If a large active church buys the space then you will wish that there were just 20 guys living there and you will start complaining about how church members are taking “your” street parking, noise, etc.

I worked every day for many months in a church that hosted tent city. We had the regular headaches of increased use of our space but did find them to be good at self patrolling, picking up litter, etc. I can also tell you that they did get rid of people who did not follow their rules.

I wouldn't want a shelter opening next to me but honestly I wouldn't want a pre school or high school, big church, or even a neighbor with a loud barking dog moving in next to me either.

You have had the benefit of a small church community being your neighbors in a large church building for many years. My guess is whatever the future, it is going to make close neighbors very unhappy.

How about some condos?

Something to think about!

Not afraid to sign my name – Darren Hochstedler darrensfo@gmail.com

Now you know why we don't want one in the middle of a residential neighborhood.

Shelter conditions are a reason some do not choose to go inside. In SHARE
shelters, for example, there is a code of conduct which some cannot/will not
agree to. Examples are no drinking, no drugs, no violence either verbal or
physical, a willingness to participate in the management of the shelter.

As watergirl has said, shelters are crowded and sometimes not safe. People
I've talked to say their possessions have been stolen by other shelter
residents.

The hours of shelter operation are difficult for some who work, e.g.
night/swing shift. Some may choose to live in a tent rather than to have to
leave a shelter early in the morning (even on the coldest days) carrying
everything they own with them.

Diseases are more easily spread living in crowded conditions. Many homeless
people are in poor health and so are more vulnerable to catching something.

Mental illness is a big issue for some who are resistant to being helped and
choose to live separately either due to paranoia or other reasons. 22% of
single adult homeless people suffer from severe and persistent mental
illness. I understand there is a new film playing locally, “The Soloist”,
that deals with this issue.

More than thirty percent of homeless men are vets, some with serious mental
health issues such as PTSD.

Incidentally, the Downtown Emergency Service Center has exactly one person
assigned to all of North King County to do outreach to mentally ill homeless
people so resources are extremely limited.

One aspect that is not often addressed is that many homeless people do not
want to be identified as homeless and therefore stigmatized with all the
negative stereotypes so prevalent on these blogs. These people will choose
to live in their cars (if they have them) and to keep up appearances so that
people cannot identify them as homeless when they see them on the street.
Many of these people work or are unemployed and are looking for work and are
still trying to maintain a semblance of normalcy in their lives.

As I said there are numerous reasons why people choose not to live in
shelters even if there is space which there often is not. Over 50% of
shelter requests by homeless families went unmet last year, according to the
U.S. Conference of Mayors.

There are a few websites where one can go to get information on
homelessness. Some is statistical and some is anecdotal. Both are valuable.
http://www.homelessinfo.org/homeless.html
http://www.seattlenightwatch.org

There was a forum on homelessness held here in Ballard recently and I
understand there will be future forums. Hopefully these will be listed on
MyBallard and the BNT.

My understanding is that Our Redeemers requires only 10% of their congregation be present to officially achieve quorum. I agrere that 35 people seems ridiculously low to determine such a contentious issue.

Speaking of which, I'm no expert on the bible, but I thought that Jesus was a carpenter. Didn't he work as such and only then go out on the road to preach his message?

This is an interesting passage:

2 Thessalonians 3:6-15

In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone's food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow. For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “If a man will not work, he shall not eat.”

We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies. Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat. And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right.

If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of him. Do not associate with him, in order that he may feel ashamed. Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.

Sounds like the homeless suffer from homelessphobia then….oh, the irony.

During this time I have learned though that like all groups of people, even people who are “down and out” can have problems that can endanger the most vulnerable group of people – our children.

I am a devout Christian myself, and I know in my heart that God does not want to put any child in danger – even children who are born to people who actually have a job and own their own home. By assuming that because a person has no money and no roof over their head that they are somehow exalted and living in God's grace is foolish. And to believe that putting 20 strangers who obviously have had many problems to lead to their homelessness – into an abandoned building not more than ten feet from a house where two small children live, a park full of children and a daycare is EXTREMELY foolish. My God does not approve of putting vulnerable children in danger just to be able to say that one is a martyr to being “selfless and full of compassion”. People who do not take accountability and do not ask grown men to take a little accountability are not being good Christians – they are trying to make up for their own white middle-class guilt.

The cruelest thing you can do to someone who has a drug/alcohol/criminal problem is to enable them and treat them like a victim. I know this personally from being one of those homeless criminal drug addicts in my youth. SHARE is not a helpful organization for the homeless. They are a glorified crash pad. I put my energy and money (which I really do do – I don't just post about it and act self-righteous) into organization that help people get OUT of homelessness and have a success rate that does not include spokespeople who are proud to have been homeless for 20 years. That is a failure to help someone when they can say that.

But I also wonder why, if these guys are working, don't they band together in groups of four, instead of 20, and rent a cheap apartment as roommates instead of staying in a donated church space? I know that's what I did when my situation called for it. Maybe the churches/social programs should be helping coordinate first/last/deposit and work with landlords to help get these guys into real home situations? My understanding is that this is not part of the program … how come?