RICHMOND, Va. -- As the City of Richmond plans to expand shelter capacity and services for the homeless community, a group of neighbors has expressed opposition, citing potentially negative impacts on nearby businesses.
“People don't feel good about this. Nobody here feels good about it," said David Kohler, president of the Chamberlayne Industrial Center neighborhood association.
The same group first raised concerns about a homeless shelter in their neighborhood back in 2019, when the city wanted to allow the Salvation Army to operate a shelter with nearly 100 beds at the building at 1900 Chamberlayne Avenue at the time.
But following pushback from neighbors, the shelter ended up downsizing its capacity.
During the past winter season, Commonwealth Catholic Charities operated an inclement weather shelter at the same location from December 2022-April 2023 and served 30 people at a time.
It was one of the three scattered sites the city used during its past inclement weather season. The other two shelters were located on the city's Southside.
“And that did not go well. We had people basically loitering in the streets, defecating on the streets, hampering our businesses," Kohler said. "The shelter didn't open until 6 o'clock (pm) and threw the people back out on the street at 8 o'clock (am). They had nowhere to go."
So, when Kohler's group discovered through the news that the city wanted to allow the Salvation Armyto expand capacity at the Chamberlayne Avenue location to 150 beds during the winter, while keeping 50 of them operational all year long and an additional 100 beds on standby for year-round weather emergencies, they were shocked.
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They said their council representative in the third district, Ann-Frances Lambert, did not engage with them.
“Why is our elected official who represents us not giving us full disclosure on what's going on? That's what we elect them to do, so we really feel let down and betrayed to tell you the truth," Kohler said.
Kohler said the group doesn't oppose a shelter entirely, but they believe it would be more fair to establish smaller shelters in multiple different parts of the city.
"Let's do a temporary shelter here this winter and have... an equitable sharing with the other eight districts and not concentrate 150 beds of the 300 needed beds in our area and creating this as the epicenter for the homeless of Richmond," Kohler said.
Meanwhile, the proposed shelter has gained a great deal of support from homeless people, advocates for the homeless, and city leaders.
“Everybody’s not on the same page," said Gerald Polard, a man experiencing homelessness who utilized the city's overnight inclement weather shelter on East Broad Street Tuesday night as temperatures dipped into the 30's.
Polard said taking care of the vulnerable should be a community-wide effort and that everyone deserves a place to go for safety, no matter which neighborhood.
“Everybody can’t take care of yourself, but you can encourage them to do better. Don't put them down because what they go through. Try to help them on issues," Polard said about the opposition to the city's proposed plans.
Multiple leaders within the Greater Richmond Continuum of Care (GRCoC), which is the region's network of homeless assistance services, recently sent a letter to Mayor Levar Stoney and Council President Mike Jones to support the city's plans.
"In particular, we are grateful for the proposed expansion of emergency shelter capacity for both families and single adults. This significant investment in expanding coordinated homeless assistance and shelter should be recognized and celebrated," the letter stated, which was signed by more than a dozen non-profit leaders within the GRCoC.
In addition to the year-round shelter at Chamberlayne Avenue, the city would establish a 50-bed shelter at an old hostel in Downtown Richmond, in partnership with the non-profit Home Again.
In its totality, city officials have said their proposal would expand the region's existing capacity of family beds by 67% and single adult beds by 43%, taking the number of total beds from about 320 to 420.
The location on Chamberlayne Avenue would also serve as a housing resource center, which councilmembers hope will be open seven days a week to provide information and referrals for homeless people on a walk-up basis.
Councilor Lambert said she expected the location to serve as an entry point into the GRCoC, adding "this will not work if that is not in place."
Most people are entered into the GRCoC through the Homeless Connection Line, a phone number that people can call when they reach a crisis situation. Currently, there is not a physical point of entry.
Kelly King-Horne, executive director of Homeward which serves as a planning agency of the GRCoC, said the board and policy committee are still evaluating the process of how homeless people get connected to services.
"This review process is ongoing and engages people with lived experience of homelessness. This helps to ensure that our system is optimized and accessible to those in need," Horne said.
Lambert said she plans to meet with business owners in the Chamberlayne Industrial Center to hear their concerns.
"I expect the city to have a plan in place on how we will move forward and the Salvation Army can be good neighbors with this process," Lambert said.
Councilmember Stephanie Lynch, who has been on the forefront of advocating for improving the city's homeless services, said the city and Salvation Army will monitor the location for possible criminal activity and congregation.
However, she added that she did not notice homeless people standing around in the daytime at last year's inclement weather shelters on the Southside. Most worked jobs during the day, and those who were chronically homeless retreated to their regular gathering spots, she said.
Kohler said with the shelter expected to be implemented by Dec. 1 and with no official ordinance introduced yet detailing an operating agreement, the process seems rushed.
He said he wants the City Council to reject the forthcoming ordinance for a permanent shelter in the Chamberlayne area and move forward with a temporary winter shelter to allow time for discussions about alternative solutions.
“We don't want something permanent, and I'm sure if we put our heads together and we work together, there's going to be options," Kohler said.
WATCH:Neighbors, business owners anxious over proposed Southside homeless shelter
Adding that the city has not delivered on its past plans to revitalize the Chamberlayne business corridor, he said business owners will leave the area if the plan is approved.
"It's not that they're insensitive to the need. It's just the lack of transparency that has gone through this process and the lack of representation that has been missed for us being the taxpayers," Kohler said.
City officials met with the neighborhood group at 1900 Chamberlayne Avenue Wednesday night.
Lynch called on the Salvation Army to publicly release their plan so citizens can see how they propose addressing concerns. She also encouraged the neighborhood association to create a direct line of communication between a point person to convey concerns to the Salvation Army.
Details about how the proposed shelter could be run will be presented at Monday's city council meeting before voted on the following week.
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