Communities worry about effect of taking in the homeless

Everyone may say we should take care of the homeless but it has to be in someone else's neighborhood. What a shame this is.

Shelter plan upsets neighbors
Communities worry about effect of taking in the homeless
By Lynn Anderson Sun reporter
July 14, 2008

Mayor Sheila Dixon has promised to end homelessness. But that goal - which has been applauded by residents and advocates alike - is creating headaches for neighborhoods that have played host to homeless shelters in recent months.

When the city set up a 24-hour winter shelter in Baltimore's Greenmount West neighborhood last year, some residents worried that the presence of homeless men and women might dampen revitalization efforts. There were similar concerns when another shelter opened on East Fayette Street.

And when the Fayette Street shelter closed this month, there was more public consternation, this time from residents of Butchers Hill and Edmondson Heights, where two new shelters have opened to accommodate the city's homeless residents.

Both neighborhoods say they feel they are being forced to shelter the homeless. They have complained that city officials gave them little notice, and that they have real concerns about housing homeless adults near children. The Butchers Hill shelter is in a city recreation center near a school with summer classes; the Edmondson Heights shelter is in a high school to which some students will return for team practice in August.
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