A building owned by the First Presbyterian Church could be the site of a new warming shelter. Photo KCAW/Katherine Rose
The Sitka Presbyterian Church and a newly-formed homeless coalition are hoping to open a winter warming shelter for men on Sawmill Creek Road. But they’ve run into a little push-back from neighbors, and may have to put off their plans until next year. KCAW’s Katherine Rose reports.
The seasonal warming shelter would run from October 1 to March 31 and sleep up to 20 men. Staffed by volunteers, it would be located in an existing structure, a two story dorm hall behind the church.
Kristy Miller is the ministry facility coordinator at the church, and spoke at a recent Planning Commission meeting on behalf of the church and a community homeless coalition. “This is not a project that any one group can address alone,” Miller said. “This is a community effort.”
Miller said the community homeless coalition began to form last summer as the Presbyterian Church was looking to expand their community outreach and use their available space. In addition to providing a sleeping space for the evenings during the winter months, Miller said they’d like to provide work opportunities as well.
“We’ve got a big backyard with a garden that we would love to feed into the food pantry,” she said. “We’d love to do more firewood collection, not just for the church but also donating those in need. Using that to get these folks involved in a positive way.”
The coalition held several community meetings throughout the fall as they developed plans for the warming shelter, and volunteers knocked on doors to inform neighbors of the project.
A handful of people with homes adjacent to the property in question attended the meeting and voiced their concern during public comment, including Juli Audette and several members of her family. Audette, who lives on Baranof Street near the church, says she thinks Sitka needs a shelter, but she’s concerned about its location.
“It’s hard to speak on this because we come across as the bad guys,” she said. “What I want everybody to ask themselves is, would you want this across the street from your home?”
Janelle Audette says she already sees loitering at Sitka Kitch, and thinks a warming shelter would only compound the issue.
“I don’t want this in my neighborhood. I have to keep my blinds closed every day, because they’re constantly loitering on the porch, smoking cigarettes and pot and staring in my window,” she said. “I don’t want that.”
Some showed up in favor of the shelter. Julia Smith said she thinks the Presbyterian Church is a good location, and urged Sitkans to remember that you can’t make generalizations about those experiencing homelessness.
“Everybody who is homeless today was not homeless last year, or maybe will not be homeless next year,” said Smith. “They are a lot of different people in a lot of different circumstances.”
And Chandler O’Connell says there’s a definite need in Sitka for a warming shelter. While the coalition should take time to develop a set of policies for operation, she thinks the church location should be considered.
“This isn’t a new need. We’ve all known it for a long time,” she said. “One of the really big challenges is facility and space, and the fact that everywhere in Sitka is next to something.”
The Planning Commission voted to postpone the item. This wasn’t unexpected. The coalition needed more time to develop a manual of policies and procedures, which city planning director Mike Scarcelli said was necessary in order to move forward.
“What I talked to them about was at this time we’ve already done our public notice, I’d hate to pull this, have people show up and not give them the opportunity to speak,” Scarcelli said.
It was up to the church, so they decided to allow the meeting to go forward, knowing what the outcome would be. The Planning Commission recommended they develop the policies and procedures for operation and resubmit their materials in the spring.
