Residents report few troubles with local shelters
WALWORTH COUNTY — People are afraid of what they don’t know, and for many people the homeless are scary.
“People see in the less fortunate their own frailty, and they’re frightened to come to grips with that,” said the Rev. William Myrick of Christ Episcopal Church in Delavan.
As a shelter for single, homeless men opens its doors in Rock County churches, neighbors are concerned. But they shouldn’t be worried, according to the organizers of similar programs in Beloit and Walworth County.
Myrick said there’s a perception that all homeless people are troublemakers—criminals, alcoholics or drug addicts—and that’s a perception his church and others are trying to change.
“You have to remember that these people are in the community anyway. It’s not like we’re bringing them to the community from someplace else,” he said. “If they are people who would in fact break the law, they would be doing it. It doesn’t originate with the shelter.”
Both Hands of Faith in Beloit and the Walworth County Emergency Homeless Shelter do background checks of potential shelter residents for the protection of shelter staff, volunteers and the community.
“We’re not looking for a clean slate, per se, just certain red flags,” said Jeff Hoyt, director of Hands of Faith.
Red flags include active warrants; serious, repeated infractions of the law, and registered sex offender status.
“We do want to know who we’re dealing with,” said Deb Weber, secretary for the Walworth County shelter.
Myrick said the majority of shelter residents aren’t homeless because of a criminal record. They’re homeless because they lost their job or because they choose to pay for medication instead of rent. Some are military veterans.
Hoyt said shelter residents often have no more than a high school education, which makes it difficult for them to obtain good paying jobs.
“They’re people just like me and you who have fallen on hard times and need people to support them until they can get back on their feet again,” said Sr. Judy Aubry of Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Church in Beloit.
Both Myrick and Hoyt said the shelters haven’t experienced any problems. The neighborhoods, they said, aren’t disrupted as the shelters rotate through the churches.
Organizers said shelter residents often police themselves and take good care of the shelter space.
“They want that place to stay,” Weber said. “They don’t want trouble, and they don’t want people there to cause trouble because they value having that place to stay.”
Even so, Myrick admitted there’s a perception trouble comes with a homeless shelter.
If people saw the shelters firsthand, Weber said, they’d better understand their place in the community.
“We keep trying to invite people in so they can see for themselves,” she said. “Once they come in and meet the guys, they say, ‘Oh, hey, they are regular people.’
“But you have to get them to come and see them, and that’s the hard part.”
ORGANIZERS SPEAK
Shelter organizers in Beloit and Walworth County say the following to people in Janesville as a shelter for homeless, single men opens there:
“I wouldn’t minimize their concerns. Everyone who is being thrust into a new situation has legitimate concerns, but I really would tell people to let things play out, see how things transpire instead of what they think will happen.”
—Jeff Hoyt, director, Hands of Faith, Beloit
“Go and be a neighbor ... Look in your heart. Look in the eyes of the person in need and see if that does not look like your brother or sister. Pray that it’s not your child but respond as if it were.”
—Rev. William Myrick, founder, Walworth County
Emergency Homeless Shelter
“I wish they would keep an open mind about it and realize that just because people are homeless, they’re not criminals. They’re just people that happen to be homeless. Being homeless doesn’t define them as people ... They really don’t have anything to fear.”
—Deb Weber, secretary, Walworth County Emergency
Homeless Shelter
SHELTER PROGRAMS
Hands of Faith
Telephone: (608) 363-0683
Established: 2002
Who it’s for: Families with at least one child
How the shelter works: Local churches rotate hosting duties on a weekly basis. The shelter has enough beds for 14 residents each night.
Hours: 5 p.m. to 7 a.m.
What the shelter provides: Dinner, breakfast and bag lunch. Shelter residents are taken from the host church to the Hands of Faith Day Center at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, their base from which to look for employment and housing.
Churches that host or assist the shelter:
—Atonement Lutheran Church, 901 Harrison Ave., Beloit
—Christ United Methodist Church, 1227 Liberty Ave., Beloit
—Community of Christ, 4242 S. Chippendale Drive, Beloit
—First Baptist Church, 617 Public Ave., Beloit
—First Presbyterian Church, 501 Prospect St., Beloit
—River of Life United Methodist Church, 511 Public Ave., Beloit
—Central Christian Church, 2460 Milwaukee Road, Beloit
—Jefferson Prairie Lutheran Church, 23184 Bergen Road, Poplar Grove, Ill.
