From Ron Wilson, New Journey of Hope:
The Community Input Meeting re-scheduled for September 16, 2015 is cancelled. On August 24, 2015 an informal community meeting was held at the Edgewood Branch of the Harford County Public Library. Upon further discussion with Councilman Beulah and Councilman Perrone and considering the input received from the Edgewood community, New Journey of Hope has decided to cease further efforts to develop the 2700 Pulaski Highway Site in Edgewood as a homeless shelter. We thank the citizens of the Edgewood Community for taking their time to come out and voice their opinion.
Now that the trashy motel is gone and the shelter is not coming, the area is becoming more valuable. I think the county should reassess the surrounding properties and adjust the property taxes accordingly to reflect the higher property values.
Agreed, this was the best decision for ALL parties involved…..
They’re going back underground for the moment, but keep your eye on this bunch. They’ll pop up in the next year or two with a new scheme at some other location.
More homeless shelters are needed. Just not inflatable domes on properties being “developed” under shady circumstances.
If New Journey of Hope does the right thing, they will register with the IRS, become part of National Coalition for the Homeless (nationalhomeless.org) and keep the churches involved. The goal is to provide not only a place to sleep, but a stable way to earn a living to move up to home ownership. Maybe group transitional home centers, or extended community units, but in locations where there is transportation to work and back. The first worry is security and protection from the elements, especially when there are children involved. Proximity to classes, counseling, and community support has got to be included in planning. Time will tell whether this will be an effective organization or flash in the pan.
The NIMBY Nazi’s win again!
They’re NIMBY Nazis when you live 10 or 15 miles from the proposed homeless shelter but they’re local heroes when the proposed site is across the street from your home.
and what is your address so we can redirect the homeless to your residence………
Don’t direct them my way. I agree with the poster who suggested giving them a one-way bus ticket to Florida.
First and foremost I have no desire to argue with anyone who supported and / or didn’t support this initiative. Simply put the initial fast forward attempt to move this project led to entirely to much speculation and unanswered questions for both sides of the argument. Apparently it would appear as of now the best approach has been reached to slow things down and conduct a proper evaluation for all parties involved. Kudos to the citizens of Edgewood for standing up and voicing your concerns, and kudos to the New Journey group for listening. Good luck to you both in the future.
So I couldn’t make it to the informal meeting, but I’m left wondering which happened:
a) The New Journey folks actually had a change of heart and realized that either their plan was faulty or that they couldn’t really go forward without community support
OR
b) Perrone and Beulah felt the heat and privately ask them to shut it down and try again at a different time and location
My money goes on “b”, because as I said it was foolish, from a political perspective, of them to get out in front of this project because it puts ownership of it on them despite the fact that they have no real influence on the outcome, they take a beating for it anyway. Rookie councilman mistake. Probably a room full of angry voters with bulging eyes changed their minds.
I hope the meeting was respectful, and congrats to all who came opposed for being civic-minded and making a difference in your community.
Actually, Ron Wilson said he didn’t want to go through with that site, due to the noted problems and the community reaction. He said he will be considering other buildings for emergency cold weather shelters, and is looking at other options through the churches. He said he is preparing the paperwork to become a non-profit, and will be reaching out to the existing shelters, but cannot tell at this time what the solution will be.
I understand that Florida is much warmer than the harsh Edgewood winters.
Your local Florida homeless always return to Florida in the winter months. We come north during the brutally hot Florida summers to enjoy Harford County and the cooler less humid summers. We will be talking ourselves back to Florida soon to enjoy the great fall and winter months. See you again in mid April. Hopefully, you will have this all worked out by then.
I believe they are taking summer reservations at Council Chambers, 212 South Bond Street, first floor, Bel Air
Thank you for your suggestion. We normally use Trivago as they have the best information on tents and campsites in Harford County. Also, their referral service for government benefits, free food and medical care, is nothing short of outstanding.
I think to pursue the same goals but through various existing programs and the churches makes more sense. I think the neighbors were suspicious as I would be of the idea of turning homelessness into nearly a corporate affair with 10,000 sq ft of living space that would need to be filled. If he’s just now preparing the paperwork necessary to become a non-profit it’s clear he needs to understand much more about running this sort of operation on a small scale before he tries to create a much larger program as was attempted here. I wish them good luck in the future and I’m sure with a more reasonable and well communicated project the resistance will be reduced in the next go round.
Ron Wilson seems to be the puppet master pulling the strings on Perrone and Beulah. Next election, be sure to remember how those two were willing to sell our the people they’re supposed to represent for a special interest. Hopefully we can get two decent replacements.
“sell out”, not “sell our”.
Mike Perrone was not the one pushing for this, he was still very much in the fact gathering stage of the process. The faith based community are the ones that pushed this way faster than it should have been. Mike Perrone is a great guy and really had the best of intentions in all of this. Once he realized that the plan had not been thought out by the New Hope Alliance he was right in pulling his support for the idea. There was nothing Mike Perrone did to be “sneaky” or “shady”. People that think that do not know the councilman and his character at all. He as genuine and trustworthy as a politician could be.
What they did however, was lead me to believe Monday’s meeting was canceled and then they showed up anyway! I was very disappointed they there was a meeting after all that I WOULD have attended! Guess they were afraid everyone would show up and they didn’t want all that. Hmmm.
Perrone was the public face of this effort after his article here and his letter to the Aegis. He may be a good man but he’s a rotten councilman as he abused his public office to put his private goals ahead of the welfare of his constituents. I don’t live in his district but I will financially support whoever runs against him next time.
