Citing concern that opening a shelter so close to the city’s “business and entertainment” hub would be bad for business (amongst a host of other crazy reasons), members of the Hartford Business Improvement District (BID) are trying to railroad the city into rethinking its proposal to open a no-freeze shelter. The proposed location would be in an annex building at the Center Church on Gold and Lewis Sts. The offer from the church came as the Salvation Army told the city that it wouldn’t be able to operate the seasonal shelter this year which usually is open from December 1st through the end of March.
This much needed service needs to go forward or else Hartford’s business leaders will have much bigger problems. Like one commenter noted over at the Courant,… How bad for business would it be with dead bodies frozen on the streets of Hartford because they were denied shelter due to profit concerns? Some of the other concerns raised were the “increase in pan-handling, vandalism, and public urination”, to name a few. Also at issue is that there could be some sex offenders among the homeless population (p.s. they exist in ALL communities), which seemed to be the crux of the BID’s opposition, only second to profit margins.
The members of the BID need to understand that all of these perceived threats that they cite will still exist no matter how much they want it swept under the rug. If they really want to solve these problems, maybe they should look at the root causes of poverty and homelessness. That aside, the real bottom line is that people’s lives are at stake. This should be a no-brainer. With all of the cuts to social services and other shelters cutting back or closing down, Hartford’s most forgotten and pushed aside need it most. Nevermind that with more people losing their jobs and housing these days, any one of us could be next in line at a soup kitchen or shelter’s door. As we head into the holiday season, I can’t help but think that you can’t get more Dickensian than this.
Great piece. This is an obvious continuation of Downtown Hartford business leaders’campaign to keep people of color and vulnerable populations of all races out of the area, such as when they used the shootings at Papa’s Pizza and The Mansion nightclub last summer as a pretense to call for a ban on rap shows at the XL Center.
Thanks dave for this piece. I am not in the business of applauding any church but Center Church gets a clap from me for following the instructions of their savior Jesus. This is far better than coffee hour.
Matthew 25:35
“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me. Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord when did we see thee hungry and feed thee or thirsty and give thee drink? And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee? And when did we see thee sick and in prison and visit thee?
And the king will answer them, “Truly, I say to you as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.”
In fulfilling this mission it really doesn’t matter what the neighbors say or think or how many money lenders must be chased out of the way.
While I commend your intent and agree with your principles, I find the analysis short-sighted, naive and simplistic. First, sex offenders do not exist everywhere in society anyway, as you state. Homeless sex offenders are a chronic problem in a struggling downtown and numerous urban planning research has concluded that the overall homelessness problem, unemployment, downtown development and fundamental revitalization all benefit from the initial segregation of the homeless from high-traffic downtown centers. For progressive bloggers and demagogic politicans, defending the need for a no freeze shelter is a cheap win. However, hartford is at a crossroads. Efforts at revitalization through downtown development have been largely unsuccessful in the face of economic downturn, crime concerns, and more importantly, lack of political cooperation. We must reject Dave Rozza’s sensationalist vision of ‘frozen bodies’ and embrace the true worst case reality: a downtown without development, empty high rises, crime eliminating downtown vibrancy, high unemployment, retail exodus; we must understand this shelter’s impact on the threat of urban decay.
I hope that the discourse on this issue can avoid the attractive but purposeless appeal of high-minded idealism and naivete and discuss the issue as a threat to the greater struggle of revitalization, an effort that if lost will have a negative impact far worse than the absence of this shelter.
Hmm… I wonder who funded the “urban research” that Mr. Bill is talking about? Are these the same individuals who blamed “gangs” for the shootings at Papa’s and The Mansion? I would submit that if Mr. Bill was homeless on a sub zero degree night in Downtown Hartford, he wouldn’t consider the no freeze shelter issue to be “cheap”.
I reject Mr. Bill’s attempt to evoke tears of sympathy at the thought of “empty high rises”, in addition to his stereotype of sex offenders being exclusive to the homeless population. I’ll take “high minded idealism” that demonstrates compassion toward the most vulnerable among us over financially driven bigotry.
I think “Big Picture Bill” was making an attempt at satire….at least I hope that’s what it was.
Check it out. More on the no freeze shelter with e-mails from Larry Deutsch and a Ms. Wareing of 1 Gold Street. Wait till you read her choice of shelter locations. I would love to see the list of her other choices, 1-9 if 10-13 are all that she can come up with. Shake my head on the best of days. Most important Larry has listed dates for upcoming meetings.
Check http://blogs.courant.com/cityline/2009/12/shelter-back-and-forth.html