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• jules
  alot coverage on churches today.
• Jessica
  We live a block away and haven't gotten a flyer
• Peter MacMillan
  Flyers? We live less than half of a block away on 22nd, and this is the first I've heard of it.
• Qualisha
  Mercy. There are enough homeless wandering around my street during the day as it is. I live around the block from this church and received no flyer. I've got a few multipurpse protest signs (good for all occassions) in case anyone wants one.
• mickey
  Qualisha - would you prefer that they be sleeping on the curb outside your front door? There are not nearly enough city shelters. This sounds like a reasonable alternative to keeping them off the streets at night. It's part of what churches do.
  
  If this were only a block from my house, I'm sure I'd have concerns too. But automatically protesting it without knowing more seems counter-productive.
• IntegralPoker
  I assume the multipurpose protest signs read something like: "I support in principle, but not if it's within of where I live."
  
  Of course, I could be wrong.
  
  Yes, it's not far from where I live, and yes, I completely support it. This is amazing work that's being done to help our fellow human beings, and it's very cool. I'd hope that Ballard would welcome good work like this with open arms. It is -- I daresay -- God's work, isn't it?
• Mindy
  ANOTHER good use for a church! Kudos to Our Redeemer's Church for saying yes!
• Qualisha
  Hi Mickey, I was being toungue-n-cheek about the protesting. I was surprised to hear the news about this shelter and notices being sent out for neighbors. Homelessness in Seattle is a major problem especially as the economy worsens. Churches are doing the right thing by reaching out but my point was more neighborhood notice and involvment would be nice.
• jules
  mickey-
  i totally agree with you on this. it is not as close to my home but still in my "neighborhood" for sure. i am very proud that ballard will try to help out with this homeless crisis and not just bitch about it. it sounds like these folks are definatley trying to get their lives back together and since they are locked inside after dark and it is only open at night, i think it may be a bit more under control than it sounds at first. i could be wrong, but, we should try to see how it goes.
  
  you never know when you may need help like this.
• Joshua
  I wonder if there is going to be any discussion regarding Salmon Bay Park. Hopefully the post is accurate and most of these guys have things to do during the day. Otherwise, a lot of people are going to be unhappy with 20 guys hanging out at the park all day.
  
  Also, why would someone with a job ever want to live in a shelter? Even when I was making $14k a year I lived in an apartment by myself.
• Joshua
  That line about living in a shelter sounded a little more snippy then intended. I'm honestly curious. I would do just about anything to have my own space.
• boardbrown
  Joshua, Salmon Bay Park already has a regular crowd of homeless hanging out there during the week, so no big changes expected there.
• kim
  i would like to hear back from all of you that live close by and report on how you feel about the arrangement once the homeless have settled. just curious. i'm hearing so many positive aspects about it, but i truly am skeptical.
• Joshua
  I don't make it there too much during the week, but I've never seen more then one or two. Has it increased lately? Because otherwise this could be a very noticable increase.
• boardbrown
  I know it's not apples to apples, but I live a block from the last tent city location in Loyal Heights last year. I noticed no major problems, other than the occasional empty beer can in my bushes. It's worth noting that my anticipated issues never really materialized...so I'm much softer on the issue now.
• hopefulpoet
  Yeah Joshua,
  I appreciate your honest questioning.
  It is hard to imagine what it would be like to choose to live in a shelter. I don't know if I could tolerate such tight quarters.
  Maybe this would be a good summer to have more community events at Salmon Bay - I mean people gotta go somewhere - might as well be working on some organized projects together.
• Jessica
  My main concern is that I haven't heard about this until now from this post and we live less than a block away. I support the current soup kitchen at that location but worry that it doesn't bode well that there has been no communication regarding this shelter that is supposed to start move-in at the end of the month . . . I will definitely be attending the community meeting to hopefully assuage my concerns. Thanks My Ballard for reporting this.
• Tom
  I find it ironic that none of my neighbors have received fliers and we are all less than 1 block away from this church. I also find it ironic that the food bank that currently operates a soup kitchen 4 days a week in this same location left fliers for the neighbors when they increased their services from 2 to 4 days a week - none of us received fliers then either. The fact that salmon bay park has a daily resident population of homeless isn't because of the park - its because of the soup kitchen. The homeless people come to this 100% residential neighborhood because of the soup kitchen - not because the park is a great place to hang out. The fact that the neighbors have been given the opportunity to voice their feelings about this shelter 2 days before it opens tells me our voice as neighbors and residents does not matter. The deal is done. Am I against expanding the current services this vacant church offers - yes. This is a residential neighborhood and we do not need 24 hour homeless traffic on our quiet residential streets. Me and my family have witnessed fistfights, public drinking, public urination, people taking drugs, people dealing drugs, cursing, yelling, people sleeping in our yards - we pick up beer cans and trash daily. Our complaints to the police are ignored - our conversations with the food bank have led to few changes. Will the quality of life for the people who live in this neighborhood continue to deteriorate? - yes. Will my children have to avoid the sidewalks in front of my house as well as the public park next door? - yes. This is not the appropriate place to provide this service.
• mickey
  Qualisha - Thanks for clarifying. I agree that the church needs to step up on neighborhood outreach and communications. But I'm glad to have it confirmed by boardbrown that the tent city last year posed no problems, because that's what I heard from others nearby as well.
• Tracy at West Seattle Blog
  Don't know if it'll make any of you feel better but in the year that this shelter has been over here, where we cover the news 24/7, there hasn't been a major incident associated with it - some minor neighborhood concerns but nothing newsworthy. FWIW. And it's right in the heart of a residential area - single family homes on all sides - a commercial street a block away but not a busy one, very "neighborhood commercial" (small store, some professional offices) ... When we called to ask questions last year when we got word of them moving in, we found SHARE pretty forthcoming, so you might try calling them if you are concerned but don't make it to (or don't hear about) a neighborhood meeting.
• Ballard guy
  You start feeding pigeons and next thing you know you'll have a pigeon problem. Mark my words. And do you think the folks at Share, with their political axe to grind, are going to clean the sh*t up when the pigeons become a nuisance?
• strike
  I'll be blunt. I live a stone's throw away from this former church. Whether there have been problems in the past in other neighborhoods with these shelters is irrelevant to me. I love this neighborhood because of the security and comfort I feel for my two, very young children. I no longer have that same level of confidence knowing that people with no fixed addresses -- who have no long term loyalty to me, my neighbors, or this neighborhood -- are wandering around amongst my children. Sorry, but I don't want it, and that is not what I bought in to. My only responsibility is to my family, and I feel far less safe knowing that this operation is around the corner.
• Driver
  Well let's read some actual comments from the West Seattle blog, seems that contrary to what Tracy claims, not all went well over there:
  
  http://westseattleblog.com/blog/?p=5908
  
  I have lived in the neighborhood of the West Seattle Church of the Nazarene for twenty years. I am all for helping the homeless if they comply by the rules of the shelter.
  
  My family, my neighbors, and myself have had numerous encounters with the homeless who have stayed in the shelter in the past and they have not all been nice. I had one man threaten to kill me with his Mac10 after swinging a back pack full of glass beer bottles at my neighbors head. The man told us he was here drinking with his buddies who stay in the church basement.
  Any time someone has been turned away from the shelter they end up on my property or the property of my neighbors. I had one man completely strip down changing his clothes, he refused to leave my yard. He even urinated in my front yard twice before SPD arrived. I had a spanish speaking homeless man from the shelter use my yard for a toilet with the neighbors watching. It’s no fun to pick up human poop much less dog poop from your yard, especially if you don’t have a dog.
  
  The whole immediate neighborhood has suffered severely in the past with complaints to the church head office. In the past when the church has opened the basement as a shelter the Green Acres apartments had as many as 10 vacant apartments at one time because of encounters with an angry drunk or an under the influence of who knows what wasted homeless person who ends up sitting at the back door of the church.
  
  Many long time home owners who were raised in this neighborhood sold their family homes. One neighbor moved as close as six blocks away just to get away from the crime in the immediate neighborhood of the church. Homeless were caught breaking into his camper and sleeping in it as it was parked in his driveway.
  
  Every time the shelter has opened over the years the neighborhood has witnessed an increase of unreported broken windows in vehicles, car prowls, car thefts, drug dealers on the corners, and numerous nasty prostitutes are working the bus stops.
  
  In the darkness of the night or the light of day many neighbors have witnessed the property of the church being used by prostitutes for numerous years with complaints to the minister who is seldom around to see what is going on, he has a day job that keeps him very busy.
  
  The church has had considerable destruction at the hands of the homeless. Doors have been replaced from being kicked in by the homeless. The last group who stayed completely destroyed the lighting on the back of the church making the parking lot VERY dark next to the field where rapes have occured in the past. I ran off a nasty prostitute who was in the church parking lot offering blow jobs for $20.00 to my neighbors as well as the homeless at 6:00 AM as they were going to work.
  
  We have gone to the expense of installing a surveillance and alarm system to our property due to the numerous attempted break ins. We have worked too hard for what we have and my property is not a shopping center.
  Comment by Desi Russell Seefeld — February 22, 08 11:54 am "
  
  
  "I also used to live in the neighborhood in question…part of the reason I moved was the church and the homeless people they allowed in. For several nights I had noise outside my bedroom window. When I finally went to investigate, I found a sleeping bag under my window which someone had been sleeping in. They also broke into the then vacant property next door to me so they could sleep. I often felt uncomfortable walking my dog in MY OWN NEIGHBORHOOD due to the leering stares I got from the homeless people just hanging out around the church.
  
  I went to a meeting held by SHARE when this all first started. The church IS NOT required to help these people get on thier feet. All they are doing is using it as a place to squat, not as a chance to better thier lives.
  If you live or have a business in this area I would be careful of the people the church lets in. The police were called out on several occasions if that gives you any indication of what goes on there…
  Allison Harper
  Comment by Allison Harper"
• amballard
  I also live a few blocks away and I too spent a lot of money on a house. I bring my family to salmon bay park all the time and we see the homeless. i applaud the church for helping this population and i applaud the food bank for feeding those who are hungry. if problems arise with this shelter, i have confidence that they will be addressed, just as they are with the feeding program and the food bank.
  
  Practically speaking, doesn't it seem logical to have homeless folks sleeping inside a safe and contained atmosphere rather than in doorways, parks or bushes? this program doesn't sound like these guys are trouble makers. they seem responsible based on their previous situations.
  
  strike (and other opponents),
  i appreciate your point of view, but I also have a responsibility to my family....its teaching my children compassion. it's teaching them that caring for and helping others is the measure of a human. I encourage you to think about that...
• mike
  strike,
  
  how do you feel about the fixed address neighbors that live close to you with no long term loyalty to you, your neighbors, or your neighborhood? the ones that watch your kids walk home and think about snatching them? all it takes is one prick to ruin your sense of safety and security. chances are it usually isn't a homeless person.
  
  you bought into a community. part of what makes a community is taking care of those that need help.
• Driver
  They're not from our community, they're being bused in for another Share political stunt. Hence no warning to anyone in the neighborhood. SHARE's not interested in what homeowners think so they don't deserve our support.
  
  Read the postings from West Seattle above.
• mike
  clowns.
  
  what a shallow definition of the word community.
  
  your compassion is overwhelming. the doors are locked at night, so why would prostitutes be coming around?
• strike
  I don't care about feel good political correctness or rationalizations. Could something happen to my kids from someone in the neighborhood that actually lives there permanently? of course. But I walk faster at night in the winter when I am walking by Salmon Bay Park because I see and hear homeless people congregating and drinking in the park. And I will bet that anyone else that is honest on this site does the same thing. So do I feel less safe now knowing that a larger group of homeless people are temporarily living in a shelter by my house? Absolutely. I don't want them living anywhere near my house. Sorry.
• Driver
  SHARE has a long history of lying to communities. No one should believe a word they say.
  
  The first lie? Doors locked at night. It's a fire hazard and illegal.
• Driver
  "SHARE pre-screens all the members"
  
  Lie #2
• Driver
  "Flyers have been distributed to neighbors in the area"
  
  Lie #3.
• Driver
  " all are invited to a meeting at Calvary Lutheran on February 26th at 7 p.m"
  
  2 days before they start this. That's all you get neighbors. 2 days. If I did this to my neighbors I'd probably be arrested.
• b lite
  My son attends a preschool where we rent space for a church which is one block south of Calvary Lutheran. Our landlord church also hosts a soup kitchen and a homeless shelter. About a month ago, the preschool teacher found a crack pipe AND a syringe hidden in the preschool bathroom. We are working with the church to figure out what to do, but the pastor tells us the people his church serves are at risk and he can't guarantee this won't happen again. I believe these services are necessary and the right thing to do, but NOT in a residential area in proximity to schools and playgrounds. Speak up neighbors!
• b lite
  correction, we rent space "from" a church.
• leavinglasballard
  i can support this if it is just those hard working folks who found themselves down on their luck. but if SHARE does infact prescreen its residents, what do they do with the ones they refuse to take in? do they head back downtown? probably not. they probably camp in your yard and crap on your front porch. what does SHARE propose to do about that since they invited the problem?
• Ballard guy
  When SHARE prescreens they simply ask the people questions. This is not a police back ground check or drug screening.
  