You are so far from the truth. Mr. Perrone had nothing to gain from this project, it was going to be 100% privately funded. You need to learn the facts before you post derogatory comments about people. Mike Perrone is a good man and he is all heart and character. It was just a poorly thought out project that was in the beginning and exploratory stages. Mr. Perrone was not the one pushing this project.
Since the Edgewood location has now been scuttled, will anyone who pushed for these shelters be erecting tent cities in their personal back yards to assist the homeless?
Feel free to speak up.
Maybe if they lived in an area zoned for commercial use.
I wish them luck and good will. I do believe they needed a little more preparation, but every project had to start somewhere. I hate to see people talk about how charitable they are and support those less fortunate, but let it come close to home and they are then appalled that something like this could god forbid be introduced to their neighborhood. ..and yes, I am part of that neighborhood. Let’s just keep stereotyping these individuals and they will continue to be who and where they are now. Send them back to the squalor of the city with no hope around them. Support them and you never know the amazing individual they might become. Just think. ..you don’t know the background of all of your community neighbors. ..could be shocked at where some of them come from!
I’m sure if the idea is as you suggest is to import the homeless from Baltimore City as you suggest then you will find the same if not greater resistance no matter what the location or the plan.
Kudos to the Edgewood Community for demanding answers from not only site developer but, the Councilman themselves. Folks who do not live within the impact of such a structure will always cast guilt on those who stand and demand details. The bottom line is that this project should have included the communities involved from the beginning. While I understand the Peronne band-wagoners are in the post campaigning, as a voter I was disappointed that in the meeting he took a back seat while a councilman from another district led the meeting. I voted for Peronne and the fact that they all came to the meeting with no facts, not to mention the potential owner himself admitted to having no experience running a shelter was absolutely mind boggling.
There is no such thing as “non taxpayer dollars”. Even though the facility was to be supposedly paid for as a nonproift from “assumed” grants, a facility of that size would definitely incur calls for medical and or safety from local EMS, Fire, and Sheriffs office. The cost is residual. While the intent is a good one, the planning was devoid of community input from the start. Folks will come on dagger and play heartstring guitar and call those who opposed the shelter heartless and merciless, but what you fail to get is that details about security and logistics for the folks that surround the facility was completely absent. Large shelters have crime and elements which require trained and certified professionals. When the owner claims to have no experience in shelters, ANYONE would question as to the safety and security of their families and property.
So cut the high and mighty charade and make sure you keep abreast of things in your own community. Some of you hypocrites are the same ones out there holding signs for Walmart…and you know who you are!
Edgewood..keep these politicians on their toes, they expect you to ignore the Community Input Meetings messages. I will personally be watching and subscribing to Friends of Harford. What was shown the other night was that we will no longer sit by idly and allow someone else to make decisions for us without even talking to us. Make sure you attend the newly formed and occupied Community Advisory Board. I don’t care where you live in the county, attend your local Community Advisory Boards (that goes for any resident). If your not there and your voice isn’t heard, they will take that as a default of yes and PRESS ON without you.
At the end of the day I voted for Mike Peronne, but what I witnessed that meeting was truly disappointing as he lead from the back while the community was out front demanding the answers. A big thank you to Senator Nancy Jacobs who has always been a part of the Route 40 community and is sorely missed! And thank you Christine for holding their feet to the fire by doing the legwork and research that was absent from the start.
As I said, I believe the plan was very early and needed much more information, but don’t talk to me about high and mighty. …I, myself, was helped by one of these”places”…in fact, one that was opened in a formerly seedy motel site, by a couple that had never done it before. They collaborated with several “faith based organizations” that helped them find their way. I credit them with a new start to my life. ..there were not nightly police, ambulance, or fire calls. ..actually quite a peaceful place to be to recover from circumstances that led me there. I had previously been to facilities in crime ridden, poor areas where there was no opportunity to envision any life than where I was. Guess what? I AM your neighbor, you’d never know who I am. You might have seen me walking my pets, manicuring our lawn. I might even be one of your friends. I don’t share my past with anyone. (You won’t see my name attached to this. .if I did, you would most likely look down on me and no longer be my friends).I probably make a better living than most of my neighbors. .So I don’t pay lip service to good works. ..or simply use my checkbook just so it doesn’t come close to my own back yard. I care about my own community and strive to make it the best fire all. Not just the privileged few..
“I had previously been to facilities in crime ridden, poor areas where there was no opportunity to envision any life than where I was”
So if you have been to these facilities then you can understand why residents might want some details and answers! We have all had issues to deal with in life, but good intentions need good planning. There are many great intended ideas out there that have lead to bad situations.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-family-homeless-shelter-beset-by-dysfunction-decay/2014/07/12/3bbb7f50-f739-11e3-a3a5-42be35962a52_story.html
Again the question was what professional and certified individuals would be at this facility to include security. The answer was ‘We don’t know”. Again your missing the point as did our Councilman.
Scott, I most certainly do see your point, and I really did have those same questions myself. I believed (maybe mistakenly) that this proposed shelter was in the very early stages with a lot of those questions yet to be planned. ..it was my take that they were just asking for community input. ..I do think that they were correct in pulling it off. ..for now…and being better prepared. ..but from a lot of the comments I was reading, and community reactions, it didn’t matter what they said. .people were just saying basically “not in my back yard” …let somewhere else deal with it.
On a side note, I did read the article on the DC shelter, and that’s a prime example of how many of these inner city places are like….even small cities. That’s why these alternative shelters by more faith based organizations are much more successful at actually helping people