![](https://goodmenproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/jon-tyson-6wOeGqQ-5f4-unsplash.jpg)
By JOHN BOYLE, Asheville Watchdog
If we learned anything in this town over the past few decades, it’s that homelessness is not going to magically disappear.
Misfortune, often in the shape of a huge medical bill or a vehicle breakdown, remains a constant, and for those living on the edge that often means not having the money to pay the rent or mortgage. Misfortune also often includes mental illness, drug addiction, or both, and the result is often the same — living on the streets.
Just last week Asheville released the results from its “Point-In-Time” homelessness count, and not surprisingly, the numbers of people experiencing homelessness are up — 739 people were experiencing homelessness as of January 2024, up from 573 the year before.
As we’ve also learned from attempts to locate or maintain shelters around town — remember how well the Ramada Inn low-barrier shelter in East Asheville did not go? — organizations or people running these shelters must talk to neighbors. They must let them know what’s in the works, how they will operate, who will be staying there, the hours of operation and more.
An April 18 meeting in the Grace Episcopal Church parish hall illustrated this as well as about any gathering regarding homelessness I’ve seen. It’s not every day that you hear people question others’ devotion to Christian values and yell “Bullshit!” all in one meeting, in a church venue.
About 75 people gathered to hear a presentation from Safe Shelter, which will operate an overnight shelter in the parish hall during May, and to ask questions.
Grace Episcopal Church sits atop a hill at 871 Merrimon Avenue. Behind it lies a neighborhood of mostly single-family homes. Clearly, many of those neighbors felt blindsided by the temporary shelter coming, although quite a few of them expressed support and compassion for those going through homelessness.
“To me, the biggest problem that we’ve had — and the reason this is happening tonight, in all candor — is the church has never reached out to us as a neighborhood,” Bill Whalen, a local resident and a former attorney with Pisgah Legal Services, said when the formal presentation was done.
Another neighbor, Laura Mahr, said she was a civil rights attorney who worked extensively with marginalized populations in Oregon. She too said there was no communication with the community before the church’s vestry voted.
She was surprised, in part because shelter typically is provided to people near places where they have access to the resources that they need, not in communities and neighborhoods.
“And I’m just wondering why the church did not come to us people that live on the same block as the church to say, ‘Hey, we are thinking of doing this thing. What do you think about it? Do you want to help us out? Do you think this is good for our project? Do you think it’s not?” Mahr said. “I had no idea that any of this was happening, and I live half a block from here.”
Mahr struck me as a good-hearted person, as did Whalen. Pisgah Legal helps low-income people with legal issues, and that’s the kind of work Whalen did for decades.
Whalen noted that over the past five years, the area, including the church grounds, has had trouble with apparently homeless people building fires, using drugs, and going to the bathroom in public.
Safe Shelter made it clear that they’re not going to operate a low-barrier shelter or tolerate inappropriate behaviors. They’ll use the church parish hall as a shelter for only one month.
But Whalen’s main point was that he and other residents felt they were left in the dark, and they could be a potential resource for help. The neighborhood is a great place to live, and they want to keep it that way.
“We are concerned to preserve the quality of our lives, while the church also serves that function,” Whalen said. “And I think that if we share a vision that both are important — both are important — we will be able to see your view better, if you’re seeing ours.”
That drew a round of applause.
Christian Chambers, director of Safe Shelter, invited those attending to look around the room, to study one another. He asked how many can tell by looking at someone if they’ve experienced homelessness, drug use, or mental health issues.
The point he was making, Chambers said, is Safe House and its residents are not the people who some in attendance expressed concern about.
“We are not the people that have defecated in the community,” said Chambers, noting he’s experienced homelessness himself before working in the field for eight years. “We are not the people that have used drugs and abused the premises. We’re quite the opposite.”
Safe Shelter screens residents, requires them to sign behavior agreements and, because children are often present, does not tolerate inappropriate behavior.
A controversy for a few months now
Grace Episcopal had planned to offer its space to Safe Shelter last fall, but neighborhood backlash caused the church to pull the plug, as Mountain Xpress previously reported.
That story noted that social media, as well as misunderstandings about the mission, played a role in scuttling the plan. “It’s impossible to know the extent to which more direct communication by various parties might have avoided at least some of the misunderstandings,” reporter Jessica Wakeman wrote.
It doesn’t look like the communication was a whole lot better before this meeting.
Safe Shelter is a collaborative of Trinity United Methodist Church, Grace Episcopal, Grace Covenant Presbyterian, and Counterflow, the LLC that oversees the operation. Safe Shelter had a six-month lease at the AHOPE shelter downtown, but that ran out, necessitating the shift to participating churches while they seek a permanent shelter.
Once Chambers and Counterflow founder and owner Anna Pizzo made their presentations, I thought, ‘What’s the big deal, for crying out loud? They’re going to operate an overnight shelter here for one month, and it’s mostly going to serve families.”
Look, I get it — anyone would have concerns about a homeless shelter in their neighborhood, especially when we’ve all witnessed behaviors of some people on the streets that can be frightening.
But during the presentation and in answering questions, Chambers and Pizzo made crystal clear these points, among others:
- The shelter will be in use from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. offering 20 beds, during May, and then it will move to another church.
- “Safe Shelter works primarily with families,” Pizzo said, holding her own young child.
- Most of those staying with Safe Shelter have jobs and will leave for work in the morning.
- The church parish hall, which has bathrooms but not showers, will not be open to residents during the day.