  Speak up neighbors. SHARE does not care about the neighborhood. They have a political agenda and want to shove it down our throats. They've already lied to us and this meeting is not a chnace to voice your concerns, it's going to be a lecture.
• Joshua
  I'm going to try and make it to this meeting, but if I don't, the most improtant thing to find out is everything we can about the staff. When do they get in, how do we contact them. If I ever saw a homeless person deficating on my lawn from a shelter I would certainly not be the person picking it up. I live about four blocks blocks away (on the other side of 24th) so I won't feel the brunt that the next door neighbors will. But I do know from people living next to the soup kitchen, that if you get very involved with the staff you can have an impact. The people hanging around the soup kitchen are still not great, but they are better then they used to be, and that's in large part due to one of my neighbors being very forthright and direct with the staff. If the neighbors can get a line to talk with the staff (and if there is no staff, then everyone should fight this tooth and nail), then it is possible to make your problems their problems and then something gets done.
• jim
  I agree, share wheel is very clever and has the media and some pol,s in their pockets.
  their screening process is a joke, a fox screening a fox. many of these people have mental problems, some are ex-cons, sex offenders; unless the police are doing the screening; its not worth the paper its reported in.
  the meetings are stacked with ringers, most from other area,s with no connection to ballard
  this situation is more scary than other chruches.
  this building is empty both day and night, lacking any inside watch; neighbors look out!
  these programs come in , tow the line for a while; then as they become more familar with the hood , contempt increase,s. crimes are not reported. the ballard tribune and P.I. are great supporters of these and other programs and will bend over backwards to avoid bad news; notice where the Bergen Place problem reporting came from.
  If Ballard is allowed to become the west coast dumping ground, we are in for some real problems
• G
  Here are a few problems I have with this:
  
  1. It's a vacant building that *was* a church right smack in the middle of a single-family zoned neighborhood. The nearest apartment is blocks away. How can they get around zoning laws if it's no longer a church?
  
  2. On the flyer they sent to the W. Seattle neighborhood, they talk about "promises" and their "their word" being their assets. Yet they have already broken trust by lying about sending flyers to the neighborhood. How are we supposed to believe that the doors will, in fact, be locked, or that they will self-police?
  
  3. To Mike above --you obviously do not have any reading comprehesion skills. Prostitutes *will* be around when they open in the morning and before the doors lock at 10pm (which seems awfully late!). I'm guessing the drug dealers will not be far behind.
  
  4. This is not a short-term thing like the tent city was. It is for a year, and, more likely for longer.
• Cyclocrossmechanic
  "It is — I daresay — God’s work, isn’t it?"
  
  Yep but it never ceases to amaze me how many people will worship a homeless man on Sunday and completely ignore one on Monday. For too many it seems that all that compassion for your fellow man stuff seems to fly right out the window the instant they leave church. This is exactly the sort of work churches are supposed to do. Always amazes me people can consider themselves to be good Christians while being opposed to such operations.
  
  As for the whole child abduction/stranger danger thing, I've got a child but that doesn't stop me from looking at the facts. The facts are you stand a much greater chance of killing your own child in a car crash than of a stranger abducting your child. That IS a fact - look it up on the CDC site if you doubt this. Your child is also more likely to be accidentally killed by their doctor making a mistake than by a stranger. Your child is also more likely to be struck by lightening than abducted by a stranger. It's important to care about your family but there' s a line between genuine concern and irrational paranoia with no basis in fact. Granted, when it's your child it's always going to be harder to keep that in mind.
  
  I do think there is a legitimate concern with regards to property crimes, vandalism, etc. While I support the cause I've also lived near a couple of shelters in other cities. In one case it wasn't an issue but in the other the people from the shelter definitely resulted in an upswing in car break-ins, vandalism, etc.
• Eric
  I'm all for blocking this. How do we do it? Who is the person or agency that needs to receive a phone call from the neighborhood saying that I oppose this?
  
  I agree with the previous post. Is it even legal to suddenly turn a church meeting place into a permanent 20 person residence?
  
  With young children, I refuse to be shamed into endangering my family unnecessarily. Is there a need for homeless shelters? Most certainly. Does one belong in a residential neighborhood? Most certainly not.
• JoeBallard
  While it would be nice if most homeless situations were just like the movie "The Pursuit of Happiness", the reality is that most of these people are in these situations due to bad personal choices they made. Compassion from the community has to go hand-in-hand with responsibility and accountability from those who seek our help and acceptance.
  
  Drugs and alcohol are extremely common among the homeless, as is mental instability. Both need to be addressed professionally.
• Joshua
  I would contact Stephen Grumm or Katherine Hawks (the two pastors of the church) and ask one or both of them to attend the meeting. I don't think it is unreasonable to ask the church to responsible for any bad behavior by the people who move into the shelter. I also don't think it is unreasonable to ask for a set of guidelines that, if the people staying in the shelter do not follow, then the shelter will be closed.
  
  The number of the church is 783-7900. If you can't get a hold of them there, or there is any issue with the Shelter after SHARE moves in, I would highly recommend calling them at home. Here are their home numbers:
  
  Stephen Grumm
  2613 NW 63rd St
  Seattle, WA 98107-2454
  (206) 922-3361
  
  Katherine Hawks
  6514 36th Ave NW
  Seattle, WA 98117-6009
  (206) 706-1549
• Bark more, Wag less
  "Both need to be addressed professionally."
  
  Well SHARE/WHEEL's whole schtik is 'self management'. You can imagine how well that works.
• strike
  Does anyone know how long that church has been vacant? This is a pretty important piece of information, and I would like to hear from anyone in the neighborhood that knows the answer. Thanks
• jim
  strike..roughly nine months. on occasion some groups are allowed to have meetings there.
• Jessica
  I can't remember exactly but I think it's been about a year. I know it went up for sale in March of 2008 and was not being used for a while prior to that except for some political meetings and voting, etc.
• Jessica
  Okay, here it is in the Ballard Tribune - the congregation left on March 9th, 2008:
  
  http://www.ballardnewstribune.com/2008/03/17/ne...
• strike
  Any chance it hasn't been used as a church for two years?
• Joshua
  I know there was a post here awhile ago about it being for sale. One thing that I think makes it hard to sell is that it is only for sale as a church, the sellers are not willing to sell it to be turned into houses, condos or a retail space.
  
  Given the state of things I do not see it being sold for a very long time. Since the owners pay no taxes on it they have very little incentive to ever sell it.
• strike
  I see from Jessica's post that it has likely been unused as a church since March 2008. Unless someone has different information, that appears to answer my question. thank you.
• Nordic Woman
  What is SHARE'S agenda? Can someone explain, please?
• Jessica
  I live a block away and am very glad to extend a community welcome to this shelter that is trying to help people in a time of need. I hope my neighbors do the same.
• Bark more, Wag less
  Nordic woman, SHARE's agenda is that whatever you think, it doesn't matter. Whatever you say, it doesn't matter. Whatever criticism you make? It doesn't matter.
  
  These are the people who brought us the Tent City circus, bussing homeless all over town for political theater.
  
  It's all about the homeless being 'independent' i.e. not living by anyone's rules but there own. Their sites are 'self-managed' and you as a neighbor have no say over how they conduct their affairs. Neither does the city. Only they get to decide. You see, those 'rules' we all choose to follow to be contributing, responsible members of society cannot be applied to the ‘homeless’ because they are oppressed.
  
  To stop this you need to pressure the church. SHARE will not listen. It’s their SOP.
• Bark more, Wag less
  Jessica, you speak for yourself, not the community.
• Jessica
  Bark, not sure which Jessica you are replying to - as it appears there are two of us posting now. I am concerned about the shelter and will be attending the meeting. As I stated in an earlier post - I am most concerned that there has been NO communication from SHARE to neighbors as was claimed. It seems to me that if you want community support (which I would think they would want) you need to build it within the community and not try to fly in under the radar.
  
  I would have less of a concern if this were a working church - but it's just a building - an empty building except for the lunch program. There is no longer a congregation to care about the property and be around.
  
  I also wish they would post the rules and such concerning the lunch program (code of conduct, etc.) visibly outside the building - like they do at the food bank. The food bank states clearly that patrons are to respect neighbor's property, etc.
  
  I want more info - and hope to get it next week.
• billgates
  God i love seeing the green, eco, liberal, recyling crowd bare their fangs. It's hilarious.
• Bark more, Wag less
  The second Jessica, the one who extended a 'community welcome to this shelter '.
  
  'You need to build it within the community and not try to fly in under the radar."
  
  That's not how SHARE operates. It's also why they are constantly in court. They will ram this down the neighborhood's throat. Best place to put pressure is on the church. Time to lawyer up.
• kim
  and don't forget to call, call, call 911 and everyone needs keep a log. ask for the incident # when you do call. call on all aforemention illegal activity. you can ask to remain annonymous. it's a hassle but spd can then pull up all incident #'s and see a pattern. that will help build a case as well.
• Bark more, Wag less
  For more info on the traveling SHARE/Wheel circus, Google Share/Wheel, Scott Morrow and Leo Rhodes.
  
  The last thing you'll call them is 'reasonable'. They simply don't give a sh*t about the neighborhood or the value of your homes. Their shelters are 'self-managed' (you know, because following others' rules hurts their dignity). The neighborhood will have zero say in how this operation is run.
• strike
  I am against this proposed use for reasons stated previously. I also have some thoughts on how to oppose this use in an organized manner. If there is anyone that would like to discuss this in more detail, please let me know a good way to contact you.
• Ivan
  Hello all,
  I live a few houses away from the proposed shelter. I can tell you that I am not happy the way SHARE is handling this "community outreach" Im all for helping folks but we have the right to do our due diligence and 1.5 days is not enough. That said I have contacted the top land use attorney in Seattle. He will be reviewing the flyer that I received ( seems like I'm the only one that got one) and giving me a quick opinion. We may need to come together as a community to pay for this attorney. We should have a say.
• strike
  If you want to know what SHARE/Wheel is all about, here is a taste. I am not the least bit afraid of litigation with this people.
  
  http://writ.news.findlaw.com/hamilton/20070308....
• strike
  Here's some more. these are just domestic terrorists with an agenda. you tell me if you want them in the neighborhood.
  
  http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/dayart/pdf/Consen...
• Saw it go down
  Well,
  After doing a bit of research it seems SHARE/WHEEL does whatever it wants and deals with the city/laws/neighbors later. This church is about 10 blocks from my house so I doubt I will notice any extra homeless people there but i'm sure we will down on the Market as well as the poor people right around there. I would seek legal advice and see if you have any rights to stop this or atleast make sure you all have some protection if things do get bad and they are not keeping a close eye on this. Allowing this persons to self govern is insane. If they were good at self control they and such quite a few would not be in the position they are in.
  Wishing you all the best of luck.
  I am willing to help in any way I can
• billgates
  Strike. Don't be a friggin douche by calling them 'domestic terrorists'. That is absolutely disgusting and ridiculously incorrect. Makes you sound like the neocons who got removed from the white house. It is alarmist and sensational. Do you work in politics by any chance?
• Joshua
  I read their site briefly and although they clearly state that the tent cities are self managed. Is that true with regard to shelters? I can't imagine Calvary Luthern would want their church damaged by having no supervision. I would also urge everyone to send an email to the two pastor and make sure they plan on attending the meeting.
• jm
  There could be an increase in derelict vehicles parked near the church with associates living in them.
• strike
  Mr. Gates -
  
  the organization does what it wants, ignores required land use codes and permitting processes, ignores court rulings (consent decrees), and does much of this by hiding behind the Constitutional free exercise of religion clause. Meanwhile, the law abiding neighbors that are impacted are held hostage. did you actually read the link where I called them domestic terrorists? I fail to see how my description is inaccurate, alarmist or sensational.
• Sheila
  What is interesting is the people who live around 23rd and 73rd received the fliers, not the community that lives in the surrounding area of the VACANT church. Seems like a manipulative way of saying the neighbors were informed. Who informs by passing out fliers on such an important topic anyway--maybe we are starting to see how the operation operates. I am against this and have no problem saying so and will NOT aoplogize for it. I will be there on the 26th. BTW, I have yet to receive a call back from the pastor or SHARE.
• billgates
  The term domestic terrorist does not apply. No how, no way. You can bet your dos 3.1 on that.
• strike
  This is where you and I part ways Mr. Gates. but I will be there on the 26th. Will you?
• Joshua
  I sent an email to Katherine H. Hawks and Stephen Grumm informing them that we expected them to be at the meeting with a set of guidelines defining acceptable behavior for the residents. If the residents do not follow those guidelines we would expect the shelter to be closed. I will let you know if they respond.
• Bark more, Wag less
  Do you have their (Katherine H. Hawks and Stephen Grumm) emails?
• strike
  SHARE/Wheel doesn't have a track record of following the laws (see my previous posts), the homeless live in a manner without many laws, and the church entities justify their actions under the belief that God's laws trump man's civil laws (protecting persons and property) . I would not expect adherance to strict guidelines by those in the shelter, or ramifications from the Church if they don't. I would be shocked if you got a response Joshua.
• Bark more, Wag less
  " the belief that God’s laws trump man’s civil laws "
  
  Religious wackos of all stripes need to be brought to heel. Tax them and make them submit to the man made laws of this great Republic.
  
