturdy shoes or boots that can get wet and muddy. Note that youth under age 14 must be accompanied by an adult and all youth under 18 years must have a signed Waiver and Medical Alert or have a parents’ signature on the sign-in roster at the project work site.
]]>This service event will focus on trail maintenance and control of invasive blackberry along the paths.
With enough hands, we can efficiently complete the work and have fun at the same time! Please alert volunteers to dress for the weather and wear sturdy shoes or boots that can get wet and muddy. Note that youth under age 14 must be accompanied by an adult and all youth under 18 years must have a signed Waiver and Medical Alert or have a parents’ signature on the sign-in roster at the project work site.
]]>These minutes were read and ratified by the ENA Board on March 20th, 2013.
Facilitated by ENA President Nancy Thompson
February 20, 2013
Meeting Started at 7pm at the Knox Facility
| Savings | $528 |
| Neighborhood Signs Savings | $1295 |
| Legion Way Trees Fund | $150 |
| Community Beautification (from PSE Green Neighbors program) | $504 |
| Checking | $445 |
| 13 Month CD (Matures on 4/20/13) | $1026 |
| Total | $3948 |
The President explained that there are currently 7 board members who have completed their two year term, & 4 who have one more year remaining in their term. She added that our Bylaws require there be a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 20 board members. The President asked for volunteers to step forward to re-up or join the board.
The following people were elected: Luke Bowerman, Bev Kooi, Katy Beattie, Nathan Allan, Sherry Chilcutt, Mitch Dennis, Pat Doyle
President: Luke Bowerman volunteered & was elected with no objections
Treasurer: Sherry Chilcutt volunteered & was elected with no objections
Secretary: Sandia Slaby volunteered & was elected with no objections
Roberta Golden brought to our attention that the gardens need more people to be involved. There are plots available for $50 per growing season, which includes water & membership to Sustainable South Sound (and with that, a “Buy Local” coupon book). Plots are 20’ x 20’. The gardens are on the south side of 13th Ave S.E., just west of Central St S.E.. Contact Jennifer for more info at (360) 481-4235 or ho******@**ve.com.
Brad Archbold explained the status of this City program. The neighborhood association has previously been awarded funds for the Fairview walk-through trail (that project was not completed). He said there would possibly additional funds available for next year. If anyone has any ideas for creating such trails in our neighborhood they should bring those to the ENA Board’s attention.
Lee announced that she will coordinate the 2nd Annual Neighborhood Garage sale and suggested the 3rd week of July, to be after Lake Fair. The ENA will take care of advertising and will frame it as a ‘BIG Neighborhood’ sale. Call Lee at (360) 943-1538 or email at be************@*****st.net for more info. There was a discussion about the benefits to doing this the week of Lake Fair – a westside neighborhood has done this successfully for years.
Early or mid-August was mentioned for the ENA Annual Picnic. Nancy Thompson confirmed that she will continue to organize this event.
Sandia Slaby announced that the North Eastside Neighborhood Association (NENA) is hosting a “Map Your Neighborhood” event at Roosevelt Elementary School on Wednesday, March 13th, 6:30-8:00 pm.
The event will be a review of the video called “Mapping Your Neighborhood,” which the county provides to anyone who wants to be a “block captain” or “trainer.” This person’s role is to facilitate a small population (their own city block of households – a maximum of 1015 households) getting together at the “captain’s” home to watch the same video. This helps the block residents get familiar with their neighbors, and get organized and prepared to work more effectively together for increased health and safety reasons in the event of a disaster. This is when our regular emergency responders (fire, medical & police) are overwhelmed by the numbers in need of help, when our neighbors may either need or be the best source of help available more quickly. For more information about these events email Sandia at sa****@***********nd.org or call her at (360) 866-4561.
Representatives of the group Concerned Eastside Neighbors (Joe Hanna & Teresa __?) and LaRay Armstrong of the Medela Development group gave extensive presentations, including an update about the current and historical facts regarding these 9+ acres of property (including 2-4 residences). The area is bordered on the north side by the Forest Grove Cemetery, on the the east side by Chambers Street, and on the south side by the freeway. The Medela group has applied to the county for a rezone for greater density.
The Medela group said they had not been able to sell their property and were advised that there would be more interest if the zoning was for greater density housing. The Concerned Eastside Neighbors group, a group of about 7 neighbors near the property, appealed the county’s decision to accept the re-zone application. The group claimed the city had been in err with the decision. The appeal was denied and the rezone for greater density in that area has been passed. It will go into effect once the County Commissioner’s formally adopt the rezone sometime this year, no later than December 31.
For more info from the neighbors’ perspective, email them at co************************@***il.com. The group intends to stay organized and hopefully grow and to be prepared to challenge any actual development that begins to take form when and if the property sells. From their research, they believe they have solid ground upon which to challenge many development projects that would be proposed for a more densely-zoned property.
The CEN group is very interested in more people getting on board now, in order to be better prepared for what seems now like inevitable happenings in the future. They believe that any major development will affect our neighborhood significantly.
The Medela development group is a small family of siblings who are in or near retirement. “We want to sell the property… we grew up there… but I [the one resident landlord] can no longer maintain the land or dwellings that are part of the property… and we are all three [sisters & brothers] older & want to retire and move on with our lives.”
The meeting came to a close at 8:50 pm.
]]>Monthly Board meeting of the Eastside Neighborhood Association. A full agenda will be forth-coming closer to that date. Please send Luke Bowerman, ENA President, any items you have that you would like to discuss.
]]>January 15, 2013
Meeting Started at 6:15 at the Knox Facility.
Nancy Thompson, Board Member and President
Brad Archbold, Board Member
Andrew Beattie, Board Member
Representatives of the Concerned Citizens with the Medela Development
Mike Carney
Whitney and Luke Bowerman
We need Board Members, hopefully at least 6 new or renewing members. We can seek board members at the February Annual meeting.
The February Annual meeting is scheduled for Wednesday February 20th, at the Knox Facility at 7:00 PM in the Boardroom. The room is reserved for that date and time.
A Newsletter will be distributed in advance of the meeting as notification of the Annual meeting. Ruth Middlebrook will provide the distribution of the newsletter. She needs the printed copies by February1, 2013. All articles need to be to Nancy Thompson no later than January 25th at: ti**********@*****ro.net.
All the Officer positions will be vacant.
Jennie Fleming does not want to continue as Treasurer.
Nancy Thompson does not want a second term as President.
No other Officer positions are currently filled.
Joe Hannah, a representative of neighbors who are concerned about the Medela Development, asked to present their concerns with the project and discuss impacts to the Eastside Neighborhood at the Annual meeting. They will provide Nancy Thompson an article for the newsletter. They will also invite a representative of the Medela Development.
Brad Archbold discussed grants available with the City of Olympia for trail connectivity. He asked about any trail that could be available for the grant money. We did mention the Fairview Pathway as a possible recipient. Brad will provide Nancy a paragraph for the upcoming newsletter about the City’s Grants.
Meeting came to a close.
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