Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2009

Building Our City: Homeless center to break ground soon

214-bed facility will replace shelter once run by Salvaton Army

Demolition work to clear a site for Columbia’s new $11.6 million homeless shelter — or transition center, as supporters call it — could begin as early as October.

The building is slated to open in the first quarter of 2011, said Cathy Novinger, chairwoman of the Midlands Housing Alliance, the coalition of business leaders, churches and service providers that will build and operate the shelter.

The 214-bed facility will be located on most of a 2.1-acre downtown block bordered by Main, Elmwood and Calhoun streets. The alliance’s purchase of the site from the Salvation Army — which once ran its own shelter there — is scheduled to go through next month.

The new facility will be a state-of-the-art set of buildings designed to house and treat various types of homeless people. The center also will help rehabilitate those who can be helped back to normal life, Novinger said. It will have a staff of up to 60 professionals.

“This will improve our downtown corridors and address a serious social need in our community,” Novinger said.

Opponents of the project — mostly from the five surrounding neighborhoods — haven’t changed their minds.

“What we are really fearful of is not those whom they take in, but whom they turn away,” said Peter Korper, Elmwood Park neighborhood association president.

But the sale of the property and the start of construction appear to signal the end of a long struggle over where to put a new home for the city’s chronically homeless. For years, city officials, business interests, neighborhoods and churches have feuded, rejecting numerous proposed locations.

“This is the best opportunity we have to resolve a critical issue in our community. If we miss it, shame on us,” Novinger said.

On any given day and many nights, 1,000 to 3,000 homeless may be wandering city streets, parks and libraries. Many have drug, drinking or psychological issues, or a mix of all three.

More than a year’s worth of planning, networking, fundraising and coalition building have gone into getting ready to move forward, Novinger said.

In an interview, she said:

• The Midlands Housing Alliance has raised $11.6 million in cash and pledges to build the new facility. Nearly all comes from private and foundation sources, including $5 million from the Knight Foundation. Some $100,000 will come from Richland County; City Council so far has contributed nothing.

• Of the 214 beds, 64 will be for more stable homeless people who are on the verge of transitioning to jobs or more permanent housing. About 50 beds will be for people who need a place to stay for drug or alcohol problems. Thirty beds will be for people whom local hospitals can no longer care for.

• The center will be able to handle about 100 additional daytime homeless. They will be able to shower, eat a meal and use computers. This should relieve homeless congestion at the nearby Richland County library and Finlay Park, Novinger said.

• The center will need $1.5 million to $2 million to operate each year. Much of the money will come from business, church, charitable and health organizations. Novinger hopes the city of Columbia and Richland County Council will contribute.

In recent months, Novinger said, alliance members have talked with neighbors.

For example, the alliance met with Greek Orthodox Church officials. The church, located across the street from the new facility, is on the verge of breaking ground for a $6 million cathedral. Its members have concerns about the safety of its congregation.

Greek church member Robert Stewart, former State Law Enforcement Division chief, advised the alliance to hire a security specialist to do a risk assessment study for the new facility.

“We want to help the needy and poor,” Steward said. “We just want to do it as safely as possible.”

Novinger said her group intends to hire the group Stewart recommended.

The alliance also has reached out to the Columbia-area Salvation Army.

These days, the Salvation Army feeds up to 200 homeless each evening and provides various daytime services. In 2007, the Salvation Army stopped accepting some 200 homeless people a night because of serious mold problems. It is too costly to fix, the organization says.

The alliance is buying the Salvation Army site for $2.7 million. The Salvation Army will use part of the money to pay off its remaining mortgage on the property.

It will use the rest for Columbia projects, said Maj. Richard Jones, interim area coordinator for the Midlands Salvation Army.

Jones said he applauds Novinger’s group and hopes the Salvation Army can work with it once it gets the new center up and going.

Others remain concerned.

Elmwood Park’s Korper said the new site lacks parking and will cause serious congestion.

“Everyone agrees that Columbia needs a homeless solution, but not at the gateway to the city, and where the city is spending $40 million on the rejuvenation of Main Street,” Korper said.

Meanwhile, several on Columbia’s seven-member City Council aren’t enthusiastic about spending taxpayer dollars to help operate the homeless shelter.

“I’ve been on council 25 years, and I’ve never seen us broke,” said Councilman E.W. Cromartie. “We’re broke.”

Novinger said, “We are handing the city a gift — $11.6 million. Are they going to give us operating money? I would expect that somewhere down the road they will.

“They want to know that we’re not contributing to problems in the neighborhood, but fixing them. Once they know that, I believe they’ll contribute.”

Reach Monk at (803) 771-8344.

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