  Is this affiliated in any way with Rev. Rick 'Jim Jones' Lang and the People's Church nuts?
• mike
  domestic terrorists?!?
  
  christ, i almost hope something does happen to your kids for being such a douche.
  
  my brother lost limbs in afghanistan. to an i.e.d., planted by a (gasp) terrorist (or if you wish, a resistance fighter)
  
  homeless people are not terrorists, you moron. they're humans. not all of them are part of some criminal conspiracy against your property and family.
  
  baader meinhof were a bunch of terrorists. petty criminals, while the may annoy your pristine and wonderful semi-suburban life, are no more terrorists than you are a compassionate genius.
  
  but i know i won't change your mind since you seem to feel that all homeless people are criminals that engage in illicit behaviour.
• strike
  Mike -
  
  Nice attack. I'm not asserting that the homeless are terrorists. They will be taking advantage of opportunities created for them. they need food and shelter, and now they will have it in a church in my neighborhood. But I do think that the SHARE/Wheel organization meets that definition, in the same manner that anarchists during the WTO riots justified their lawless actions. They have a political agenda, and don't care about following the laws.
• billgates
  Domestic terrorism is the unlawful use, or threatened use, of violence by a group or individual based and operating entirely within the United States (or its territories) without foreign direction, committed against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.
  
  Well, Share does not meet the criteria since they have not blown up nor threatened to blow up ballard market or a starbucks yet to get across their political agenda. So ima gonna guess they aint domestic terrorists.
• Joshua
  The email of the pastors other people at the church is on the web page:
  
  http://www.ourredeemers.net/staff.html
  
  Directly it is:
  Katherine H. Hawks, Senior Pastor, kathyh@ourredeemers.net
  Stephen Grumm, Pastor of Church & Community, steve@ourredeemers.net
  
  It might also be useful to contact the Council. I might dig up phone numbers and email for these people later.
  
  Church Council (Executive)
  
  Gary Berg, Interim President
  Janet Woodfield, Vice-President
  Dave Neu, Secretary
  Marie Nordquist, Treasurer
• billgates
  And strike, I am neutral about this article. I just do not like to see the mislabeling of a group especially with such a passion fueled term which does not apply. Everyone has an agenda. Mine right now is to get a beer. Good luck with yours and this group.
• strike
  Bill/Mike/whomever.
  
  I'm not here to get into a semantic battle over how to characterize SHARE. But they have an agenda and will subvert the laws to further the agenda. Meanwhile, my family and property will be subjected to the increased safety risk. Call SHARE terrorists, criminals, heroes, believers in necessary civil disobedience, or something else. That's up to you. But I believe in the rule of law, and don't want any organization circumventing it to my family's detriment.
• Ballard guy
  SHARE has no respect for private property rights. They are far leftist radicals who cannot be reasoned with. As said above, the pressure has to be put on the church. If one of the church's new 'tenants' so much as pisses on a tree, let them know they will be held liable. Money talks, bullshit walks and even Jesus can't save them if they break city zoning and housing laws.
• Tom
  The fact of the matter is: if we as neighbors let them move in, we will not be able to get them out. we cannot let them take up residence in this vacant church. we cannot wait for it to happen and then expect them to behave and simply hope for the best. i've spoken with the city twice and will continue until this move in is prevented.
• Joshua
  I think there are a couple of reasons to at least ask for a set of guidelines. First, I think there is some benefit in feeling like you are in the right and have been reasonable. Second, if they refuse to explicitly state what they expect from the residents that is very good ammo when fighting them. Third, if they do give you a list of unacceptable behavior then you at least have something to help you fight for their removal if the residents break those rules. Fourth, I think you have some chance of them working with you if you give them something they can proactively do.
• Mindy
  Wondering if there is anyone who reads this blog, who actually deals and works with a organization/non-profit on the homeless problem? Anyone who has first-hand experience with SHARE and the residents they house? What's their actual track record?
  
  Finally, anyone have any ideas if the homeless aren't accepted in Ballard, then where are they to go? Ballard's not immune from anything: we've got drug deals going down, tags on our community center, and weekly robberies and thefts.
  
  I understand that people have grievances about the lack of timely notice from SHARE, but after that, what do you have to offer for the homeless problem?
  
  Where's the compassion? Where's the benefit of the doubt for these people? Where's the willingness to confront someone if they're defecating on your lawn and say "Hey, you can't do that here! Now clean up your shit!"
  
  I wish people who get so passionate about NIMBY-causes could put that much energy back into the community--including homelessness. Obama would be proud.
• Timmy
  Feel free to copy and send:
  
  kathyh@ourredeemers.net
  steve@ourredeemers.net
  
  Dear Pastor Grumm and Pastor Hawks,
  
  I am reading on the community blog, myballard.com, that your church plans to open a homeless shelter in the middle of our community next week, with little notice to your neighbors, giving us no chance to review the project and listen to our input. You have planned a meeting just 2 days before the opening, which pretty much shows your contempt for us, your neighbors. I also see that you are working with SHARE/Wheel, a group who’s aggressive tactics have frequently landed it and the churches it works with in court (please read the relevant case in Woodinville: http://writ.news.findlaw.com/hamilton/20070308.... ).
  
  I have no problem with community based shelters that are answerable to the communities they are in but SHARE has a long history of ignoring local zoning laws and neighborhood concerns. In short, they are not good neighbors.
  
  The most important aspect of any shelter based in a single family residence area, with lots of children, is the proper screening of residents. We expect at a very minimum that all residents:
  
  1). Have complete police background checks
  2). Undergo drug testing.
  
  Now, your church may simply think, this is all SHARE’s problem, please take it up with them. Well, if you plan on taking them in as tenants in your property, you will be liable for any problems this so-called self regulating shelter causes. Be it drugs, prostitution, problems with public use of alcohol and drugs, public urinations and defecation. All of these were problems reported at the Calvary Lutheran Shelter in West Seattle, (Please read the comments here: http://westseattleblog.com/blog/?p=5908 ).
  
  We have already been lied to twice: I live a 2 blocks away from the church but like most in the neighborhood received no flyer about the shelter, despite Pastor Grumms claim that flyers have been distributed around the area. You have also claimed the people staying at the church will be screened, but a quick study of SHARE/Wheel shows that their screening does not include drug testing or police back ground checks. They are simply questionnaires handed to residents. They are, in essence and fact, meaningless and useless.
  
  This says nothing to the zoning issue which I will be taking up with the City’s department of planning on Monday. You may think God is on your side, but the law of the United States stands above all.
• Timmy
  "Where’s the benefit of the doubt for these people?"
  
  If the accept complete police back ground checks, and regular drug testing, I will give them more benefit. That's compassion that will actually help them and not simply make ME feel good.
  
  "Where’s the willingness to confront someone if they’re defecating on your lawn "
  
  With my shot gun? Just give me a chance.
• Mindy
  When I moved up here from Texas, I thought I was moving to a more progressive city/neighborhood. I think I was wrong to believe that.
• Hostess
  Mindy, why would you move to a city just to be around people who think like you?
  
  And yes, you are wrong. Not everyone is from the far left here, plenty of moderates who have bought homes and seek to protect their neighborhoods and investments. Maybe you're a renter?
• Mindy
  Hi Hostess! I'm invested in the neighborhood way beyond my house. Not sure where you live, but I'm organizing a Loyal Heights Neighborhood Watch meeting on Thur., March 12th at 7pm at the Loyal Heights Community Center if you'd like to come out and contribute ideas for the greater good of our neighborhood!
• shizwhiz
  never mind hostess, she is a beyatch
• Driver
  "I’m invested in the neighborhood way beyond my house."
  
  Nice dodge.
• Saw it go down
  Putting homeless housing in the middle of a neighborhood is just a bad idea. Why not put it where there is not people living at night. I.E. some sort of Warehouse/industrial type setting where people do not have to worry about their safety at night. There is no good reason to choose this place or anyplace like it. That in my mind is not a very friendly way to get help. If this were next to my house and I am a renter I would be upset. I have a business in Ballard I am not happy with the thought of housing for 20 people who then have to roam the streets during the day. This does not help the issue of homelessness. Where is the education, training, rehab. This is another example of people who may have good intentions but we all know where they lead, right to hell or in this case a church. If I were a church goer and my church was going to do this I would have some very strong words to say during sunday service.
  
  A side note: My family housed convicts in our home for a large part of my youth and the sad truth is less than 10% ever changed their lives. Most ended up in prison or dead. So my family has given and had more compassion than people who spit out words like benefit of a doubt, compassion. I doubt you have ever had a stranger with a drug problem sit across from you at the diner table. While I would not as an adult choose to have people in my home like this, I respect that my parents thought they could help this people but in my personal experience most really don't want it.
  
  No one really wants something like this next to them but only those who scream and loudest will be heard.
• mickey
  Driver - you've expended a lot of energy int he last 24 hours showing everyone what a troll you are. We get it. Unless you can do something other than lobbing insults at people like Mindy -- who is doing more to combat crime in this neighborhood than most people on this blog -- please toddle off to some other place where they appreciate your hostility.
• holz
  Whoa. yay Ballard. Way to show your true colors...
  
  Hostess, Mindy didn't say she moved here to be around people who think like her, she said she thought she was moving to a progressive city. coming from Texas, that's understandable. outside of my experiences in Austin, Texas is pretty much a conservative backwater craphole.
  
  Unfortunately, Ballard - er, Seattle is pretty much the same thing.
  
  At least there are people here trying to do something about it, though. And that's not a bad thing, even though most of you seem to think it is.
  
  Also, even if Mindy is a renter, doesn't mean that somehow she's not any more a part of the neighborhood. That kind of thinking is pretty ridiculous, and also part of the problem.
• Saw it go down
  Holz-
  making blanket statements about a whole state is pretty ridiculous don't you think. I mean, that's like saying all homeless people are drug addicts. I had a romanced idea about this city, then I moved here and realized everywhere is pretty much the same. Same old people, fighting over the same old things. I think the guy who moved to the middle of the Alaskan mountains might have had a grand idea.
• mickey
  I'm pretty sure Mindy is not a renter. And she is definitely invested in this community.
  
  But I AM a renter. Got a problem with that? Tough. I've been active in this neighborhood since the day I moved in four years ago. Ask the people at Loyal Heights Community Center. Ask the people I served with on the board of the community council. Ask my neighbors who I organized the block watch party with. Ask the police officers I know from the North Precinct because of our regular communications!
  
  Oh, but Hostess has a superiority complex that renters are some sort of scum who don't really care about the neighborhood.
  
  Yeah. Try again.
• strike
  blah Texas blah Seattle blah liberal blah conservative. blah blah blah.
  
  I just don't want SHARE setting up shop in my neighborhood near where my children play. And I don't like them manipulating the laws to do it. That simple.
• Mindy
  Whoa whoa whoa holz. Re: your comment that "outside of my experiences in Austin, Texas is pretty much a conservative backwater craphole." Ouch man! Did you have to cut so deep?
  
  Anyways, I so badly want to type that I rent one of those spiffy new beige craftsman townhouses near Market, but eh, I'd be lying. I'm not a renter and just as holz and mickey stated: if I did rent, what's the point in bringing that up??? Because I seriously don't understand that line of questioning.
  
  My original intent was to express that instead of people getting upset and scared, that I wish they would react a different way. A more proactive way. Dare I say it again? A more compassionate way. Although I'll give you that some people believe that they are acting proactively by organizing against SHARE. That's valid.
  
  If organizational efforts are successful in shutting down this effort, I'm asking the people responsible what happens after that? Will you just forget about the problem until the next fight comes up? Because it will come up again.
  
  I think we need to start figuring these questions out, instead of just casting it off to another neighborhood to deal with. And I'm not just spitting out the word "compassion" or the phrase "benefit of the doubt." I mean them. These homeless people have already been judged and that's sad.
  
  Well, if anyone is interested in learning how to stave off an attack by one of these homeless guys/gals, there's a self-defense seminar at the Loyal Heights Community Center tomorrow starting at 1pm. Call the center for more info.
  
  (Disclaimer: Just kidding about the remark about "stav(ing) off an attack by one of these homeless guy/gals." Don't take it and run anywhere with it!)
  
  Thanks to y'all who came to my defense. I think I love you.
  
  Oh and sorry about the legal idioms/cliches: in another life I used to be a criminal defense attorney.
• Joshua
  Which is why I think asking the people who own the church to write down a set of guidelines for the behavior of the people that stay in the shelter. If a person at the shelter does not follow those rules they are out. If the shelter can't get the people who stay there to follow the rules then the shelter is out.
  