—Luther Valley Church, 7107 S. Luther Valley, Beloit
—Messiah Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1531 Townline Ave., Beloit
—New Hope United Methodist Church, 2345 Prairie Ave., Beloit
—New Zion Baptist Church, 1905 Mound Ave., Beloit
—Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Church, 2222 Shopiere Road, Beloit
—Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, 749 Bluff St., Beloit
—Redeemer Evangelical Covenant Church, 2500 Prairie Ave., Beloit
—Rock Valley Chapel, 2780 Shopiere Road, Beloit
—St. John’s Lutheran Church, 1000 Bluff St., Beloit
—St. Jude Catholic Church, 822 Hackett St., Beloit
—St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 212 W. Grand Ave., Beloit
—St. Thomas Catholic Church, 822 E. Grand Ave., Beloit
—Temple B’nai Abraham, 2400 Oxford Lane, Beloit
—Wesley Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, 1760 Shore Drive, Beloit
Walworth County Emergency Homeless Shelter
Phone: (262) 903-WARM
Established: 2005
Who it’s for: Single men
How the shelter works: Area churches rotate hosting duties on a weekly basis. The shelter has enough beds for 20 residents each night.
Hours: 7 p.m. to 8 a.m.
What the shelter provides: Dinner, breakfast and bag lunch. Shelter residents have access to a telephone and mailbox to assist in obtaining employment.
Churches that host or assist the shelter:
—Chapel on the Hill, N2440 Ara Glen Drive, Lake Geneva
—Christ Episcopal Church, 503 E. Walworth Ave., Delavan
—Creek Road Community Church, W7778 Creek Road, Delavan
—Delavan First Baptist Church, 212 S. Main St., Delavan
—Delavan United Methodist Church, 213 S. Second St., Delavan
—United Church of Christ Congregational, 123 E. Washington, Delavan
—First Congregational United Church of Christ, 76 S. Wisconsin St., Elkhorn
—Immanuel Lutheran Church, 1229 Park Row, Lake Geneva
—Immanuel United Church of Christ, 111 Fremont, P.O. Box 209, Walworth
—Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, 416 W. Geneva St., Delavan
—St. Andrew Catholic Church, 714 E. Walworth Ave., Delavan
—St. Benedict Catholic Church, 137 Dewey Ave., Fontana
—St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church, 148 W. Main St., Lake Geneva
—St. John’s Lutheran Church, 104 S. Broad St., Elkhorn
—St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, 534 Sunset Drive, Elkhorn
—Sugar Creek Lutheran Church, N5690 Cobblestone Road, Elkhorn
—River of Life Christian Church, 403 E. Walworth Ave., Delavan
—Williams Bay Lutheran Church, 11 Collie St., Williams Bay
Jan 1, 2008 at 4:49 p.m.
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MikeF- Or...perhaps no residents were quoted in this article because: 1. none were consulted or notified in advance that the church near them was going to be a shelter; 2. they simply weren't asked to participate by the reporter; or 3. they know how the self-righteous patting themselves on the back for their good deeds will publicly condemn them for their very real and valid concerns that the organizers/volunteers won't believe are possible simply because they haven't had the first-hand experience of such a charity by their home. Now they will. Let's face it, Mike. Many aren't prepared for the equally real consequences of "speaking the truth to power" as you yourself and others practice prejudicial charity. Just wait until they find the rejected homeless living under their front porches amid a pile of cigarette butts that could potentially burn down a house as DID happen beside a church charity in Janesville.
Jan 1, 2008 at 2:10 p.m.
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I think such a shelter is a wonderful thing, short of a long-term fix of course. Hopefully volunteer enthusiasm doesn’t wane as the novelty wears off. I applaud those people who put it in place, and wish them continued success.
I just wonder about a couple things. Apparently not allowed in are those who have “active warrants; serious, repeated infractions of the law, and registered sex offender status.”
I certainly understand the concern for safety, but do they report those with active warrants, or just turn them away? Does the degree of what the warrant is for make any difference? As far as sex offenders, generally a vile and contemptible type, if they are free to roam, is it not humane to give them shelter, too, with the proper onsite supervision, which I imagine is already in place? And would it not be safer than having them roam the community, perhaps attempting to find an even less welcoming place to stay on a freezing winter night? And, since these shelters are often church-sanctioned, do they not remember someone saying “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.”?
But I really wondered about this statement: "We keep trying to invite people in so they can see for themselves,” she said. “Once they come in and meet the guys, they say, ‘Oh, hey, they are regular people.’ “But you have to get them to come and see them, and that’s the hard part.”
I really, really take exception to this invitation. It sounds almost zoo-like, and I feel for those men. It’s as if they are put on display. Obviously, volunteers will be there, but if “They’re people just like me and you who have fallen on hard times”, as one shelter leader says (and of course most of the time it is true), wouldn't keeping their privacy and dignity surely be in their best interest? Or did they lose those rights when they lost their homes? If so, wouldn't it be another step in the right direction to help them regain those things? I would think interested community members should only be allowed in when the shelter is closed for the day.
Just some concerns of an area citizen that didn't seem to be covered in depth in the article. Otherwise, I read the story with great interest, and think it is another step in the right direction as we do whatever we can for “the least of these”.
Jan 1, 2008 at 1:54 p.m.
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proartist- Maybe because none have come forward with any complaints?
Jan 1, 2008 at 12:27 p.m.
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Why wasn't a single home-owning NEIGHBOR of the existing shelters quoted in this article if "perceived trouble" isn't a legitimate concern?
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