- Residents have to sign behavior agreements.
- If behaviors do get out of hand, Chambers said, he personally would shut the operation down.
Staff and church representatives said several times, for emphasis, the shelter would be there only for one month.
“You should’ve led with the 30 days!” a man shouted, in a pleasant tone.
There has been a plan in place to rotate churches each month since fall 2023. But this is not the message residents had gotten beforehand, and many seemed unaware of the bullet points above.
That’s a shame, because Safe Shelter has a good story to tell, as it fills a crucial need for families experiencing homelessness to stay together. Also, it’s fully staffed by a trauma-informed staff during its open hours, welcomes people of color and LGBTQ+ people, and uses community health workers who support shelter residents with permanent housing and other needs, according to its website. Additionally, as Safe Shelter serves minor children, it cannot accept registered sex offenders.
Grace Episcopal has hosted a program to help homeless people before, called Room at the Inn, which apparently did not generate a lot of controversy. But that was not the case April 18.
One neighborhood resident said Safe Shelter’s statistics about the percentages of shelter residents without jobs or those with admitted drug use alarmed him.
Dan Pizzo, founder and co-owner of Counterflow, said 56 percent come in with no work, but they often find jobs quickly. Also, some are children and don’t work, adding that about 59 percent of the people they serve are families. Pizzo also said the numbers of shelter users self-reporting drug use has dropped significantly.
‘Poverty, it doesn’t mean anything by itself’
A neighbor named Mia, who declined to give her last name, addressed the crowd while holding her baby.
“All I know about these people is they are poor,” Mia said. “But that doesn’t make me worried about them being my neighbors.”
She summarized this way: “Poverty, it doesn’t mean anything by itself.”
Mia added that she wished she’d done a better job educating her neighbors about what the shelter would really be like.
Terri Frue, a senior warden with the church, stood up and said when Room at the Inn was working at the church she would bring her young children to help out to teach them compassion, which she said she had seen at the meeting.
“It’s compassion for the people in the community,” Frue said. “And what a lot of people don’t understand is that yes, there are homeless people who have targeted our church that we have been dealing with on a daily basis. But these people are not those people. And they need to be given a chance and a safe place to live in a way to thrive.”
What a lot of people don’t understand is that yes, there are homeless people who have targeted our church that we have been dealing with on a daily basis. But these people are not those people. And they need to be given a chance and a safe place to live in a way to thrive.
–TERRI FRUE, A SENIOR WARDEN WITH GRACE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
Some people in the crowd thought Frue said compassion was lacking at the meeting, which is not what she said. Misunderstanding, they took umbrage.
Before she finished, Frue stated that those trying to keep their families together simply needed a safe place to live, that they shouldn’t have their kids taken away from them because they need to stay in a shelter.
“Most of the people in this neighborhood don’t have this obstacle, because if you’re living in North Asheville, you got money,” Frue said.
“Bullshit!” a man yelled out.
Kim Hayes, who volunteers at the shelter and serves on the church vestry, said she didn’t want to fight with anyone. She said volunteers eat with the shelter residents every night and play games — and that’s about all that ever gets rowdy.
“Preach Kim!” someone hollered.
Hayes did acknowledge, regarding communications, “There have been some breakdowns.” But she invited all present to join the volunteers when they’re breaking bread with shelter residents.
One guy said he’s a local businessman whose family has been in the area since the 1960s, and expressed concerns about property values plummeting because the shelter will be there for one month. A few groans ensued, and some grumbles about Christianity lacking.
I wondered for a minute if Jesus himself was going to emerge and remind some members of the crowd that the way they treat the least among us is the way they treat him, etc., etc.
Chambers, who remained affable throughout the meeting, assured those attending that Safe Shelter is trying a new model. And they don’t want to go where they’re not wanted.
The Rev. Mark Siler, an addiction specialist who works with Safe Shelter and the church, said he’s been in this community for 25 years and what’s happening at Grace is an indication of what’s happening in Asheville “writ large.”
The primary drivers of homelessness, he said, are economics — high housing costs and low wages. The Safe Shelter team is committed to safety and strong vetting, he emphasized, and everyone at some point in their lives needs help.
Siler said he’s been involved in some shelter failures, but he’s convinced that Safe Shelter is the answer. That drew a round of applause.
He hopes people will really look at what Safe Shelter brings to the table.
Near the end of the meeting, I could hear the church’s rector, the Rev. Milly Morrow, saying, “This is it! This is the work!”
I’m not the most devout Christian, but that sounds just about right to me.
But I would humbly offer one piece of advice: Make sure you communicate the details to the neighborhood in every way possible, with plenty of advance notice.
I think there’s an old saying that addresses this: “In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you.”
Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. John Boyle has been covering Asheville and surrounding communities since the 20th century. You can reach him at (828) 337-0941, or via email at [email protected]. The Watchdog’s reporting is made possible by donations from the community. To show your support for this vital public service please visit avlwatchdog.org/donate.
—
Previously Published on avlwatchdog.org
***
You Might Also Like These From The Good Men Project
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Join The Good Men Project as a Premium Member today.
All Premium Members get to view The Good Men Project with NO ADS. A $50 annual membership gives you an all access pass. You can be a part of every call, group, class and community. A $25 annual membership gives you access to one class, one Social Interest group and our online communities. A $12 annual membership gives you access to our Friday calls with the publisher, our online community. Need more info? A complete list of benefits is here.
—
Photo credit: unsplash