Those who drive around Festus probably have seen a woman standing at Hwy. A and I-55 with a sign asking for “a little human kindness.”
Casey Kindt with the Jefferson County Homeless Coalition said she recently visited with the woman and learned a little about her. She’s a cancer survivor and lost her home when she was sick. She now lives in her car, along with the man who often stands on the opposite side of Hwy. A also asking for donations.
Kindt said the two ask for donations to buy food.
“I gave her some food and water, and she immediately ran over (to her companion) and shared it with him, so I knew they were hungry,” Kindt said.
Kindt said the woman told her not everyone shows that same kind of kindness.
“She told me, ‘You wouldn’t believe how mean people can be; they say the meanest things to me. But, if they knew my story, they wouldn’t say that.’”
The woman is among a growing number of Jefferson Countians who find themselves without a home.
While most people know there’s a homelessness problem in the county, there’s little agreement on what, if anything, should be done about it, most notably among our county officials.
One of the organizations trying to tackle the problem is the New Hope Outreach Center, a nonprofit organization that has proposed opening a transitional housing center for people who are homeless. The goal is to house people in the center for up to six months and provide them with vocational training and other services to get them into a job and other housing.
The center would start out with just four people, with a long-term goal to expand to 20 at the most.
Twice, though, the County Council has shot down the group’s plans, most recently in late August, when it voted 4-3 to deny a conditional-use permit that would have allowed the group to open the center on the old Opal’s Motel and Restaurant property on Old Hwy. 21 north of Hillsboro that has been vacant since 2001.
Dan Ross, pastor of New Hope Fellowship Church, which spearheaded the effort to open a homeless center in the county, said the group bought the nearly 6-acre property after Jefferson County Executive Dennis Gannon and Dennis Kehm Jr., assistant director of the County Services Department, told him the Opal’s property would be an ideal location for the proposed facility.
I asked Gannon about that, and he said when he first heard about the proposal to open a homeless center on the Opal’s property, he thought it was a “reasonable” location.
Gannon also said he had encouraged Ross and the New Hope group to do what they could to help the homeless.
Despite that apparent encouragement, Gannon didn’t offer much leadership when New Hope brought its plans for a homeless center to the County Council.
County Councilman Bob Tullock (District 7, House Springs), who represents the area where the Opal’s property is located, led the charge for those who opposed the plans.
Tullock voted against the conditional-use permit, along with Gene Barbagallo (District 2, Imperial), Shannon Otto (District 3, Arnold) and Charles Groeteke (District 4, Barnhart), nixing the plans to convert the Opal’s property to a religious sanctuary and homeless center.
Even though the county’s Planning and Zoning Commission recommended the council approve the permit, Tullock said he didn’t think the old Opal’s property was a good location for the homeless center, arguing that a lot of those who live near it told him they opposed it.
At the Aug. 28 meeting when the permit was denied, 49 people said they supported the plan for the homeless center and 49 said they were against it, with the majority of the opponents living within 5 miles of the property.
I took a drive past the Opal’s property last weekend to get a closer look at the area, and I can’t imagine many better spots for a homeless center. It’s centrally located in the county, and it sits between a Hillsboro R-3 School District bus barn and a storage facility, with no home on either side or across from it on Old Hwy. 21.
Some opponents to the center say it would lower property values in the area. Right now, the Opal’s property is a bit of an eyesore, and New Hope has plans to spruce it up, which, I think, would be an improvement to the area.
Ross agrees.
“Adult and Teen Challenge in High Ridge (a drug-treatment program) houses 30-plus people addicted to drugs. It backs up to the Sugar Creek Golf Course, and they have some of the highest home values in the whole High Ridge area,” he said.
Councilman Scott Seek (District 5, Festus), who voted in favor of the conditional-use permit, along with Brian Haskins (District 1, High Ridge) and Dan Stallman (District 6, De Soto), said he doesn’t think the homeless center would hurt property values in the area.
“If you’re looking at just an improvement basis, having New Hope improve the motel property would be an improvement over what is there now,” he said.
Tullock, on the other hand, disagrees and said the group should build the homeless center on property near the New Hope church in the small, incorporated town of Peaceful Village in the High Ridge area, which wouldn’t require the county’s approval.
Ross said the property near the church is in a valley and doesn’t have the necessary infrastructure, all of which would make it too costly to build there.
Tullock told me he’s not sure the county needs to address the homelessness problem because 70 percent of those who are homeless want to be.
“That’s what I’ve been told,” he said.
Kindt said she thinks that percentage is much lower.
“As someone who has been out and visited with homeless people, I would disagree with that,” she said. “I don’t know where he’s getting that number from, but I feel like whatever number it is, the people who want help deserve it.”
Ross said he thinks it’s unlikely New Hope will be allowed to open a homeless center while the current county officials are in office.
“I think (Gannon) is for it, but I don’t think he made a stand where he could have made a stand,” Ross said. “And the four council members who voted against the permit, they are against the homeless. They’re not seeing them as real people.”
Seek said he believes the main reason some council members voted against the homeless center is because they’re more worried about getting re-elected than they are about helping the homeless.
“If (a proposed homeless center) touches any of their districts and any of their people walk in and say no, they wouldn’t vote for it because they’re afraid of hurting their political aspirations,” he said.
Ross said the majority of the County Council is against development of any kind, contributing to a housing shortage in the county, which, in turn, contributes to the homelessness problem.
“I get phone calls almost every day about people looking for housing,” he said.
The Jefferson Franklin Community Action Corp. (JFCAC) has a voucher program that provides rental assistance to those in need, and 5,000 people are on the waiting list for help. Right now, however, the program is temporarily suspended while the staff catches up with applications.
Some opponents to New Hope’s plans say it would bring drug problems to the area, but Ross disputes that claim.
“We won’t have drug addicts there. If we’re helping someone with a drug problem, they’ll be referred to Adult and Teen Challenge.”
Tullock said another reason he opposed the center was because New Hope’s plans didn’t spell out that it would be staffed 24 hours a day, but later Ross said it would.
Others have argued that the homeless center should be located in an area closer to jobs, but Ross said that’s not an issue because New Hope would provide residents with transportation.
“I’ve met with business owners who have said they will hire them; we will provide transportation and take them to jobs,” he said.
New Hope has partnered with numerous agencies to address homelessness in the county, not only the Homeless Coalition, JFCAC and Adult and Teen Challenge, but also the Jefferson County Health Department, Mercy Hospital Jefferson and Compass (formerly Comtrea).
Ross said New Hope and its partners have a plan that will help the homeless, but they need some support from county officials to put it in place.
“We have a solution. We are not asking the county for money. We just want them to allow us to help people who want to help themselves,” he said.
Ross said despite the obstacles, New Hope will continue to fight for the homeless.
“We don’t have a choice. We have to do something to help the homeless in our county,” he said.
Gannon said he wants New Hope to continue its work on behalf of the homeless.
“We need to make life better for homeless people,” he said.
I know Gannon was among those who worked hard to bring the James Hardie industrial project to Crystal City, which promises to be a great economic boon to the county.
Let’s hope he tries to gather that same kind of support for a homeless center to help our most vulnerable neighbors.
Kindt encourages those who want to help the homeless to attend the coalition’s meetings at 1 p.m. on the third Thursday of every month at the JFCAC, 2 Merchants Drive, in Hillsboro.
