BELLOWS FALLS — I've been following news about the Bellows Falls Warming Shelter from the sidelines for the last few weeks, hoping it would be resolved successfully and that folks who find themselves outside would be welcomed in before the weather turns really awful.
Truthfully, I've resisted jumping into the fray, because these issues can get divisive and uncomfortably personal in a village as small as ours, but there is a point where one's personal comfort ought to take a back seat to standing up for basic values of human decency.
I don't mythologize “the homeless.” I understand that there are complex reasons why people become and remain homeless, some of them having to do with unfortunate and unfair circumstances, others having to do with underlying mental health issues and addiction issues that can be accompanied by discomforting behaviors.
I understand that helping people get out and stay out of the state of homelessness can be difficult, thankless, and draining. I also understand that my understanding of the issue is limited and needs to be expanded.
I also don't categorically demonize those who express concern or opposition about shelters in their towns and neighborhoods. There have certainly been enough horror stories in the collective consciousness - whether true or not, they still embed themselves! - about the impact of shelters and other social service organizations on public safety, property values, and a community's quality of life to cultivate resistance.
Shelters, group homes, subsidized housing, and other facilities that provide service to those in need have often faced a high level of scrutiny when they open in a community, and like it or not, the burden usually falls on the operators and residents of these facilities to educate neighbors, address concerns, and allay any fears.
The board of the shelter seems willing to engage on these issues. What I gathered from watching their FACT-TV segment is that they are ready to work with neighbors, tighten shelter rules and policies, improve training of volunteers, and operate in a very transparent manner, welcoming the input of all segments of the community.
Board members acknowledge that they could have done a better job of engaging with neighbors last year and they wish to address those complaints moving forward.
These all seem like positive, responsible actions toward resolving a complex issue.
As far as I can tell, the folks who oppose the shelter base their objections around a few common themes: inappropriate location, offensive behaviors of shelter guests while outside, an increased burden on public safety, and a perception that the shelter guests are not “from here.”
I haven't yet been deeply involved enough in the issue to know whether these concerns are fact-based or impression-based, but I do believe we need to talk about them.
And if we truly care about the plight of folks without shelter, we ought to be willing to come together as a community and get something done so that our neighbors don't freeze.
But the issue that some shelter opponents have raised that I keep coming back to in total frustration is their contention that an overnight shelter does not do enough - that it fails to assist people in lifting themselves out of homelessness and moving toward dignified lives of economic self-sufficiency.
There has been criticism of the shelter as being merely a Band-Aid. Well, of course it is! Unless and until we can all agree on the sweeping changes needed in our society which would provide access to health care, economic opportunity, social services, and other tools that work to lift people out of poverty, we will be applying a lot of Band-Aids to a lot of gaping wounds.
And while a very modest overnight shelter in the basement of a pizza parlor isn't even that much of a Band-Aid, it is a proven method of preventing death from exposure.
Shelter opponents report feeling hurt and attacked when their compassion for those less fortunate has been called into question. I imagine that must be difficult.
They've also reported that their efforts to engage in a productive discussion with the board of the shelter have been rebuffed. If that is true, then that is unfortunate. I would hope the shelter's board would welcome their concerns and ideas for positive change.
But if a deep concern about the plight of the homeless and the need for more comprehensive services to alleviate homelessness in our community is at the heart of the opposition to the shelter, then why have the opponents not embarked on a community-wide consciousness-raising effort about the issue? A letter-writing campaign to public officials demanding a re-ordering of our state and national priorities as they relate to homeless folks? A counterproposal for a different, more comprehensive approach to ending homelessness?
Where is the better idea?
It is this lack of willingness to step forward with a set of proposals that would help address the underlying problem that I find so difficult to come to terms with. Just saying that someone else's proposed solution doesn't go far enough to fixing the problem does not move us at all closer to fixing the problem.
As is the case with many vexing social problems, I believe that even if the results of our efforts are not visible within our lifetime, that should not deter us from making the effort anyway.
Our people, whether they are “from here” or not (and frankly I don't care - we are all part of the human family), are at very real risk of freezing this winter. Surely we can come together to stop this from happening.