BUCYRUS — Several residents who reside near a location of a proposed homeless shelter came to the Bucyrus City Council Joint Committees meeting Thursday evening to voice their concerns.
Eliza Cole, director of BORN (Bucyrus Outreach and Restoration Network), and Tabby Linn, a volunteer of the organization that was founded more than five years ago by several local churches, were on hand to provide more information about the proposed Hope Center.
“BORN was founded in 2014 and part of our strategic plan was to make sure we were filling the gaps in our community, not overlapping services,” Cole said. “We were immediately hit with homelessness.”
She said her office locates temporary housing for 90 to 120 people per year in Crawford County by paying $50 per night for a hotel room to help get them off the street.
“We average two to five homeless people per week that come through our office for assistance,” Cole said.
She said many of those people are referred to them by local law enforcement.
“You don’t see homeless people on the streets, you don’t receive phone calls at 3 a.m. from the police department or sheriff’s office that we receive because they want us to house them so you are not affected by it,” Cole said.
One resident asked where the money comes from to house the homeless.
“We get money through the 18 to 20 churches that support us along with grants and donations,” Cole said.
Cole said there are homeless camps throughout the community, including in the wooded area on the land at 251 Whetstone Street that recently was donated to BORN to construct a homeless shelter. The Hope Center was planned to house families that are homeless or displaced as well as an area for men and one for women. It would also offer office space, training facilities and a 60-seat event center.
She also said people coming to the facility for assistance would first be drug tested.
“If they test positive, they would be referred to those types of programs in our area that are already set up for that purpose,” Cole said.
Cole said the purpose of the shelter is to help displaced people who have lost their homes due to situations such as a fire or the condemnation of their residence along with people needing assistance in obtaining employment to get back on their feet.
The issue before the platting committee was to decide if a zoning change for the property could be approved to allow plans for the Hope Center to proceed.
“I have a petition signed by 50 people in my neighborhood who are opposed to this facility being constructed in our area,” Reid Street resident Ray Thitoff said.
Thitoff, along with several other residents, said they are concerned that the construction of the Hope Center will decrease the value of their properties. He said he is not against the mission of BORN to create the Hope Center, he just does not want it to be constructed in his neighborhood.
The platting committee voted unanimously against the zoning change request, leaving Cole and BORN no choice but to start the process over again to find a location for the shelter.
In other committee business, Bucyrus Mayor Jeff Reser told the public lands and building committee that a valve at the Pines Reservoir is functioning and the task of draining the reservoir down to a level that takes it out of the classification of a dam will begin Friday.
An ordinance to allow the city service safety director to proceed without going through the bidding process to obtain the services of a pool company to complete the repairs at the Aumiller Park Pool was approved by council to expedite the process after Northwest Pools was unable to complete the job.
The next council meeting is Sept. 17 at 7 p.m. in Bucyrus City Hall.