  Anyone who thinks that is not completely reasonable is...simply beyond having a discussion with.
• Timmy
  Joshua, you can't impose rules on oppressed people! I mean, do you think we live in a nice neighborhood because there are accepted rules of behavior? We need to throw them out so we can live a a sh*tty, crime filled neighborhood where everyone is free to do as they please with no social contract.
• Tom
  in order to have a social contract be effective, everyone needs to buy into it and agree to the terms. after having lived adjacent to this church for 7 years and watching the patrons of the soup kitchen ignore laws, verbally assault neighbors, urinate in yards, drink, sleep in yards, etc - i can tell you that there will be a much greater deterioration in the quality of life for me and my family. There is no accountability for their actions and no respect for the neighborhood from these people. a social contract is the last thing they would ever consider abiding by. When we asked the soup kitchen administration to ask the patrons to respect the neighbors and the neighborhood - the response by the patrons to the request was to vandalize the church restrooms and walk up and down the street yelling about how ballard hates the homeless and "a war is about to start".
  
  civility and respect do not exist when the rules dont apply to everyone.
  
  this is absolutely disgusting that a church would force this down the throats of the community without even allowing us the chance to voice our concerns prior to making a decision. according the church, they have been discussing this with SHARE for 6 weeks - and we are told at the last minute (via a blog and word of mouth from the 5 people that did receive a flier).
  
  i am disgusted that the needs of 20 are much more important than the needs of the community. and this by a church and a church board that are imposing their decisions in a neighborhood in which they dont even live.
• jim
  I feel for you Tom. that,s a bad crowd.
  
  The Ballard food bank at 70th had to hire a security guard.
• NO WAY
  I agree completely with Bark More and Strike. These people are scum and parasites welfare recipients who not deserve to be alive. We should re open the 19th century workhouses, lock them all up and throw away the keys.
  This is a nice white neighborhood and should remain that way. Market street is bad enough these people do not belong here
• Bruce
  I am shocked and concerned that yet another homeless service center is being forced on a residential neighborhood. I live on 70th and frequently witness a parade of unruly, disrespectful(to the neighborhood) move past my house. I have witnessed numerous cases of public drunkenness, public urination, people passed out on my lawn, and fist fights. Enough already. What can we do to prevent this as well as getting the soup kitchen and food bank moved to a more appropriate venue? I don’t believe that a proper period for public comment has been allowed if they are moving in at the end of February. I just got the flier last week. Aren't there rules about locating so many homeless resources in a single neighborhood? Are there any zoning requirements that have not been properly fulfilled? Aren't there any rules about proximity to schools, etc. Let's get together and fight this.
• Bark more, wag less
  More good news for Ballard! They're importing more vagrants for the car camp and have chosen a location. Drum roll please....St Lukes!
  
  http://www.ballardnewstribune.com/2009/02/19/ne...
  
  Maybe Archie's can sell some "Free Bumllard" bumper stickers before he moves.
  
  So folks, the welcome sign is well and truly out, expect even more homeless to shuffle up here to be near their drinking, doping buddies and clients.
  
  I pity all my neighbors west of 15th, I truly do. Good luck fighting this. Luckily 15th has a sort of Darwinian affect on staggering drunks that keeps them penned in on the West side.
• Saw it go down
  WTF? WTF? WTF?
• Bark more, wag less
  Oh, and good luck to the Ballard merchants, having a 'Buy in Ballard' campaign with nothing but vagrants as customers.
• NO WAY
  yeah, I m with you Bruce and Bark.
  I am glad to see that some people see things the way I do.
  It s disgusting. It s bad enough that my tax dollars go to support the kids they have out of wedlock and all of those in prison enjoying cable T.V. and gym!
  I don t want my children to be exposed to crack dealers and prostitutes. People should stay among their own kind. This neighborhood is going to turn into Cherry Hill.
  Our country is great, losers who can't keep a job and make mortgage payments are leeches deserving a kick in the butt rather than the misplaced sympathy of those liberals out there.
• Ballard guy
  No Way, the trick to good satire is to actually be funny.
• kim
  bark more-
  
  thanks for the update. can you imagine the population of the park across the street once the camp is in place? there goes the neighborhood. oh and the library???? i'm sick.
• jim
  Bruce...The normal laws do not apply. this is a long standing arrangement between the city of seattle and church and private landlords.
  the city needs a place to dump the druggies, ex-cons and the very needy mental cases. we can scream all we want but unless there are major demostrations this will be the norm.
  Ballard and the south end is ground zero. In our case we have so many churches here that keep the pressure on,
  zoning codes,building codes are never paid attention to. If one of these situations blows up, the city takes a " I,m shocked this is going on" approach.
  I think the only weak link is the business community. If this begins to hurt them, things may begin to change and I think it will hurt in time if not already. let them know how you feel.
  share wheel and other non-profits are masters at this game to keep themselves in business and encourage migration from all over,
  most of these "homeless" are not from seattle.
  much less Ballard!
• groovytimer
  Mindy, Mindy, Mindy, way to speak the truth. I'm a homeowner and I'm so embarrassed by the thoughts written on this blog about the state of our neighborhood depreciating because of homeless people finding some comfort in a church. When has a homeless person (or 20 of them or 30 of them) been responsible for all the unlawful things happening in our community?
  
  We live in a bubble. Two blocks away from my home is 15th, a major thoroughfare for drug deals (i.e. 80th and 15th--if you don't see it, you're blind) and undesirable foot traffic. Have you ever noticed the folks coming out of the strip clubs!?
  
  Don't be naive, people. Our neighborhood has a lot more going on it than a the positive housing of homeless people. I was at Loyal Heights last week and saw broken windows. Guess who did it? White, 18-19 year old males with nothing better to do than drink beer and vandalize a community center. Way to jump on that bandwagon, people.
  
  you're worried about homeless people in the park...I welcome it, because maybe they'll keep an eye on some of the punks causing much more havoc.
• Susan
  I for one am appalled. You people should open your hearts and minds. Last night, I was going into 7 - 11 on Market. I saw two people and a dog on the leash by the pay phone. I think it was a pitbull. The woman who is overweight and her husband who had a beard, were the sweetest people I have met, but down on thier luck. I had seen them in frount of Starbucks once, and the man said the were literally starving. I gave them 10 dollars at that time. I not only gave them money this last time, but bought them and the dog something to eat at 7 11. It was about 2 am and the couple were without food or shelter. I left them with 50 dollars and thanked them. I am a single Mom on a fixed income, but still helped. I always give when I go into 7 11 because many of those souls are without family. Keep your hearts open and welcome the least amongst us people.
• Tickles
  Well that explains why so many drug addicts hang out by the 7/11.... cash hand outs.
• jim
  I think you were had Susan . If they spent their fare check on food instead of drugs,,,,,,oh well its your money.
• jim
  Or perhaps I was had by your post. I,m ok with that.
  
  good night....
• Bruce
  FOCUS. What are we going to do tho protect our neighborhood?
• Bruce
  Focus. Use existing zoning regulations, etc. Lets use these tools to achieve the goals of our community.
• Bruce
  Jim and No Way: Focus on the desired results. Do not become diverted by judgments and evaluation. etc. We can achieve the desired results w/o becoming emotional. Just get the job done! Help ME. Action!
• Bruce
  FOCUS. Success demands singleness of purpose.
• holz
  i love how bruce thinks his goals are shared by the community at large.
• Bruce
  Good...Next Steps?
• Tom
  i've spoken with the city regarding zoning regulations and enforcement - the response was "we cant do anything until they move in". and only then if there is an infraction. i will continue to push this issue with zoning and the city council and neighborhood city representative. this neighborhood is zoned SF5000 which is the lowest density single family neighborhood allowed.
  
  we cannot allow this to happen. keep on the city to prevent this from happening.
• strike
  The church is a nonconforming use, that is likely grandfathered in, even though it is zoned Single Family 5000. If it has not been used as a church for 24 months, it may lose the right to continue its existence. that's why I asked the question way back in this thread about how long this church has stood vacant.
  
  There is another related problem. SHARE has litigated everywhere it has been, primarily in the context of the tent city operations. SHARE has repeatedly targed churches for its operations, and then hidden behind the notion that the act of sheltering the homeless constitutes religious expression, and is therefore protected by the US Constitution and the Washington Constitution. Courts have thus far allowed this. I view this as a ridiculous manipulation of the constitution to the detriment of the neighborhood. But that personal issue aside, the church here will likely align itself with SHARE to claim that the shelter is protected constitutionally.
• Saw it go down
  Susan-
  From your post there are only two things I can think of.
  1. you are the heavy set women because EVERYONE in Ballard knows the two of you.
  2. You are completely without a doubt the most naive person I have ever heard of. giving someone at 2:00am at a payphone 50 bucks. Why are you a single mom out at 2 anyhow? Sorry but your post sounds more like a troll not a real post.
  Seems like you are someone trying to get these concerned neighbors from doing something to protect their homes and families.
  
  It would seem you all need to get rid of Mrs. Mary Lou Dickinson. Seems she is one of the few pushing her personal views down everyone's throat.
  
  Have you contacted the media or are they unwilling to do a story where people are standing up for what they want even if it is not quite so P.C.
  I think quite a few people feel the same as the people speaking their minds here but feel ashamed which I don't think you should at all. I would NEVER give anyone money. My family owned a construction company and would offer these "down on their luck" kind of people jobs, NEVER did they want them. Just wanted free money. Next time your asked for money, ask them to do work. If they want to drink or do drugs atleast make them work for it. Oh wait, you don't want them knowing where you live. Hmmmmm, so in reality you really don't want them living next to you either. Stop enabling this people, if you want to help them give them tools. Agree to take them to some sort of training classes don't give them 50 bucks (if that is even a true story) If this guy which i've seen wanted to work he could clean himself up, stop hanging around at 2 am and go look for work until he found it. No, it's easier to walk around all the time complaining about what of a bum deal he got.
• concerned
  I think Mindy's comments were a little unfair. I live in very close proximity to this church. There has been a soup kitchen operating from this location for about 5 years. We have the Food Bank two blocks away, and another homeless shelter two blocks south. We have a steady stream of the patrons of these facilities in our neighborhood. I think it is unfair to say we are not compassionate.
  Many of the attenders are friendly, kind, and thoughtful. Some keep to themselves. Some are scary, they scream obscenities, yell at each other, fight. Some respect our property others do not. The Food Bank has hired a security service to patrol between the two locations to keep people in check.
  There is real need out there, of that I cannot argue, and I think our little corner of Ballard has been more than generous.
• jim
  Bruce..good morning!
  
  I,m sorry you feel my post is to emotional . I was just trying to save you a lot of frustration.
  
  I have been there and done it....the fix is in.
• Matt
  There seem to be few principled arguments for the shelter. The two most common refrains seem to be: “how hypocritical of you Ballard” and “be more sympathetic.”
  Neither are good arguments for the shelter.
  
  I don’t see it as hypocritical or unsympathetic to support homeless shelters, while not wanting one next door with poor supervision. I support drug rehab programs as well, but I wouldn’t operate one out of my basement. The issue here is appropriateness. It is simply inappropriate to put this shelter in the middle of this neighborhood. I’m not going to fall into some trap of claiming that the homeless are dangerous vagrants that will steal my children; I think that is an overreaction. But it is reasonable to assume that there will be an increase in vandalism, petty crime, and drug use. This seems to have been the case from other SHARE settlements and some of the tent cities. It is entirely reasonable for a residential neighborhood to want to avoid an increase in vandalism, petty crime, and drug use. Salmon Bay is a great park with lots of wonderful equipment; we could see a rise in some of the vandalism there. Also, the trees and wooded areas would provide lots of cover for drug use.
  
  I should point out that I don’t live too close to the proposed shelter (about 7-8 blocks away), but I am increasingly troubled by all the homeless activity in the neighborhood.
  I can see the long-term benefit of homeless shelters; they provide an essential service as a way of helping out those who are currently out of work/home. It is not unsympathetic or unreasonable to support the service, but to support it in appropriate places.
• jm
  Maybe the homeless need to migrate to eastern Washington and work in the agricultural business. There must be lots of work over there and the cost of living is lower.
• Ballard guy
  Hate to say this, but you gave an inch, so they will take mile. SHARE will not listen to you, they are unreasonable and radical.
• Matt
  I do hope this sense of concern continues. When tent city 3's move to 24th and 85th was announced a year ago, there were only 2 comments on this site.
• jm
  Near the Woodland Park Zoo one the churches has a homeless soup kitchen program. Because of it, there are numerous vans, trucks and RVs packed with junk parked on Phinney Avenue. One of the vans hasn’t moved in 6 months. People are living in the vehicles and tossing their trash and beer cans on the side walks and into the park shrubbery. They're messy critters.
• Luke
  My wife runs a daycare less than a block away from Calvary. She found out about this deal from a friend of hers that lives North of 73rd.
  
  Now my wife will have to deal with more drunks wanting to engage with the children, more zoned-out people staggering around Salmon Bay Park.
  
  Call the SPD about this and here's what you get - profuse apologies from the captain at the North Precinct and eventual action - two bicycle cops appeared at the park a few weeks later. After a few conversations with the homeless population, they rode off, never to be seen again.
  
  There will be more beer bottles to pick up, more daytime burglaries. More sightings of Plastic Bag Man, an individual so far gone that, even the cops agree, needs to be in a hospital.
  
  This is our reward for allowing the soup kitchen to operate? A public meeting TWO DAYS before the shelter opens? NO flyers in the area immediately around the church? Why didn't SHARE want the neighbors to know what was going on?
  
  What's next? A full-on 24/7 Union Gospel Mission?
  
  I get that times are hard. I work with people every day that have been hammered by this economy.
  
