Shelter closing creates crisis for homeless

Poor economy leads to third shelter closure in past year


By Brian Rosenthal
Dec. 15, 2008


Keith Landers has been going to the emergency homeless shelter at Epworth United Methodist Church every night for the past three years.

This winter, he could be forced to sleep in a park or on a train.

On Jan. 1, the last remaining emergency shelter on Chicago's north side will close after 23 years at Epworth, 5253 N. Kenmore Ave. The shelter hosts 65 men each night and turns away 20 to 30 more.

"I don't see where the people will go," Landers said. "I think it's dangerous, especially with the winter coming and us having no place to go."

Church administrators decided this summer that they could no longer afford to host the R.E.S.T. (Residents for Effective Shelter Transitions) Warming Shelter. They cited rising heat costs as the reason for the eviction.

"It's a business move, pure and simple," said Bruce Greene, the church's historian and trustee chair. "It's unfortunate, but these are hard economic times and this is the outcome of it."

Pastor Joe Johnson, a strong advocate of the move, declined to comment.

Epworth marks the third homeless shelter to leave the area in the past year.

Last year, Breakthrough Urban Ministries moved their North Ashland Avenue shelter to the city's west side. And in September, the Salvation Army shelter on Sunnyside Avenue closed.

"We're losing shelter beds all over the city," said Joanda Fields, director of adult services at Breakthrough. "I think it's got a lot to do with our current economy and just the state of affairs our country is in."

To combat the crisis, R.E.S.T. administrators and staffers of Ald. Mary Ann Smith (48th) spent almost two months searching for a new home for the Warming Shelter.

Last week, an Andersonville church volunteered to host the shelter from January until May. But it's unclear whether the city will approve the move.

Nobody has managed to find a permanent location, said Smith's chief of staff, Doug Fraser, who said there is currently "no replacement."

The stakes of the search are high, said former R.E.S.T. client Bruce Davis.

"If they close the shelter, where are these people going to go?" he said. "Total havoc could break out."



Dramatic Autumn

For people who spend each day wondering where they will sleep at night, the past few months have been especially uncertain.

It started in August, when the Epworth Governing Board sent a letter to R.E.S.T. regarding payment of heating bills. Representatives from Epworth and R.E.S.T. gave different accounts of the letter's text, but agreed that the correspondence led to the church's decision to evict the shelter.

Epworth scheduled the eviction for Oct. 1, but the day came and went with no movement. Days later, R.E.S.T. lawyers convinced the church to allow the shelter to stay until Nov. 1.

"That's when everything started with the alderman and the city and all these emergency meetings," Greene said.

After frequent but fruitless private meetings, officials turned to the community for location suggestions.

"We have a serious situation with respect to the closing of homeless shelters in our community and would appreciate your input and suggestions," said a bulletin sent out by Smith on Oct. 22.

Local newspapers started publishing articles about the situation.

The coverage eventually trickled down to the shelter's employees and clients.

"I found out through one of my guys," said Vince Stefanelli, the shelter's senior overnight supervisor. "And how he found out was it was printed in the paper."

As the community conversation continued, the church agreed to delay the eviction until Dec. 1.

Numerous rejected locations later, officials thought they found an acceptable site: the former Pasteur Restaurant, 5525 Broadway St. The owner agreed on Nov. 8.

But the City of Chicago and Inner Voice, Inc., a key R.E.S.T. funding contributor, vetoed the location due to concerns regarding necessary roof repairs totaling about $20,000.

"It's off the table," Fraser told the crowd of 70 residents who came to the Nov. 19 Zoning and Planning meeting to discuss the proposal.

With the Dec. 1 deadline approaching, members of Ebenezer Lutheran Church, 1650 W. Foster Ave., held an emergency meeting. During the session, they voted to house the shelter through the winter.

"We didn't want there to be any lapse in there being these beds," said Carla Thompson Powell, the parish administrator at Ebenezer. "We don't want to be responsible for putting 65 more guys a night out on the street if we have space that we can offer."

While Ebenezer made clear they were willing to host the shelter immediately, their involvement was delayed by yet another eviction extension: On Dec. 1, Epworth voted to allow R.E.S.T. to stay at the church another month.

On Jan. 1, the shelter will move to Ebenezer.

"When the shelter director informed the residents, there was clapping and 'praise Jesus,'" said R.E.S.T. Executive Director Kathy Ahler.



Uncertain Future

Ebenezer's decision isn't the end of the crisis, officials said.

For one, Andersonville officials might try to block the move, Ahler said.

Ebenezer's property is a mile west of Epworth and under the jurisdiction of Ald. Patrick O'Connor (40th), who already announced his opposition to the shelter. The alderman was out of town and unavailable to be reached for comment.

Church members said they were willing to host the shelter without the alderman's permission, even if that means violating the law or losing tens of thousands of dollars of city funding.

"We'd privately fundraise," Powell said. "We'd ask whoever we could to try to get money together to make it work."

The church, which is located next to an elementary school, may also face neighbor and block club opposition.

Officials said the biggest challenge is finding a permanent location for the shelter. They've already considered a large number of area properties.

If no solution is found, the city could support a previously proposed plan: offering rides to shelters in other parts of the city.

But the homeless will probably choose to sleep outside or on a train instead of boarding the vans, said R.E.S.T. client Alonzo Wade, who said he "ain't about to travel."

"The city thinks this is a solution; the clients don't think this is a very good solution," Ahler said. "People have roots in neighborhoods."

Some R.E.S.T. clients said they didn't understand why the city didn't have the resources to find the shelter a new home. Arnell Leggs, who was interviewed on his first night at the Epworth shelter, cited "The Bean" at Millennium Park.

"We got money to buy jelly beans and make Millennium Park and wait for the Olympics to get here," he said. "But what about the people now?"

Ebenezer Pastor Paul Koch said the community needs to find a permanent solution immediately.

"What many of us afraid of is people frozen to death outside when the dead of winter comes," Koch said. "We've seen it before in this area. This is pretty serious."