Extending both the operating hours and the season for the shelter at Resurrection Lutheran Church was approved by the Juneau Planning Commission on Tuesday. The shelter will be open during nights the temperature is below freezing from 8 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. once temperatures drop below freezing — with no official opening date specified — and April 15.
Last year, the first the warming shelter was located at the church, it was open from 9 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. between Nov. 1 and April 15. But church leaders argued, and city officials agreed, the shelter should open immediately after the city’s Mill Campground for the homeless closes and the opening times last winter were too restrictive.
“When the temperatures were below zero degrees by 8 p.m. last January there was no other place for the (shelter) patrons (to) go,” the church’s application to extend the operating period notes. They (inappropriately) found places to congregate (at RLC, in the RLC neighborhoods, etc) while waiting for the (shelter) to open, creating challenges for patrons, staff and RLC neighbors.”
A written analysis submitted to the Planning Commission by city planner Jennifer Shields notes there were nights were the temperature was below freezing beginning in mid-October of last year, before the warming shelter was allowed to open. She also wrote “the applicant has received support from other social service agencies and its neighbors, including those initially opposed to the emergency shelter.”
But some concerns remain for Will and Mindy Jones, both state employees working from their home directly across the street from the church, who say they start work early enough that any activity from people departing the shelter during the morning isn’t an issue. But while Will Jones said “during the winter I feel for them,” there have been disruptions later in the evening after the shelter opens.
“It went fine for the most part,” he said. “I think the thing that bothered us most was after 10 p.m. there was a lot of arguments and screaming.”
Only two public comments were submitted to the commission between Aug. 29 and Sept. 5 after notices were mailed to all property owners within 500 feet of the church, which proposed an operating season of Oct. 15 to April 15. Both were letters supporting expanding the shelter’s operating period.
“It only makes sense that the shelter opens on October 15, the same day that the CBJ Parks and Recreation-operated Mill Campground closes,” wrote Dale Gosnell, who stated he lives two blocks from the church. “The new start date would provide a secure and safe place for the campers just as the cold rains of fall are in full force.”
The city’s analysis notes the church wants to open the warming shelter at 8 p.m. “in order to discourage patrons from congregating outside of the church building and around the neighborhood prior to opening.”
“The applicant is also requesting the ability to close the cold weather emergency shelter one hour later, at 7:30 a.m., in order to allow patrons the ability to stay in the shelter until a closer time to when the first transit buses arrive in the area, and to avoid interactions with children attending nearby Harborview Elementary School, which has school hours of 8:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.,” Shields wrote.
The Planning Commission ultimately decided to allow the shelter to open as soon as temperatures drop below freezing rather than on a specific date, according to church Pastor Karen Perkins.
The shelter was open every day between last Nov. 17 and April 15 of this year, rather than the 80% of nights the church expected, due to below-freezing temperatures every night of that time span, according to the church’s website. The lower floor of the church provided 3,535 shelter nights for 346 unique patrons at a cost of $46 per night, with each patron staying an average of 10 nights and 63% of patrons staying five or fewer nights.
Meals were served to 30 to 40 people a night and “every patron (was) welcome to return next night, regardless of prior behavior,” the church’s website states.
The revised contract for the shelter authorizes the city to pay up to $200,000 to the church to operate the shelter, including a $100,000 upfront payment.
“Perhaps contrary to a perception of some RLC neighbors and others, RLC does not desire (opening) the (shelter) as early in the evening as possible or (keeping) it open as late in the morning as possible,” the church notes in its request for an operating extension. “Each of these situations creates operational and budgetary challenges for RLC,” the church states in its permit application.”
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com
Mindy and Will Jones, who live near Resurrection Lutheran Church, talk to neighbor Elva Bontrager in their yard on Wednesday. The couple said they are sympathetic to disadvantaged residents staying at the church’s warming shelter during sub-freezing winter nights, but there have been incidents with people being loud and rowdy outside late at night. The church provided the warming shelter for the first time last winter and on Tuesday the city approved extending the number of days and hours the shelter can be open during the coming winter. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire) Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire Signs on the lower-floor doors of Resurrection Lutheran Church announce the new times the warming shelter will be open during the coming winter. Notices about extending the opening period were sent to neighboring homes and businesses before the change was approved Tuesday, but only two letters in favor of the longer opening period were received.