  Call me NIMBY. This neighborhood has done it's bit with the soup kitchen and its fallout for years now - it's time for some other place to step up.
• Victor
  The lack of monitoring and supervision is key to the argument. We must require that the sponsoring
  church and the property owners provide at least two staff any time the building is occupied. There is no need for "self policing" or "self managing."
  
  Another church at Crown Hill houses 4 to 6 homeless men in the Ballard Ecumenical Ministry. They have avoided problems by staffing all night and expelling any one who does not follow their rules.
  
  To draw attention to the issue:
  A blizzard of thoughtful comment to the Mayor and the Dept. of Neighborhoods may be helpful. No need to impune the character of the homeless. Just invoke Zoning Code. No multiplexes in this neighborhood. The number of unrelated adults per residences is limited.
• jm
  "No need to impune the character of the homeless."
  
  Oh, yes there is. Most of these guys are substance abusers that don’t want to work.
• Bark more, wag less
  "We must require that the sponsoring
  church and the property owners provide at least two staff any time the building is occupied. There is no need for “self policing” or “self managing.”"
  
  Victor, this is from SHARE's website, a big FU:
  
  "We practice self-management because it acknowledges and promotes the innate dignity of each person. All major decisions are made organizing meetings that all members are encouraged to attend, participate, and vote in.
  SHARE is the national leader in breaking down attitudinal & unconstitutional legal barriers to Tent Cities, of which we organize two, as well as Seattle’s largest network of indoor shelters, all self-managed."
• jm
  If they move this operation into the neighborhood, everyone should get their property taxes lowered 25%.
• Matt
  Now this is a document pertaining to the tent cities and not emergency shelters, but it sounds like the announcement procedures would be similar. The relevant passage would seem to be pertaining to those who should have received a notification. The whole document is here: http://www.mrsc.org/Contracts/S42TntCtyAgree.pdf
  
  After entering into an oral or written agreement with a host, SHARE/WHEEL shall set a date, time and location for a community meeting. At least five (5) business days but no more than fourteen (14) days before the encampment begins at a site, the host and SHARE/WHEEL shall hold a community meeting. SHARE/WHEEL shall deliver or mail notice of the meeting to each residence, apartment, church, school and business or commercial establishment within a 300 foot or two block radius of the perimeter of the property hosting the encampment, whichever is greater. The notice shall indicate the date the encampment is to begin, the length of stay, the number of residents, the host location, the date, time and location of the community meeting. The notice shall also provide contact names and numbers for representatives of SHARE/WHEEL and DCLU. SHARE/WHEEL will mail a copy of the notice to DCLU at least five (5) business days before meeting.
• Tickles
  Sorry Matt, SHARE has chosen to ignore this agreement as it does all it's signed agreements. Do not trust them. SHARE/Wheel are radicals and squatters rights activists who will break the law. They have no respect for the rights of private property owners. If you live near the empty building (not a church anymore), fight this.
• Saw it go down
  Maybe all the neighbors right around this building should get together before hand so that you all can have a clear massage. Then you can speak with one voice, one loud voice which must be heard instead of a lot of people focusing on what is just important to them. Find a spokes person who can handle this type of problem. Have the media come to your meeting. Let the church and people from SHARE know your serious and not just going to sit by. If they won't play by the rules then why should you. Find out some dirt, everyone has some.
• jim
  Saw it go down....is right! The meeting will be loaded with ringers who will attempt to shout down or overwhelm the locals. look around you, most will not be your neighbors.
  look for the crier they use in radio interviews. she will tell the biggest sob story then break down crying.
  the media will savage you the next day as a few heartless malcontents.
  look for pastors from other churches with glowing testimonials.
  you will be told that they never have any complaints from other placements. as you can see from the many posts here, thats pure b.s. and indeed it is.
  share wheel is a real piece of work and should be investigated and put out of business.
  
  good luck!
• Tickles
  Someone please take a DV to record the meeting for youtube or posting here for those of us who cannot attend.
  
  Swedes? Want yo step up make myballard go live?
• strike
  I am an attorney, and am happy to take the lead in opposition. There should be a meeting in advance to streamline the opposition. Anyone have suggestions for how to meet?
• Tickles
  Strike, whatever you do, get the meeting on video. That way you can hold them to their word.
• strike
  Tickles - There is no question it will be recorded.
• Cass
  Neighbors,
  Ivan and I canvassed the neighborhood this evening passing out the SHARE flyers that only a few random houses initially received. I spoke with so many of you. Whether you are a NIMBY or a homeless advocate I strongly urge you to attend the meeting at the Calvary Lutheran church on Thursday, 2/26 at 7pm.
  Bring your questions (there are many) and your concerns (they are truly legitimate). There is too little time to organize much of anything else. We need to have a very strong neighborhood presence at this meeting.
  Thanks.
• Dana
  Cass,
  You must have missed me last night. I live one block from the church and run a family home daycare. I made up my own flyer to give to my parents in my daycare, but I would like to have an original. My address is 7012 22nd.
• Jessica
  Dana, Cass dropped one off at my house - I'll bring you a copy
• Dana
  Thank you Jessica.
• jim
  Strike..make yourself known at the meeting. I will be happy to share info. and help the cause.
  
  thanks..
• amberdawn
  Strike.....definitely make your self known at that meeting Thursday. Like you said earlier, if we had time we could get together and form an approach, but being so short on notice do so, the least we could all do is ban together at the meeting.
  My daughter goes to Dana's daycare around the corner from the church, and I definitely am not interested in her time at the park being a situation where strangers (homeless or not) are attempting to interact with her simply because they are bored hanging around all day and find the kids cute or entertaining.
• Upstairs
  Just a couple observations: 1. There are homeless people Since most of us have no knowledge of how anyone becomes homeless -- except that we know many are vets, and many of those were sent against their will to Viet Nam, and we do know the rest of that story -- it makes little sense to put energies into defaming or debasing them. They do in fact need some supports from the rest of us, including a safe place to sleep.
  2. SHARE/WHEEL is a legal entity that we CAN do something about. Even nonprofits must take responsibility for the effects of their activities. I believe that S/W does great disservice not only to the residential community, but to the homeless persons it claims to help. By putting them in out-of-dowtown locations, it separates them from daytime social and health services and provides no means for them to access such services.
  3. If properties are damaged and lawns are trashed, get cost estimates which the community can use (yes, we can incorporate for this purpose) to hold S/W financially accountable.
  4. Shelters differ significantly from Tent Cities, which do, usually, operate well with little negative impact on neighborhoods. Overnight shelters, for one thing, close during the day, leaving the homeless persons NO PLACE TO "GO" ( apply either definition you wish.) In Tent Cities, the residents are more long-term, have their own living areas, and the "self-management" serves to set up certain rules that all agree to, else they cannot live there. (They also have port-o-potties available all the time that are regularly serviced.) S/W uses the same language (self-managing) to describe its shelters, but the meaning is simply: they shut the doors at a certain hour, and can choose to leave outdoors anyone who is drunk or high. By attributing "management" to those sleeping inside, S/W skips out on any responsibility for attracting drunken/disorderly persons and leaving them out in the neighborhood to fend for themselves.
  Don't get me wrong -- I believe that we need organizations like S/W to exist -- but we need them to be held to the laws of accountability that would apply to any other corporate entity.
  
  Suggestion: What if we (as a neighborhood) refrain from kicking the ___ out of S/W in a public forum, even refrain from trashing-the- homeless -- but make a positive stand for changes that S/W must make... and back it up with the possibility of a lawsuit for damages.
• tom
  there is an open complaint on this vacant property being used as a shelter with the city of seattle zoning dept - reference service request number 25589. the neighborhood service center is also helping by working with the city to determine if a vancat church property can legally house a soup kitchen or a homeless shelter. This is no longer a church use and it seems there may be a one-year vacancy clause as opposed to two - if this is the case, this property has reverted to single family zoning - which would preclude both the soup kitchen and any vagrant housing. we are looking for a final determination on this from city zoning department.
  
  please keep calling the neighborhood center and the city code compliance and citizen complaint lines. we need to keep pressure on the city to keep this move from happening!
• Tickles
  " they shut the doors at a certain hour, and can choose to leave outdoors anyone who is drunk or high."
  
  To entertain local homeowners no doubt.
• jim
  Upstairs...good post, however I must take issue with point # 4.
  tents cities do indeed cause many problems, crimes in some cases. as I,ve mentioned in previous posts these are covered up and never reported. please dont buy into their line.
  Its not true.
• Jessica
  Some questions I want answered at the meeting now that I've seen the flier (thanks Cass):
  
  1) It says SHARE provides day to day oversight of the shelter and it is self-managed. What does that mean? Are there any staff members? Who is managing - is it the residents and does that mean it's different people all the time? What kind of training do they have for the managers?
  
  2) What is involved in the screening process?
  
  3) The flier says, "you are welcome to review our stringent operating rules" - I want to see those rules.
  
  4) The flier states those not respecting the rules will be removed from the shelter. What happens to those people who are not following the rules and/or drunk or high? Are they simply ejected from the shelter into the neighborhood or is there some other plan to deal with offenders? If they're not following the rules of the shelter I worry they won't be respectful of the neighborhood . . .
  
  5) The flier states that "SHARE hopes to be at this location for one year and at that time it will be evaluated for its effectiveness and for its impact on the neighborhood." Who will be doing that evaluation? Will it include members of the neighborhood?
  
  6) Why is the former host not continuing the contract?
  
  7) What time are residents locked out of the shelter? Where do they go? Are there places for them to go besides the park or lawn waiting for the lunch program to open?
  
  8) Does SHARE partner with any other homeless programs to help their residents break the cycle of homelessness (like Farestart - www.farestart.org)?
  
  I'm sure there will be more . . .
• jim
  Tickles....They do shut the doors but open them at all hours of the night for the smokers. Not uncommon to see men lurking around outside on smoke breaks some take little walks around the sides to do what?
  Who pays for those very expensive smokes?
  is it share/wheel or the church?
  Since they allow smoking will it be inside?
  I wouldnt be surprised .
  Major fire risk.
  why isnt it banned?
  one other point about vets.
  before the city tore down the walls around the parking under the ballard bridge; the fellows would keep a card board sign with homeless vet written on it in the corner. the sign was for general use for any of the boys raising funds for drugs and booze.
  thats why one make think many are vets at least at the ballard bridge/
• Joshua
  I recieved this response from Pastor Steve:
  
  Joshua,
  
  Thank you for your email and the concerns you express around the SHARE shelter coming to the Calvary building. I have a different experience with SHARE than yourself through the hosting of Tent City # 3 at the Our Redeemer’s property last spring; the SHARE shelter at St. John’s Untied Lutheran (across from zoo entrance); the SHARE vet’s shelter at Trinity United Methodist on NW 65th; and the SHARE shelter at Maple Leaf Lutheran Church east of Lake City. In all of these cases the residents of these shelters have developed clear expectations of individual and communal behavior with the residents of the community and congregation of the building they use. When someone in the shelter chooses to act otherwise they are physically removed, put on public transportation and removed from the neighborhood. My hope and expectation is the same of this shelter. You as a neighbor as invited to join us on Thursday at 7pm and help us set the bar on these expectations. And you are correct … if the shelter does not live up to these expectations they will no longer be using the building. I am chasing down references from this SHARE shelter’s previous locations.
  
  I apologize for the lack of fliers. We will attempt to get more of them out early next week. The news blog (myballard.com) received its info on the shelter through a conversation with the owner and myself. We also want to communicate with you and the neighbors following the public meeting to make clear the expectations around this SHARE shelter. I know this is a bit of a quick turnover of information (I apologize) but the request came to us just recently and their need was great. I truly believe this arrangement will provide more security to the building and area.
  
  Pastor Steve
  
  
  As I've said before, I think the best point of control is the church. I think, other then legally, there is little chance of stopping the shelter from openning. I think the best approach is to make sure the Church holds the SHARE managers accountable and close the shelter down if they do not follow a good set of rules. I think we also need to make sure that those rules include something about Salmon Bay park (I really don't want 20+ homeless people sleeping there during the day).
• Marlin
  Poverty, not S/W is the culprit for all this.
  
  We live in a society in which our well being is determined by how much money we can make.
  
  Our system doesn't provide adequate healthcare, mental or physical, for any of us who don't have the financial means to attain it, and that is most of us.
  
  I am bummed that no one from S/W has responded to these posts, that would be helpful.
  
  I am really bummed that their has been such alarmist talk here as well.
  
  I think we should, as a society, embrace each other as family. That is really difficult when there is no systemic support devices to support us taking the risks of embracing folks who actually may bring us harm. What is the best use of our energies then? To squabble? Or to try to reach compromise that will enable a better paradigm.
  
  I think we are all facing an "Argentina" type economic collapse, and when that comes into being, the demographic of people who are homeless will change drastically.
  
  In Argentina 2001 brought a major economic collapse, pretty much overnight. Vast sections of the middle class were locked out of their jobs and bank accounts. The people responded by collectivising thier workplaces, squatting in their homes, and creating neighborhood assemblies to address and deal with their prescient needs. It is a good example of what we may be faced with, and there are lessons there we could draw from in so far as dealing with conflicts amongst neighbors in crises.
  
  One thing is to look at is what the "Piqueteros"(Picketers) did. The Piqueteros ( I hope I am spelling that right) negotiated with the government for welfare packets for the disenfranchised, and were formed in 1997, if memory serves me right. They would block intersections and burn tires in them, stopping the inputs and outputs of the trade system, causing losses to business commerce, and large traffic jams. This really pissed off the middle class, as it interfered with everything. You couldn't get to work, stores had shortages, etc. There were many feeling about the Piqueteros that resemble what I have read here about S/W.
  "They don't respect laws," "they have a left wing agenda," "they don't respect anyones needs but their own," and taken in a vacuum, these arguments can seem legitimate. But these comments aren't taking into account the desperate conditions people are facing now under our system. Conditions which are worsening daily.
  
  The truth is, is that WE ARE IN THIS TOGETHER, and whether we like it or not, we are all at the effect of poverty and homelessness, even if it is not in our neighborhood.
  
  I have lived hand to mouth most of my life, and barring an eleven year period when I owned the Asteroid Cafe, I have lived two weeks away from being without a home. Fortunately, I have good friends, and I have always felt I could at least find a couch if I was down on my luck. Many folks on the street today aren't so fortunate. They have been raised, and have experienced things, that have taken away their ability to cope with the rigors of poverty.
  
  Some of the comment I have read here have an underlying theme that every person on the streets should be able to "Pick themselves up by their boot straps." This just isn't possible for some folks, even ones with homes, let alone folks without, and it reflects an attitude of separation and isolation. It is delusional to think that we can exist without each others support. Humanity wouldn't have made it this far if not for massive, unspoken cooperation.
  
  I know this is all macro, and the micro is dealing with the placement of a shelter in a church. But it is connected, and any truly long-term solution will have to arise out of systemic change, a change that will include all of us being involved in each other's welfare.
  
  Perhaps if we focused our energies on the city creating shelters that allow dignity for it's inhabitants. Shelters that provide round the clock access, with medical care, drug and alcohol abuse support groups, and staff it with US, (yes we should be the support mechanism), we might see some changes.
  
  The city is shamefully remiss in providing help for our brothers and sisters who are without homes. It spends money for policing, and the destruction of makeshift camps, while giving tax breaks to mega corporations. I am ashamed of my city government! By following this tack, they cause divisions between US! We are left to look out for ourselves, because we haven't any systemic support structures to fall back on. It creates a lot of competition for limited resources, and leaves those of us with a little means, to distrust and in essence, hoard what should be our commons, safe homes in safe neighborhoods.
  
  On a personal note. I am a single father of a four year old. I have fears for his well being. I have seen ugly, ugly violence from all sections of society, but the worst is the violence that comes from the good people who do nothing. The good people who through rationalization and fear, don't engage, don't step out of their comfort zones to reach out a hand, to give a crap, to help.
  
  I think we are all about to see drastic economic changes, drastic ones! If history serves as an example, it will be groups that are now "pains in the butt," that will show us the tactics and strategies necessary to deal with the coming crises. Maybe, just maybe, groups like S/W will be one of these groups. I really don't know, but I really think that if we don't start thinking in a greater context of mutual survival and cooperation, and start practicing it NOW, like around this proposed shelter, we're going to be in real deep doody.
  
  Thursday's meeting is an opportunity for a new way of dealing. It's not just about this shelter really, it's about embracing our fellow humans who are not just down on their luck, but are fellow victims of the crime of poverty.
  
  Let's take this opportunity to identify our fears, to shine light on them, embrace them openly, and to constructively identify their causes. Then we can address their causes systemically, and in so doing, we can set an example of a new way of addressing shelters in general. Perhaps we can take the heat to the city with S/W and together we can force the city to create real solutions to the underlying issue of local poverty.
  
  Perhaps by embracing S/W and forming a neighborhood assembly to work WITH S/W we could build the clout necessary to force the city government into real action, action not suppressive, but supportive of solutions to the lack of dignified shelters, and to poverty itself.
• Bark more, Wag less
  Please Marlin, save it for your Evergreen College sociology pipe dream thesis.
  
  All these folks are asking is that the shelter not be put in the middle of a quiet, residential neighborhood but instead look for a location in an industrial or commercial district (where these guys are more likely to find work....ooops, did I say work?).
• Marlin
  Dear Bark more.
  
  Refrain from trying to insult me.
  
  Let's try to be constructive and find working solutions.
  
  Respectfully.
• Bark more, Wag less
  Well, here's a working solution, put the shelter somewhere else, away from families with children, and closer to where these folks can find work, should they be so inclined.
• Saw it go down
  Hey Merlin,
  
  Don't fall off the soapbox. As you can tell no one in this cold hearted community will catch you.
  
  I don't see how ranting about complete collapse of everything as we know it will help but maybe I am just blind somehow.
• JoeBallard
  I read a lot about self management. Isn't it the lack of such (or poor management) why they are in this position to begin with?
  
  If you are unable to take care of yourself and need to rely on others for help, you will be expected to exhibit a certain behavior.
• Marlin
  Dear Saw It...
  
  I think my rant is an attempt to bring out a broader context. That is the crux of it.
  
  This debate has repeated itself over and over in the region ever since Tent City was created, and probably long before that. Yet we still are faced with the contradiction aren't we?
  
  I think that Bark More has an idea about location being in an industrial neighborhood, and perhaps he thinks that's constructive. But it still runs under a separatist ideology. We are in this together. We need to help each other up, not continue to sequester "less desirables" into exile. I think that model has getten us to where we are now, and it isn't working.
  
  Perhaps a new model needs to be developed, and since multiple services for folks without homes are coming into being in Ballard, the need for this new model is really needed here.
  
  I am not trying to avoid the pragmatic issues, but the proponents of isolating folks who are homeless tend to, not always, but often, tend to be callous and spiteful to some extent in dealing with this issue. I am not suggesting we not bring to light issues of potential violence or property destruction, but rather set it in context, and unify around humanistic values when determining our solutions.
  
  I think Joe is right when he says." If you are unable to take care of yourself and need to rely on others for help, you will be expected to exhibit a certain behavior."
  
  Social responsibility is everyone's obligation. The question is how do we deal with folks who are unable to adhere? Especially when our system provides inadequate resources to this task.
  
  I think we could try something different, try working with Advocacy groups for homeless folks, as a neighborhood group. We could put the heat on the city not to make the shelters go away, but rather to make them work. Make them effective and transparent.
• Bark more, Wag less
  "Perhaps a new model needs to be developed"
  
  Well Marlin, if you think the Revolution is gonna start in the few blocks around Salmon Bay Park, I've got some bad news for you....
• Susan
  You are right. It's time we intregrate everyone together rather, than create more division. Great financial disaster is coming and it will be us in the shelter next. Also, many of the homeless are addicted to drugs. Crystal Meth is rampant right now on the streets of Ballard these day, which is the reason for the spike in petty crimes and the suffering of many homeless. Rather than judge, I suggest we use the Church for regular evening NA and AA meetings, thereby making the best use of the space, and killing two birds with one stone. Someone might even suggest to the library using the conference room for meetings mid day for the folks living at the new car camp being set up next door. It's for EVERONE, not just the rich. The library is almost empty every day and it will at least be a constructive place that is in a controlled enviroment. They even have what they call library police who eject trouble makers, some I might add, permanently. Some places have several meetings a day, which will give the folks something to do rather than going out trying to panhandle 50 cents enough to get high, or break into a car. Education and rehabilitation is the key. That is what we need. Not judgments of those in need.
• Bark more, Wag less
  "They even have what they call library police who eject trouble makers, some I might add, permanently. "
  
  Good, it makes it usable for the majority of people.
  
  " Great financial disaster is coming and it will be us in the shelter next."
  
  Sounds like you're almost hoping that Obama fails.
• Marlin
  Hey Bark More
  
  I've noticed over ten posts from you on this blog. Every one of them is you reacting to someone else's post, in a negative way.
  
  I am not trying to convince you of anything. I have my opinions as do you, but some of the tone you use is spiteful. I am not going to assume your motives, and I don't really want to judge you personally... But your actions are somewhat cowardly.
  
  I am sorry if you are hurting or something, and that said, I have dignified your responses, even though I thought they were baiting and an attempt to shut me down, to get my viewpoint across to others who might be interested in a new approach.
  
  I have to feed my kid and walk the dog now, so I can't continue to feed this anymore. Sorry.
  
  To all the rest of you out there on the blog. I hope to find a babysitter to come to Thursday's meeting. If I connect with some of you, that would be cool. I am willing to help to bridge, and find a way forward that provides the needed shelter and the needed security.
• Susan
  I support Obama. His new stimulus plan nearly doubles the food allowance for those on food stamps who struggle to make it last each month. More money for drug treatment and health care for the poor. He also increases welfare, SSI payments and many other incentives the poor need. But, he said we all need to make sacrifices, and if allowing some folks into your neighborhood to attend an NA meeting or have a pleasant place to live is too much for you, maybe you should have voted for McCain. Good day sir! I too am going to go feed my children! Maybe if your kids get to know some of the homeless in the park and thier kids who are also homeless, it would be a learning experience for all involved. Goodbye
• Marlin
  I hear you Susan.
  
  Hope to meet you Thursday.
  
  Best.
• Susan
  Disregard what he says. Komo TV loves the idea and also did a poll where almost all who live in Ballard love the idea and want more of this stuff. They plan to have many churches do the same thing in Ballard. Its what the people demand, the media and the right thing to do. see here
  
  http://www.king5.com/localnews/stories/NW_02200...
• JoeBallard
  Susan, not to be nasty but do you have your children mingle with homeless people? Do you invite them over for dinner? Do you open up your living room to them so they can hold meetings? Or do you expect someone else to do it?
  
  The sacrafices that Obama talks about is insulting to those of us who have lived within our means, who have adhered to fiscal responsibility, who have saved money to pay cash for things instead of running up credit. Those that didn't sacrafice are being bailed out by those who did. I understand that there are situations of people who are in dire need of help, but a lot of this crisis was due to borrowers, lenders, and gov't officals who are motivated by greed.
  
  Sacraficing doesn't mean a thing if you can get bailed out whenever times get rough.
• Saw it go down
  Amazing how two people who I have NEVER seen post here before can hijack this whole blog with their long winded post. If you want people to help don't shove shit down their throat.
  
  Some people might react in strong ways.
• Hostess
  "also did a poll where almost all who live in Ballard love the idea and want more of this stuff"
  
  Jeez, you realize asking people on the street isn't a 'poll' right? How dumb can you be.
  
  I can guarantee a secret poll of homes near the church would be against letting vagrants setting up shop.
• Susan
  "Most people in Ballard like the idea..." is what KOMO TV says. I am sorry I am not rich enough to post here. But, most in Ballard support helping the homeless and many many more will be here by the summer. There are 4 more car amping cities about to be unvailed right near downtown Ballard. At least they are being productive and loving. I will go back to feeding my children now. Goody day sir.
• Hostess
  And stop me on the street and stick a local TV news camera in my face you can guarantee I'd be 'all for it!'. But only out of fear of the Ballard pro-vagrant Taliban.
• Hostess
  “Most people in Ballard like the idea…” is what KOMO TV says."
  
  
  OK, so you're admitting it, you are a fool.
  
  But I heard it on local TV news, it HAS to be true!
• Randi Hansen
  I first would like to say thank you to Pastors
  at our Redeemer church for letting this happind.
  Homeless people are human beings like the
  rest of us, diffrence no home , no home no
  job, . weel is a good and responsible org.
  why do we always have to hate the people we do not know? there are a lot more people living on the street , lossing their homes ,a lot more senior
  children and so on. should we just let them sleep behind bushes ? is that safer for all of us.
  people die on the street , is this what we want/
  
  concerned Randi
  o
• Marlin
  Hostess, Saw It Go down.
  
  You two are being vindictive. It really isn't cool, very spiteful.
  
  Now that I have fed my kid, I would like to encourage others that feel strongly about something more progressive that reaction to post, or come to the meeting.
  
  I doubt these posters who throw insults from behind their computer screens are courageous enough to come to it. They are acting in a bullying manner, and it is designed to polarize and suppress real discourse. You might notice they are even afraid to use their real names. It is strictly a tactic of those who fear real debate.
  You two should be ashamed. Attacking others who you disagree with.
  
  I would encourage you to reveal yourselves at the meeting, you might find compassionate people don't bite. We try to be inclusive, even though, like all people, we have our flaws.
  
  But I for one am no push over, so I would encourage you to be respectful.
• jm
  Komo TV doesn't live in Ballard next to a homeless shelter. Just say no to the heartbreak hotel.
• strike
  Does Pastor Steve have children? And does he live across the street from Salmon Bay Park and allow his children to play over there comfortably? If the answer is "no" to any of these questions, then I don't want to hear a word out of him rationalizing this shelter.
• Mindy
  Any advocates for homeless people out there: You really aren't going to find support on this blog. Just FYI. Have to find another avenue to meet like-minded (and compassionate) people to organize and find solutions to the problem.
• concerned
  Homelessness is a real issue. This neighborhood recognizes that as we see first hand, every day people who have real needs. Many of us have supported the work financially, with service time and donations of goods. It is not a matter of us not supporting those in need. But it is beginning to feel like we are being asked to bare the burden for Ballard. At this time we have a congregation of people in our yards, streets, corners 4 hours a day or more, 4 days a week. Longer in the summer and on nice days. Our Redeemers is has decided to add to this commitment without considering the consequences to the existing neighbors. I think we have been more than generous and I am beginning to feel taken advantage of.
• strike
  Mindy - Spare me your sanctimonious attitude. You and your "like-minded" people don't have the market on compassion. Those of us that don't want the shelter near our homes didn't have their empathy surgically removed at birth.
  
  Noone wants to see another human being suffer. Many of the homeless people have mental problems, or came from such difficult backgrounds that it would shock most of us that are living in the neighborhood around the Ballard church.
  
  Having said that, I live in the affected zone around the church. I work hard, have a family that I cherish, and I have invested a lot of time and money into my home, which is one of my most valuable assets.
  
  I bought into this neighborhood knowing that it is zoned "single family residence". Noone put on any property disclosure form that some organization like SHARE would manipulate the laws to install a barracks for rotating homeless people around the corner from my home.
  
  If you don't understand these points, and you want to adhere to the fantasy where only you and your "like minded" people have compassion, then I'm afraid we have no common ground.
• Free Bumllard
  "Have to find another avenue to meet like-minded"
  
  Yes, because we're scared of people who challenge our idiotic, enabling theories of social justice.
• Mindy
  Who wants to help raise funds so that we can build a fence around Ballard? And how do we convert to a private neighborhood where we have to show I.D. to a security guard to be let in?
• strike
  Mindy - you prove yourself naive and foolish with every post. Keep it up. You are marginalized with every key stroke.
• Mindy
  Good luck with your endeavor strike and all the rest! Thanks for preserving the value of my home!
• Street Urchin
  I think the real problem here is not that we in the Salmon Bay neighborhood are a bunch of rich people who know nothing about poverty or homelessness, I think the problem is the complete inappropriateness of putting a men's shelter right in the middle of a residential, family neighborhood.
  
  I, personally, have been homeless. I have seen shelters from both sides - from the homeless side and from the responsible adult who can take care of herself and therefore has the ability to volunteer and help people who are homeless.
  
  I will tell you from first hand experience in both aspects that over night homeless shelters for men are NOT safe and they are NOT appropriate for a residential, family neighborhood. There is a reason why women and children are not allowed in the same shelter as men. When I was young and homeless I thought this was awful because it meant being separated from my boyfriend for the whole night. But I quickly learned that men's overnight shelters are far too dangerous for women to be at. So WHY is one being put in our neighborhood so close to daycares, schools and the park that my children play at?
  
  People like Marlin can lecture all they want about how awful our "system" is and how people are victimized by it ... blah blah blah. Many people are victimized by it. But when I was homeless there were also a lot of people who would rather shoot dope, or hide from their felony warrant, or dodge having to register as a level III sex offender.
  
  So, before you start thinking calling me a NIMBY is a bad thing, I will tell you that I have put a lot of time, money and energy into helping the homeless, but I am not a guilt-ridden-white-rich-liberal who has no sense or reasoning in my head (although I am a liberal but that's besides the point). There are LIMITS to what is acceptable behavior. Without limits people do not learn to take responsibility for themselves. I think even Jesus would say it was really stupid to stick an extremely high risk group of men into a neighborhood full of innocent children.
• strike
  Street urchin - You encapsulated everything that I wanted to say, but I lack the eloquence and life experience to say it. I hope you offer your insights at the meeting.
• Marlin
  I say we channel all this energy at the city council and mayor's office.
  
  Imagine everytime a shelter conflict like this arises, neighbors, the church officials, and homeless advocates demand the city fund and staff adequate, dignified shelters in appropriate places. That those shelters provide necessary mental and physical aid, proper screening, and security, and that they respect and integrate the neighborhoods they occupy.
  
  It could be done. It can be achieved through unified, persistant community action.
  
  Whether you agree with my "class analysis" or not, we are in this together. To some this seems like Ballard is taking on a lot of the downside of the shelter system, but the truth is, there isn't a good shelter system being provided by our city government. So civic groups and churches are scrambling to meet the needs of the disenfranchised among us. They have limited resources, and they are acting out of desperation. This is pitting people against one another. But we aren't enemies. We are all facing this contradiction, whatever side we think we are on, we are all potential victims here. So let's try to come up with a unified front. The concerns I am hearing voiced range from realistic to outlandish, but whatever, I am not claiming to be the judge of that. ALL VOICES ARE IMPORTANT.
  
  We can develop unity around this and come out of it with something more than just another ill-placed, underfunded, undignified shelter. We need to address the blatant disregard our city leaders have for all of our well being, Homed and Homeless.
  
  Let's focus our energies and succeed here.
• strike
  If we get no relief from the church, there is another option. Since SHARE and the church seem to have no moral problem invading our neighborhood, I have no problem organizing a campaign whereby every Sunday, we have different people from the neighborhood sit in on Pastor Steve's service and completely disrupt it. We will see how long Pastor Steve tolerates having the tables turned on him.
• Street Urchin
  Strike, that's an original idea. I was more thinking we should take all the discarded beer cans, cigarette butts, syringes, etc. that are found by the church and in the park and put them on pastor Steve's lawn in regular installments. Yes, sadly, I have found syringes in the park in the last year. I have also seen drug dealers right in front of me when passing by the soup kitchen on a walk.
• Street Urchin
  I meant to say drug deals not dealers. The upside of that is when I reported it to the Food Bank they immediately took action. I'm not very confident by SHARE's actions so far that they will do anything since so far they have shown no consideration for our community or followed up on their promise to give us due notice.
• jm
  Homeless Sex Offenders - Comprehensive Listing (The Total Number Of Homeless Or Transient Sex Offenders Is 441)
  
  http://www.metrokc.gov/SexOffender/search_resul...
• jm
  There Are 9 Registered Sex Offenders In Zip Code 98107
  http://www.metrokc.gov/SexOffender/search_zip_3...
• SC
  Today's reading is from the book of Matthew:
  
  31 “But when the Son of Man[d] comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne.
  32 All the nations[e] will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
  33 He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.
  34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world.
  35 For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home.
  36 I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
  
  37 “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink?
  38 Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing?
  39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
  
  40 “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters,[f] you were doing it to me!’
  
  41 “Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons.[g]
  42 For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink.
  43 I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
  
  44 “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’
  
  45 “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’
  
  46 “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”
  
  The building in question is a church - using the building to help the least of us is an appropriate use. This is a major metropolitan area. As such, it has problems and challenges. Those who say they bought a house in the neighborhood because it was zoned residential are being disingenuous at best. We live in a city, with all the inherent blessings and inconveniences that entails. Those here who have issued a call for total opposition to this usage propose no solution or alternative, other than a vague desire to see the "others" quarantined in an industrial area far away where they can't see them.
  I have lived here all my life. I was raised on Capitol Hill in the Seventies, when it was a gritty place. Then, as now, Capitol Hill was home to many facilities for 'least of us'. The house next door to mine housed Sea-Dru-Nar, a half way home for addicts, many of them just released from prison. As a child, I used to sit on their porch and play Monopoly with them. I learned many valuable lessons as a result.
  The fear of this small shelter is irrational. You would not have to look very deep into the personal lives of the homeowners in the neighborhood to find problems with alcohol, drugs, domestic violence, etc. Those are issues that effect all scio-economic strata. Should we then ban home ownership in Ballard because home owners are shown to be alcoholics? It is an absurd position. Frankly, the eliminationist rhetoric and hyperbole some have spewed here is frightfully reminiscent of the sort of dehumanizing language that becomes common place before a 'cleansing' occurs, ala Serbia-Croatia or Rwanda.
• Eric
  Today's reading is from the book of SC hyperbole:
  
  23. And so it was that all who disagree with me shall be found guilty of genocide.
  24. And so he went from that village, ears shut to the lamentations of others.
  25. reasonable or unreasonable, the arguments all sounded the same; and it was so.
  26. When he arrived in the town the next day, there was much rejoicing and monopoly was played.
• jm
  Hippy dippy philosophy can be interesting, but if the neighbors don’t it then the majority rules.
• Ballardite
  Strike,
  
  I'm very concerned about this shelter, too. I know from a previous post that you are an attorney and are willing to help fight this. Is there a way for me to contact you?
• Street Urchin
  Being a Christian myself, I am perfectly happy to feed and house people who are down and out. But I'm not going to let a high-risk population into my house to victimize myself or my child. I'd prefer to not actively bring them into my neighborhood either. I moved off Capitol Hill to have a better place to raise my children.
  
  It's easy to preach the Bible and sound holier-than-thou. I can do that too. But when push comes to shove, would you want your parents when you were a child to put you in the same situation with a large group of men who a percentage of whom are going to be guaranteed to be violent/mentally unstable in a dangerous way/drug addicted/sex offenders? I think first we should protect the innocent then we should help others. The people who are screaming compassion sure have a lot of "compassion" for men who many of whom dug their own holes, but not an ounce of compassion for children who of no fault of their own, were born into families that were able to work hard and buy their own homes. I think the lack of compassion for a person who is not "down and out" is the biggest hypocrisy in this whole situation. It absolutely disgusts me how someone can scream compassion if you don't have "money" and then not care at all what happens to you if you do. As though any of us home owners in Ballard have any power over this shelter going in. We don't. But our powerlessness goes completely unheard because it is not the politically correct agenda. That is just as bad as the people who could care less about the problem of homelessness. I am so disappointed and disgusted with the actions of so many in this situation I can't even express it adequately.
• JVK
  NEIGHBORS, WHAT CAN YOU DO?
  
  • ATTEND the meeting at Calvary Lutheran Church, Thursday, Feb. 26 at 7 pm
  
  • ENGAGE a city council member
  
  • CALL OR EMAIL your state representative
  
  • CONTACT Our Redeemers Lutheran Church (the host church) Ph: 783-7900, email: steve@ourredeemers.net kathyh@ourredeemers.net
  
  • VOICE your concerns to anybody who cares to listen
  
  • COMPLAIN to the City of Seattle Dept. of Planning and Development
  
  • HIRE a lawyer who specializes in real-estate/property law
  
  • WORK to ensure that activities more compatible with the make up of the neighborhood can be found
  
  Look, a shelter will completely change the dynamics of this quiet single-family residential neighborhood. Don’t let it happen.
• Upstairs
  A few more observations from upstairs:
  1. Unless Strike and collaborators find a legal barrier to the shelter's use of Calvary, it's coming.
  2. For all the hyperbolic characterizations of "the homeless" -- we know nothing at all about the 20 men who will be granted permits to enter this particular shelter.
  3. You can go to www.sharewheel.org to find their screening schedule. They screen at the Josephinum downtown, where the entry permits are given. Perhaps some neighbors would want to go sit in on the screening of people who will be sent to Ballard. Perhaps we can talk at the meeting about the specific criteria that will be used.
  4. Share/Wheel is doing what it needs to do, and will not be stopped. Think on this for a moment: The organization consists primarily of current and formerly homeless persons, including the paid staff. And they are doing what they believe they need to do to help out homeless people. I bring this up because it is important to get inside the S/W mindset. (Not talking about walking a mile in somebody's shoes... ergo leaving them barefoot a mile away.) It is an important business and legal strategy to imagine and comprehend an issue from the perspective of the other party. It does not mean "empathizing" -- it does mean getting a grip so you don't spend all your energy doing "ad hominem" attacks that go nowhere. It means looking at the contentious matter, getting clear on what can be changed and what cannot be changed, and looking for resolution that both parties can live with. Strike, if you're a trial or negotiating attorney, you know what I mean here.
  5. The "argument" in #4 leads to this: I think it would behoove all of us on this site to cut out attacking one another and use today and tomorrow to put forth ideas on what safeguards and parameters we want to insist on, given that the shelter WILL open this Sat.
  6. Has anyone (Tom?) contacted the North Precinct and asked for the Capt. or a rep to be present at this meeting? We need the police to step up and say what we can and cannot count on them for in our neighborhood. The City has to bear some responsibility here. (I do know from asking around that other neighborhoods facing a move-in have done this, and the precincts have been willing to send someone.)
  7. Last (at least for now...) I'd invite y'all to go Hizzoner Greg Nickels' website and read the section on "ending homelessness". Not sure how much of his grand plan relies on making the homeless disappear from his pretty downtown by sending them out into residential neighborhoods, letting S/W take all the wrath.
• Ballardite
  I wonder how many people in the congregation at Our Reedemer's Lutheran Church on 24th Ave know about the plans for the homeless shelter. I went to their website and could find nothing at all about it.
  
  I am very irked by the fact that the church leaders must have been contemplating the shelter for weeks or months, but decided to solicit absolutely NO community input before making their decision.
  
  Having a "meeting" exactly two days before opening the facility is a real steamroller tactic, and doesn't do much to inspire me with confidence about their concern for the community.
• strike
  Ballardite - I'm a little leary of giving out my phone number. But I can certainly meet you somewhere in Ballard. What time works for you?
• Dana
  I'm trying to find out if it is legal for a homeless shelter to open 1 block from a licensed childcare facility.
• JVK
  Dana,
  
  I am going to meet with a land use planner at the City tomorrow. I will add that to my list of questions. They are not able to provide any information over the phone.
• Dana
  JVK,
  Thank you!
• homeowner
  Dear Ballardite--
  according to my conversation with Pastor Grumm, Our Redeemer church was approached 6 weeks ago by SHARE. Remember, we as homeowners in the area found out last Thursday Feb. 19th. I also addressed the fact that for 6 weeks while it was in the making, NONE of the homeowners were asked to give input or even knew what was happening.
• tom
  please remember there is an open complaint with the DPD (#25589). i have spoken with the supervisor in this department regarding the complaint and it was to have been assigned to an investigator today. we are also communicating with the directors of both DPD and the DHS to see if the city is supporting the efforts of either SHARE or the soup kitchen in any way and if the vacant status of the church precludes the use of the building for any purpose at all.
  
  The present goal is to prevent this group from occupying the building until there is a determination made on the legality of the occupancy. the fact that the staff at Our Redeemer Church and SHARE are sneaky and sleazy and have tried to slide this in under the radar of the neighbors and the city is something we may need to address as a community to prevent future occurances. i will find it difficult to listen to them this Thursday evening as they ask us to trust them when they have chosen to sneak around beind our backs without our involvement as they determine what is best for our community.
  
  Lets keep on the city at all levels to force this issue to a resolution prior to the end of this week.
  
  Upstairs - i have not spoken with the police (yet) as they are the policy enforcers and not the policy makers. rest assured if this group moves in, the police will be hearing from me for even the slightest infraction witnessed.
• Joe
  According to an email from Pastor Steve, this is the screening:
  
  "The “candidates” are screened by SHARE for outstanding warrants and the King County list of sex offenders list."
  
  So if you have a history of criminal violence, you can stay in the shelter.
  
  If you are a criminal sex offender not registered in King County (ie from anywhere in the US except King County), you can stay.
  
  This will be fun for the kids.
• strike
  JVK (and Upstairs, Ballardite, Dana, Homeowner, Tom, Joe, et.al.) -
  
  It would help if we could meet before the meeting to discuss everything that is known about this shelter from the various sources. Can we meet somewhere tomorrow in the evening, say at 7:00? I am open to suggestions on the location to meet.
• Tom
  i am available tomorrow at 7. is mr spots chai house still open? we can meet there.
• strike
  that works for me, although, I have no idea whether that place is still open. I will assume that we are meeting there unless someone chimes in that Mr. Spots is no longer open.
• JVK
  Spots is still open. I'll be there.
• Ballardite
  Mr. Spots at 7 PM tomorrow works for me. I'll be there.
• Upstairs
  Need to find someone to replace me in a prior commitment at that time. If I can work that out, I'll be at Mr. Spots at 7:00.
• Dana
  We'll be there.
• Cass
  The neighbors on 23rd Ave between 70th & 73rd have been notified of the meeting at
  Mr. Spot's. I know a few of us will be there.
• Ballard Tribune Double Standar
  Great idea, then you can sit among the hipster homeless druggies and complain about the unhip ones who are not even in the neighborhood yet. Brilliant. Swing by Bergen Park after and have a beer since your close by.
• NoHoBo
  WOW about sums it up - our "notice" came yesterday and a little research found all of you. Thanks to the local folk who voiced their concerns and proposed action.
  
  Please keep all here current on your meet tonight and the eventual confrontation - we are out of town and cannot attend. However, we will do everything in our power to help the neighborhood cause on our return.
  
  To say our household wants nothing to do with them in this neighborhood is an understatement. I'll just leave it at that.
• chris
  Here's a handy MLS description for those of you selling (trying to) your Ballard home.
  
  AMENITIES:
  Walking distance to Salmon Bay Park, Loyal Heights Community Center, and, oh yeah, a homeless shelter.
• Joe
  Now come on Chris, you know real estate agents, they won't say "you're gonna have vagrants as neighbors".
  
  No, what they'll say is "those aren't vagrants, they are a source of free fertilizer when they squat and take a dump on your lawn".
  
  Real estate 101....lie thru' your teeth.
• Concerned neighbor
  Just got this from Pastor Steve. They will NOT be checking for sex offenders, criminal warrants or history of violent criminal behavior.
  
  Instead:
  
  " I just met with the SHARE leadership and was informed that their screening process is personal, one on one, between a staff person and a potential resident. There are no sex offenders or outstanding warrants checks but a review that allows their fellow residents to be safe with each other. They believe this is more credible and demanding because they are checking each other out each evening when they share the same sleeping space. By not being allowed in the neighborhood of their sleeping space during the day, they are not a threat to the neighbors. I believe their checks and balance is more secure than a neighbor moving in next door. Sorry for the misinformation."
  
  So they will simply ask: are you a sex offender or criminal. If they say no, they're in. Pastor Steve thinks this is tougher than the criminal background checks you get when renting or taking our a mortgage.
  
  Someone please grill them on this screening, this is BS!
• Black Helicopter Operations
  Someone might want to ask directly the following question.
  
  "Are you creating a half way house for felons just out of prison."
  
  This is what I was told by a fellow who sells Real Change. This is a source I trust for reliable information. He may be wrong, however, this expalins a lot. Especially, the lack of criminal background checks, because obviously that would be foolish, when its a transitional facilty for ex cons. This explains the rush to open it and lack of flyers as well.
  
  Are they Sex offenders being transitioned back into society? I have no clue, but you may want to find out for sure. I smell a Rat here. Bigtime
• Eric
  What happened at the Mr. Spots meeting?
• david t.
  I don't mind a shelter, but the burden being placed on a small area is great. There already is another shelter within two blocks and the food bank. Not to mention the car camping site. This attracts a number of people for these services. The fact is that the crime rate has gone up in this little area disproportionatley to other surrounding areas. Just ask the police. It's not necessarily the people staying at the shelter that worry me (although I was also told that there isn't a formal background check done, as stated in the flyer), but the people who find out there is a shelter there and get turned away at the door or kicked out. I've watched two people leave the Trinty UNC faciltiy and go right to Salmon Bay Park and deal drugs. That's the reality - sorry.
• Upset Neighbor
  Letter to Seattle City Councilpersons,
  
  I am writing you as an extremely concerned and upset voting, taxpaying citizen of Seattle. My wife and family have resided in the Salmon Bay Park (Ballard) community for 38+ years. On Monday we learned of a planned opening of a homeless shelter for men by Calvary Lutheran Church. The shelter is to open on Saturday and no notice of this event was sent to us. This church sits across the street from our home of 38 years. Calvary Church is a vacant building and has no congregation. The congregation left in March of last year and the building has been placed on the market for sale. It is no longer a congregation that has a tie to our community.
  
  For over a year now our neighborhood has tolerated a three-day-a-week, Food-Bank sponsored soup kitchen, offered to those in need of a meal. Individuals come from city wide locations, with little or no regard for our neighborhood. We have observed individuals with serious mental health issues wander our streets screaming at ghosts, scaring and threatening women as they walk from their homes to visit a neighbor or family member, men that urinate in our yards, and have even had men enter our yards to ask for work.
  
  All of this has jeopardized our right to a safe and secure neighborhood. Now we are faced with this new concern. Not only do we have to be concerned for our children in daylight hours, but now we are faced with around the clock concerns of an all-night unsupervised shelter.
  
  Salmon Bay Park is no longer a safe place for our children to play; it’s not safe for anyone to walk through alone as it used to be. Enough is enough. Please know that our neighbors are not insensitive or uncaring regarding the issue of those in need. My church has a shelter for women in need. Prior to taking on this ministry we canvassed our neighbors, talked face to face with them, checked on required code provisions. We have members of the congregation trained and on site at all times. Participants are driven to and from the shelter daily. The Church has even done background checks for those wanting to be involved in the ministry and strict rules in place. None of this has been done for this fast tracked shelter.
  
  Who is responsible? What was the approval process? Are there permits that have been approved? Should there not be community meetings long before something like this is implemented? Does the City Council and Mayor approve of this approach to support of the homeless? Is it true that the City is contributing financial support for this Shelter? Is the City of Seattle shouldering the legal liability and responsibility for an act of violence or harm that may occur? Is “Our Redeemer Lutheran Church” or its’ ELCA Churchwide Organization, taking on the liability and accountability?
  
  
  My perception, from my calls to the City Attorney's Office, the Mayor's Office and City Planners, is that each quickly passed me off to someone else who passed me to someone else who did not want to have any connection to the concern. Our neighbors believe that Mayor Nickels is happy to have the homeless and citizens in need vanish into the outlying neighborhoods and not seen in the CBD corridor. It has a perceived appearance to the community as though something is being done by government. I say shame on those that were elected to office for not addressing this properly, those that are leaving it to self management and inadequate funding. We all know this is an unacceptable way to address and manage such a serious issue. If anything happens, God forbid, to anyone in this neighborhood, please know, legal action will be levied against first the non-existent congregation managing the church from another location, and the City and its’ individual elected officials.
  
  
  This shelter is to open on Saturday February 28, 2009. There will be a meeting tonight Thursday February 26, 2009 to hear from the sponsors, SHARE/WHEEL and the Pastor of Our Redeemer Lutheran Church.
  
  One neighbor talked to the SHARE/WHEEL organization about the screening process:
  
  - 'Screening' is done by the group of men who will be staying at this individual shelter (Calvary Lutheran)
  
  - The 'screeners' do not check for and exclude: level 3 sex offenders, released felons with history of/convictions for violent behavior, outstanding warrants.
  
  This is a self supervised group of men moving into a neighborhood FULL of children, a few houses from an established licensed Daycare, and a few blocks from taxpayers park (which we are all uncomfortable using)!!! What license does this organization have to "move into" this abandoned building?
  
  Please address these concerns!
• homeowner
  I really hope you sent this letter to the appropriate people. It is very well written with all of my concerns and the concerns of my family as we live across the street on the other side of the VACANT church. I hope we have a great turnout tonight from the neighbors and homeowners in this community. A large turnout with one message can speak volumes! Pastor Steve, do you have anything to say?
• John-Otto
  Please come to this evening's meeting at Calvary Lutheran Church located at the corner of NW 70th and 23rd NW. A good number of you have apparently never met a Share/Wheel person or talked to people who lives nearby one of their shelters. Other's of you apparently think that Our Redeemers, the owners of Calvary Church are trying to pull something over the neighborhood. Others of you apparently understand why churches all over Seattle are doing what they can to support those of us who are homeless and support this effort. We all need to listen and talk with one another. We probably will not all leave in agreement with one another. But at least a good deal of the missinformation and suspicion about motivation and possible neighborhood involvement will be over overcome. See you there.
• fukUshare
  Get lost Share - and take your pathetic element of society with you.
  
  WE DON'T WANT YOU IN OUR AREA - LEAVE.
  
  Trust me - you will be removed from Ballard one way or another.
• CD2
  I am all for helping the homeless, but not without the same screening process any citizen has to go through to do anything in this society.
  
  I attended the Calvary Lutheran Church meeting tonight and in my humble opinion, though SHARE may be a long-standing orginization, they did nothing to convince me that they will last long in the face of our current economy. They couldn't effectively give answer to basic questions, such as background checks (something that is currently done by a judgement call by those on the screening panal) I think SHARE needs to grow a bit, given the current economy and need for housing and start a FORMAL screening process that includes background checks. i.e. Violent offenders and sex offenders will need to be housed outside of residential communities and I would suggest if SHARE wants to continue their current practice of "no background checks" then they should work to secure industrial or very rural proprety to house dangerous offenders.
  
  The Food Bank and the soup kitchen run by the food bank are currently doing a needed service in the area, as they are providing food to the already many homeless in our area and it has been my experience that every complaint within a few blocks of the food bank or meal program has been addressed in a timely manner. We have a shelter at Trinity and a car camp within a few blocks, as well as several proposed around Ballard. I am all for all of this, even the new one proposed at Calvary, but you know what? It won't work.....Unless...We also advocate for more city, county and state services that will provide our homeless a way to move up. And if the powers that be won't provide the services these needy folks need, then guess what? Wake up Ballard. The needy folks are here. How will we address this as a community?
  
  I think Ballard needs to admit we can't stop the homeless from moving here. They keep coming and seem to like it here. Nothing can be done to drive them out. Ballard need to stop bithching and fiugure out ways to help the homless because they are here. What we need to as a community is to provide services here to help people living in cars, in shelters and on the streets find hope and a reason to move up and beyond their current circumstances. I think Ballard is just the community that can do that. We need resource centers that offer people help for those without any. Lets do what the city can't and instead of bitching about the homeless be a model for the rest of the state and maybe even the country. Let's provide SOLUTIONS!!!
  Instead of spending all your energies to stop the homeless from invading your turf, why not think of ways you can help. Sleeping bags and canned goods are only scratching the surface.
  
  We will certainly see an increase in homelessness in the hard times on the horizon and as a society we will have to become more and more accepting and creative in our ways of handling homelessness, as more and more of us see those that are homeless are people we know and love and maybe even us.
• NotMe
  I am proud. I am too smart. I am a hard worker. I am responsible. I am educated. I am I am I am.